EPA's new Area Source Boiler Rule (ASBR)

Testo wants you to be aware that the new EPA boiler rules might affect your operations.  It’s a relatively small chance your boiler (of the 1.5 million boilers EPA identified) will be impacted, but, if you have one of about 186,000 boilers that do fall under new regulations, you should be prepared.

How do you know if EPA's the new boiler rules will affect your operations?  The first thing you should know is the initial notification to EPA has been extended to January 2014.  So this deadline should help your planning...right?  Still not sure?  Testo can help, and our state-of-art combustion analyzers will assure your compliance with EPA regulations.

The EPA finalized changes to Clean Air Act standards for area source boilers (40 CFR 63, subpart

JJJJJJ) and for major source boilers (40 CFR 63, subpart DDDDD).

As we said earlier, 186,000 boilers have been identified and it's likely more boilers, not currently inventoried, may eventually fall under the rules. Having good combustion control and monitoring practices not only helps your bottom line, but goes far to satisfy the regulations.

Many companies are now preparing for the March 2014 ASBR rule deadline. This NEW rule was finalized in the Federal Register on February 1, 2013 and Testo's analyzers can help comply with these new standards. The measurements of O2, CO, and in some cases NOx, are part of the tune-up requirements but the owner must first identify which boiler is applicable to the rule. There are lots of things to consider here, but you can depend upon Testo to deliver simple and effective combustion tuning solutions with either: the testo 330 or testo 340 combustion analyzers or the testo 350 emission analyzer for reference level monitoring.

For more information on the area source boiler rules, check out our EPA links section at: http://www.testo350.com/emission-testing-links.html.

Applicability to the Industrial and Commercial Boilers: National Emission Standards for Hazardous Air Pollution (NESHAP):
Most boilers covered by the Area Source Boiler Rule are located at commercial and institutional facilities, with a smaller amount in the industrial sector. This rule covers boilers located at area source facilities that burn coal, oil, biomass, or other solid and liquid non-waste materials. This rule does NOT apply to boilers that burn only gaseous fuels or any solid waste.

Tune-up requirements for boiler owners:
For all the testing and tuning that is required, how will owners know what to do? What will technicians know what to DO? For more information, go to our official Emission Testing Links page on testo350.com. Click on the PDF for EPA’s “Boiler Tuning Guide – 40 CFR Part 63 Subpart JJJJJJ” to see the requirements. The finalized EPA Area Source Boiler Rule is complicated. You will need to determine applicability based upon size, location, potential to emit and various other conditions.

Need help? Contact Testo!
After determining applicability and the test parameters needed, contact Testo. Let us show you how to configure the most cost effective monitoring solution. Contact us toll-free at 800-227-0729 or email us at info@testo.com.

Do Your CO Readings Seem Low? Maybe it's the Wrong Sensor

We are often asked about how to properly take CO measurements here at Testo. So we decided to make a video demonstrating how CO measurements can be affected by naturally-occurring NOx.

For more information about Testo's complete line of emission analyzers, please go to www.testo350.com. To learn more about Testo's complete line of combustion analyzers, please go to www.testoUSA.com/combustion.

Combustion analysis and why CO readings are not always correct

Have you ever compared your CO readings to another analyzer?  You might have noticed that Testo CO reading is lower than expected.  Why such a difference?  The secret lies in the Testo’s addition of the NOx gas filter.

In residential and light commercial combustion analysis there are several important combustion gases that are measured or monitored. Carbon monoxide (CO), however, is arguably the one gas with the most liability associated with it. This is due to safety concerns and simply from the standpoint of good combustion performance. But NOx is also present and can affect the CO readings, it’s the carbon monoxide levels that you just tested that will keep you up at night.

While performing a combustion test, the O2 and CO are right in front of you on the analyzer display, but it’s easy to overlook all the other gases flowing through the flue pipe,  like CO2, nitrogen, NOx, SO2, water vapor, and so on. It’s these other gases that need to be accounted for when testing furnaces, boilers heaters and other combustion sources. Why, you ask are these other gases important? Some of them can change the output of sensors, and it’s important to know this when you have critical decisions or combustion adjustments to make. This way you are making them based on good information.

How Electrochemical Sensors Function
Electrochemical (EC) sensors rely on the chemical reaction between the combustion gases and the chemicals/materials inside the sensor. As the targeted gas, (i.e., CO) comes in contact with the sensor materials, a reaction takes place. Specifically, between the metal electrodes and chemicals which in-turn will create an electrical output. Technically speaking, this process is call a redox reaction (oxidation or reduction) depending upon the sensor. When the flue gas component (i.e., CO) is no longer present, the chemical reaction and electrical output stops.

