Stacks—How High?

Spheroidal Carbonaceous Particles in a Virginia Mill Pond Provide a Record of Local and Regional Coal Combustion

“…Trains at this time were coal-fired, depositing coal-fired pollutants, including SCP, along the tracks while in motion (Liu et al, 2009) (Rose et al, 2012). As previously mentioned, long range atmospheric deposition is only possible when particles are emitted at such an altitude that they enter global air circulation patterns (Thomas et al, 1963). Fossil fuel combustion-derived acidic gases HNO3 and H2SO4…”

“…Minimum regulation for power plant stack height requires them to be 2.5x the size of the power house. By today's standards, average power plant stack height is 600-800 feet high or 0.18-0.25 km tall (Thomas et al, 1963). This is relatively low in the atmosphere, but high enough such that emissions can be carried by prevailing wind currents and subjected to wet and dry deposition (Thomas et al, 1963;Griffin and Goldberg, 1981;Rose, 2001).…”

“…Larger, denser particles are predicted to fall out first, followed by smaller and lighter particles. Studies have shown acidic gas emissions from the same source as SCP can be transported distances of several thousand kilometers from the source if atmospheric conditions are favorable (Thomas et al, 1963). Assuming smaller particles have low density, SCP are capable of being transported comparable distances through primary global wind patterns.…”

“…This study demonstrates that within one kilometer of a power plant, the Renberg and Wik (1985) dating technique works, but at further distances, SCP accumulation is inconsistent with assumed normalized data: particle accumulation is greater than expected if only local sources are accounted for. Thomas et al (1963) performed a case study on the atmospheric circulation of gaseous emissions from power plants. Their study shows, under specific atmospheric conditions and emission greater than 0.15 km above ground, particulate and gaseous by-products can be transported hundreds to thousands of km from their source.…”

“…have been shown to impact precipitation pH (Galloway et al, 1982). Modeled plume heights predict that power stacks >1300 feet tall (0.4 km) will produce a plume 500-1000 feet tall (0.15-0.3 km) persisting 100 km away from the source, or up to several thousand kilometers if conditions are favorable (Thomas et al, 1963). SCPs have been found in locations well outside any local source of coal burning (Renberg and Wik, 1985;Doubleday et al, 1995Doubleday et al, , 2004Rose et al, 2003Rose et al, , 2004Chirinos et al, 2006).…”