Ann. Occup. Hyg., pp. 1–7 Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the British Occupational Hygiene Society doi:10.1093/annhyg/mem069 Field Measurement of Diesel Particulate Matter Emissions JON C. VOLKWEIN1* , STEVEN E. MISCHLER1, BRIAN DAVIES2 and CLIVE ELLIS3† 1 Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health, 2 Pittsburgh Research Laboratory, PO Box 18070, Pittsburgh, PA 15236, USA; School of Health 3 Sciences, University of Wollongong, NSW 2522, Australia; NSW Department of Mineral Resources, PO Box 76, Lidcombe, NSW 2141, Australia Received 11 December 2006; in final form 17 December 2007 A primary means to reduce environmental levels of diesel particulate matter (DPM) exposure to miners is to reduce the amount of DPM emission from the engine. A quick and economic method to estimate engine particulate emission levels has been developed. The method relies on the measurement of pressure increase across a filter element that is briefly used to collect a DPM sample directly from the engine exhaust. The method has been refined with the inclu­ sion of an annular aqueous denuder to the tube which permits dry filter samples to be obtained without addition of dilution air. Tailpipe filter samples may then be directly collected in hot and water-supersaturated exhaust gas flows from water bath-cooled coal mine engines without the need for dilution air. Measurement of a differential pressure (DP) increase with time has been related to the mass of elemental carbon (EC) on the filter. Results for laboratory and field measurements of the method showed agreement between DP increase and EC collected on the filter with R2 values >0.86. The relative standard deviation from replicate samples of DP and EC was 0.16 and 0.11, respectively. The method may also have applications beyond mining, where qualitative evalu­ ation of engine emissions is desirable to determine if engine or control technology maintenance may be required. INTRODUCTION It is generally accepted that human exposure to diesel particulate matter (DPM) should be minimized be­ Diesel engines are efficient and economical power cause of the designation of DPM as a suspected car­ sources for mobile equipment used by the under­ cinogen (NIOSH, 1988). Nevertheless, at this time, ground mining industry. Increasing the size of min­ control technology and monitoring of DPM levels ing equipment to achieve economies of scale has in underground work environments are quite new led to larger engines with increasing exhaust gas vol­ and governments and industry worldwide are striving umes. The health effects of most of the inorganic gas­ to set acceptable limits and monitoring regimes to eous components of the exhaust are well known. In protect the health of workers. particular, the carbon monoxide emission levels of Exposure of underground workers to DPM can be diesel vehicles in the US are required to be monitored controlled using three basic approaches. The first ap­ weekly by a qualified person in the mine (CFR 30, proach would be to reduce the DPM emissions at the 1978). source by implementing a variety of techniques such The particulate fraction of diesel exhaust, on the other hand, is much more complex in nature and as engine maintenance, exhaust filtration and use of the suspected health effects are not well understood. reformulated fuels. The second approach would be to assure adequate volumes of dilution air. The third method would be to administratively limit the *Author to whom correspondence should be addressed. Tel: 412-386-6689; fax: 412-386-4917; e-mail: [email protected] number and horsepower of vehicles allowed within yNow retired. a given volume of ventilation air (Schnakenberg 1of7 2 of 7 J. C. Volkwein et al. and Bugarski, 2002). Simple methods to know the 5040 (Birch and Cary, 1996). EC has few interfering emission levels would be useful to help minimize chemical species and is the major component of exposure of workers to DPM. thechemicallycomplexDPMproducedbydiesel Over time, engine use leads to component wear engines. While no one parameter totally describes and changing emission levels. Mines, therefore, are DPM from an analytical point of view, EC, or a tech­ typically mandated to measure and keep records of nique that tracks EC, gives a result that is as least as gas emission levels on a weekly basis. Particulate accurate as our current knowledge of the health levels could be monitored on a similar basis. Current effects of DPM (NIOSH, 1988). techniques to monitor raw exhaust gas particulate In an effort to find a mine-worthy particulate levels from engines rely on laboratory quality gravi­ monitor that mine mechanics can routinely use to metric measurements of diluted fractions of the monitor the particulate emission levels of their exhaust gas stream (ASTM Standard, 2002). Similar mining equipment, the Coal Services Health and quantitative measurements in the field cannot be Safety Trust in New South Wales, Australia, done without complex instrumentation and extreme funded a project to measure