Skip to main content
ARS Home » Plains Area » Las Cruces, New Mexico » Cotton Ginning Research » Research » Publications at this Location » Publication #313142
Title: Development of cotton gin PM2.5 emission factors for EPA’S AP-42

Author
item MOORE, THOMAS - Oklahoma State University
item BUSER, MICHAEL - Oklahoma State University
item Whitelock, Derek
item HAMILTON, DOUG - Oklahoma State University

Submitted to: ASABE Annual International Meeting
Publication Type: Proceedings
Publication Acceptance Date: 11/10/2014
Publication Date: 12/1/2014
Citation: Moore, T.W., Buser, M.D., Whitelock, D.P., Hamilton, D.W. 2014. Development of cotton gin PM2.5 emission factors for EPA’S AP-42. ASABE Annual International Meeting, July 13-16, 2014, Montreal, Quebec, Canada. Paper No. 1896889.

Interpretive Summary: Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) particulate emission factors for cotton gins that were published in 2006 were given a poor quality rating. Currently, there are no emission factors for particulate smaller than 2.5 microns, PM2.5 (a human hair is about 60 microns in diameter). ARS and Oklahoma State University researchers conducted a four-year study to close this data gap. Emission factors were developed for individual processing systems from seven cotton gins across the U.S. This paper used the data from the study and new EPA guidelines to develop new emission factors for 17 cotton gin systems. Eight of the 17 PM2.5 emission factors rated as “poorly representative,” and the other nine rated as “moderately representative.” Continued development of better, more representative data will ensure that the ginning industry is more equitably regulated.

Technical Abstract: The Compilation of Air Pollution Emission Factors (AP-42) emission factors are assigned ratings, from A (Excellent) to E (Poor), based on the quality of data used to develop them. AP-42 currently contains no PM2.5 cotton gin emission factors. In an effort to develop science-based data for regulating the industry, a national cotton gin particulate matter emissions study was conducted from 2008 to 2011, in which PM2.5 emission factors were developed for individual processing systems from seven cotton gins across the U.S. This paper used data from the gin stack sampling study and EPA guidelines to develop proposed PM2.5 emission factors for 17 cotton gin systems for EPA’s AP-42. Two methods of calculating the emission factors were compared. These methods were compared to each other and the National Study technical reports. The method that used average gin ITRs and test values (ITR Design 1) was determined to be the best for calculating emission factors as it has a built-in mechanism for screening outliers and reasonably prevents a single facility from biasing an emission factor. Using ITR Design 1, eight of the 17 emission factors rated as “poorly representative,” and the other nine rated as “moderately representative.”