Text Version      
Montgomery County Maryland
Home | Translate  
Bookmark and Share

Memorial Day, Monday, May 28, 2012: No County-provided recycling or trash collections on May 28; all pickups this week shift by one day. Transfer Station closed May 28.
See holiday details. Sign up for email or text holiday reminders.

Resource Recovery Facility: Emissions Data

Opacity | Carbon monoxide | Hydrogen chloride | Sulfur dioxide | Nitrogen oxides | Health effects

Carbon Monoxide

Carbon monoxide (CO) is formed due to incomplete combustion of waste in the furnace. The quantity of CO formed depends on the combustion temperature, available combustion air, amount of turbulence and the amount of time the exhaust gas remains in the burner. The amount of CO formed during combustion can be minimized by adjusting the above parameters.

At the Resource Recovery Facility, the waste feed rate and the overfire/underfire combustion air are controlled to maintain the above parameters at optimum levels. In addition, the combustion temperature is generally maintained at 2000 °F or higher (the permit requires a minimum combustion temperature of 1800 °F) to ensure near-complete combustion of waste, thus minimizing CO.

The CO levels in the stack plume have generally been less than 30 parts per million (ppmv), compared to the permit level of 200 ppmv, averaged for 1 hour, 100 ppmv averaged for 4 hours, or 50 ppmv averaged over 24 hours.

Back to Continuous Emissions Monitoring Data page

logo: news

Resource Recovery Facility

Last edited: 4/23/2009