the effectiveness of var­ control of experimental variables. ious approaches to tailpipe particulate monitoring. Field-worthy techniques to provide a qualitative Through this effort, the New South Wales Depart­ estimate of DPM emissions each have their limi­ ment of Minerals Resources funded the Centers tations. The Bosch smoke method is an optical for Disease Control and Prevention/NIOSH/ transmission method whose results vary with load Pittsburgh Research Laboratory (PRL) to test and gives variable results in water-supersaturated a newly developed differential pressure (DP)-based environments. The ECOM (ECOM America Ltd, diesel particulate tailpipe monitor. Testing was con­ Gainsville, GA, USA) gas analyzer has a built-in ducted in Londonderry’s TestSafe Australia diesel filter that blackens with particulate loading. Inter­ dynamometer research laboratory and at various die­ pretation of the smoke dot on the filter requires sel engine shops at underground mines in Australia. a subjective judgment on the blackness of the fil­ The overall study compared various potential porta­ ter. Opacity and light-scattering monitors do not ble engine tailpipe monitor devices with the stan­ work well in water-condensing environments since dard American Society for Testing and Materials the water droplets affect the measurement. Some (ASTM) laboratory particulate measurement instru­ efforts to use a minidiluter with the optical techni­ ments whose results will be published elsewhere. ques have met with some success but require care­ The Coal Services Report (2004) compared the ful attention to the dilution system. Another field Diesel Detective to the full-scale dilution tunnel test technique that has been used involved a large and concluded that the Diesel Detective is suitable laboratory-type elemental carbon (EC) analyzer for measuring DPM from raw diesel exhaust. mounted in a trailer (Davies, 2000); however, be­ The PRL tailpipe monitor system described in this cause of the size and cost, it is not truly a field work was developed through a cooperative research type of instrument. What would be useful is a and development agreement between SKC, Inc. small simple device that the mechanics could (Eighty Four, PA, USA), and the NIOSH/PRL. The use during a gas emission-level check to also de­ development was an extension of a Dust Dosimeter termine when an engine begins to emit excessive that used similar principles to provide a qualitative levels of DPM. assessment of workplace-respirable dust levels One of the challenges of sampling combustion (Volkwein et al., 2000; Page et al., 2000). This paper aerosols is the changing nature of the particulate describes the relationship of near-real-time DP matter as it cools and condenses into the atmo­ measurements with the amount of EC deposited on sphere. The presence of water as a product of com­ a filter collected from raw diesel tailpipe exhaust. bustion normally precludes collecting aerosols on This method is suitable for periodic measurements filters unless heated sampling lines or a quantitative of DPM emission in field conditions. The results volume of dilution air is provided. The ability to can be used to determine when servicing is necessary collect a dry filter sample in raw exhaust gas is to minimize DPM emissions or to determine if a par­ even more difficult in some engines used in under­ ticular engine exceeds normal operating emission ground coal mining because of the requirement to levels in coal mine service. Initial laboratory results pass exhaust gas through a water trap to cool and from NIOSH, results of the Australian laboratory thus prevent possible ignition of mine gas and coal and field testing are presented. A previously pre­ dust. sented paper described similar results when using The chemical and physical complexity of DPM this technique for hot exhaust gas streams exceeding further complicates measurement techniques. The 100°C (Mischler et al., 2005). While the focus of this National Institute for Occupational Safety and paper has been toward mining applications, there are Health (NIOSH) recommends that EC be the marker considerable applications of tailpipe monitoring in for DPM as analyzed by NIOSH Analytical Method over-the-road and off-road diesel emission monitoring. DESCRIPTION OF THE DEVICE This device, known as the Diesel Detective uses two components to determine tailpipe DPM levels. The first component is a detector tube that is placed directly into the exhaust tailpipe and contains a filter, holder and aqueous denuder for control of moisture on the filter. The second component is a handheld programmable pump that is connected Fig. 1. Principal components of detector tube. to the detector tube. This pump automatically takes a predetermined sample and calculates the differ­ ence in pressure across the filter in the tube from Pocket Pump® the beginning to the end of a sample. The pump Early stages of testing used a commercially avail­ currently reports the DP but, if properly calibrated, able SKC Pocket Pump® (SKC Inc.).