The technology behind an EC sensor is well established and is designed to detect both low and high levels of a specific gas through different sensor designs and materials. The key to a quality EC sensor is its’ ability to isolate a single measurement parameter while remaining unaffected by the wide range of other components in the flue gases.

How NOx Affects CO Sensor Readings
If a sensor within a combustion analyzer responds to gases other than what it’s intended to measure, an incorrect measurement will be displayed. This will occur when a CO sensor - without a NOx scrubbing filter - is exposed to flue gas. All flue gas contains some concentration of NOx (for simplification, NOx refers to Nitrogen Oxide). The concentration of NOx tends to be higher with elevated temperatures and low O2 concentrations. When NOx enters the CO sensor, additional reactions take place that increase sensor output.  It is impossible to know how much of the output is due to CO and how much is the result of NOx. 

Many government weatherization programs and performance testing guidelines require corrective action when specific levels of CO are detected. This can prove to be time consuming and costly when these corrective actions are based on potentially false CO readings.

CO Sensor Design
The design of a CO sensor should include a way to eliminate the cross interference effect to other flue gases, namely Nitrous Oxide (NO).  If the CO sensor is designed incorrectly, the CO measurement will be wrong. For example, if the  CO sensor is exposed to flue gas containing 100ppm CO and 200ppm NO (remember NO may not be displayed or measured on the combustion analyzer), the CO sensor will react with a positive output for CO and an additional positive output for the NO. As such, the CO sensor will calculate 100ppm of CO and also calculate an additional 50-100ppm of NO, resulting in a displayed value of CO as much as 200ppm.  As a result, technicians will attempt to mechanically correct the burner to lower CO levels. The correction will be wrong and will negatively impact burner/system performance.

Testo’s Sensor Design
For decades, Testo has used CO sensors with integrated NOx filters as a standard design. These filters “scrub” and remove NOx from the gas stream. Ultimately, this prevents NOx from ever reaching the CO sensor. This NOx filter is designed to last longer than the life of the sensor so there is no maintenance required when used under normal operating conditions. In some of Testo’s  analyzers the filters can be replaced in the field. Go to http://www.testousa.com/combustion/ to see more of Testo’s line of combustion analyzers.

Confidence in Testo Sensors
Filtering NOx from the combustion gas stream before it goes through the sensor is fundamental to achieving accurate CO readings. Without a NOx filter the validity of the CO reading will always be in question.

If there is ever a concern in your CO readings, it’s easy to confirm proper function by using calibration gas. Connect and flow NO calibration gas to your analyzer. The CO sensor should show 0ppm. If a filter is not present, expect to see a 25%, to over 100%, value of the NOx gas in your CO reading. Although this procedure is easy to do, most contractors don’t carry calibration gas. So to eliminate the questions, use the proper sensor, and analyzer for accurate combustion testing.

NOx NOx "Who's There?" - A Blog Post by Ed Voytovich

"Ellie." "Ellie who?"  "The Elephant in the living room."

The elephant in our room is NOx, and elephants eat a lot.  Then they poop.  A lot. We need to watch where we step.

As technicians following the BPI Standards, we test for CO in the flue as well as in the ambient air as part of any audit where there are combustion appliances.  Imagine my surprise when my new Testo 327 combustion analyzer gave me flue gas content results that seemed impossibly low . . . in some cases zero. This was something I very rarely – if ever – saw with my trusty Bacharach equipment in the past.

Check out the complete blog post by Ed Voytovich on Home Energy Pros discussing NOx and how he uses his 327 oxygen analyzer.

What is NOx?

NOx is a term used to describe nitrogen oxides. NOx is a reactive gaseous compound that is one of the criteria air pollutants regulated by the USEPA Clean Air Act. The two primary oxides of nitrogen involved in air pollution are NO and NO2. Nitric oxide (NO) is colorless and essentially odorless. Nitrogen dioxide (NO2) is a reddish-brown gas with a pungent smell. NOx (NO & NO2) can irritate the lungs, cause bronchitis and pneumonia, and lower resistance to respiratory infections. NOx is also a precursor to the formation of ground level ozone (smog) and a contributor to acid rain.

NOx emissions are produced during the combustion of fuels. The primary man-made sources of atmospheric NOx include; area mobile sources (cars and trucks), off-road sources (construction and agricultural machines, trains, etc.) and stationary sources (power plants, industrial boilers & heaters, etc,).

In a combustion process, three types of NOx can be formed:

• Thermal NOx: From high temperature combustion in the presence of free oxygen.
• Fuel NOx: From the nitrogen bound in the fuel when it is oxidized during combustion.
• Prompt NOx: From the combustion flame and the ambient nitrogen in the ambient air.

To learn more about how testo products measure NOx, check out testo350.com.