AP 42 Compilation of Air Pollutant Emission Factors

The AP 42 Compilation of Air Pollutant Emission Factors, was first published by the US Public Health Service in 1968. In 1972, it was revised and issued as the second edition by the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). In 1985, the subsequent fourth edition was split into two volumes. Volume I includes stationary point and area source emission factors, and Volume II includes mobile source emission factors. Volume I is currently in its fifth edition and is available on the Internet. Volume II is no longer maintained as such, but roadway air dispersion models for estimating emissions from onroad vehicles and from non-road vehicles and mobile equipment are also available on the Internet.

In routine common usage, Volume I of the emission factor compilation is very often referred to as simply AP 42.

Air pollutant emission factors are representative values that attempt to relate the quantity of a pollutant released to the ambient air with an activity associated with the release of that pollutant. These factors are usually expressed as the weight of pollutant divided by a unit weight, volume, distance, or duration of the activity emitting the pollutant (e.g., kilograms of particulate emitted per megagram of coal burned). Such factors facilitate estimation of emissions from various sources of air pollution. In most cases, these factors are simply averages of all available data of acceptable quality, and are generally assumed to be representative of long-term averages.

The equation for the estimation of emissions before emission reduction controls are applied is:

and for emissions after reduction controls are applied:

Emission factors are used by atmospheric dispersion modelers and others to determine the amount of air pollutants being emitted from sources within industrial facilities.

Chapter 5, Section 5.1 "Petroleum Refining" discusses the air pollutant emissions from the equipment in the various refinery processing units as well as from the auxiliary steam-generating boilers, furnaces and engines, and Table 5.1.1 includes the pertinent emission factors. Table 5.1.2 includes the emission factors for the fugitive air pollutant emissions from the large wet cooling towers in refineries and from the oil/water separators used in treating refinery wastewater.

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