BOARD MEETING DATE: March 2, 2007
AGENDA NO. 6

Execute Five Agreements to Cosponsor Research Projects

SYNOPSIS:

CARB research staff has requested cofunding from the AQMD for five research projects including three technology demonstration projects and two health-related projects.  The technology demonstration projects consist of an advanced ammonia storage system for selective catalytic reduction (SCR) systems, an innovative fueling technology to reduce liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) emissions, and a new instrument for measuring tailpipe PM emissions of in-use vehicles.  The first health-related project compares air pollution levels by time and location with the mortality in California residents, while the second extends an on-going project comparing air pollution levels with cardiopulmonary disease in a large group of California teachers. This action is to approve cofunding for these five projects at an amount not to exceed $795,814 from the Clean Fuels Fund.  The total cost of these projects is $2,376,310. 

COMMITTEE:

Technology, February 26, 2007, Recommended for Approval

RECOMMENDED ACTIONS:

1. Authorize the Chairman to execute agreements with the California Air Resources Board to:

1. Demonstrate “Retrofit SCR for NOx Emission Reduction Using Crystalline Matrix Storage for Ammonia,” in an amount not to exceed $78,500 from the Clean Fuels Fund;
2. Demonstrate LPG Stop-Fill Unit,” in an amount not to exceed $75,000 from the Clean Fuels Fund;
3. Demonstrate “Particulate Measurement Device for In-Use Vehicles,” in an amount not to exceed $125,000 from the Clean Fuels Fund;
4. Conduct research project “Spatiotemporal Analysis of Air Pollution and Mortality in California Based on the American Cancer Society Cohort,” in an amount not to exceed $374,988 from the Clean Fuels Fund; and
5. Conduct research project “Extended Analyses of Air Pollution and Cardiopulmonary Disease in the California Teachers Study Cohort,” in an amount not to exceed $142,326 from the Clean Fuels Fund.

Barry R. Wallerstein, D.Env.
Executive Officer

Background

The California Air Resources Board (CARB) has been directed by the state Legislature to carry out an effective research program as part of its efforts to reduce air pollution.  CARB staff has worked with AQMD staff to identify several research projects with direct benefits to the residents of the South Coast Air Basin.  With limited research funds at the state level, CARB has requested co-funding from the AQMD for the following five demonstration and research projects:

• Retrofit SCR for NOx Emission Reduction Using Crystalline Matrix Storage for Ammonia;
   
• LPG Stop-Fill Unit;
   
• Particulate Measurement Device for In-Use Vehicles;
   
• Spatiotemporal Analysis of Air Pollution and Mortality in California Based on the American Cancer Society Cohort; and,
   
• Extended Analyses of Air Pollution and Cardiopulmonary Disease in the California Teachers Study Cohort.

Proposal

Staff recommends that the Governing Board approve co-funding for the following five projects.

Retrofit SCR for NOx Emission Reduction Using Crystalline Matrix Storage for Ammonia
Extengine Transport Systems, LLC (Extengine) will demonstrate a new method of storing ammonia gas for its retrofit SCR systems.  SCR systems reduce NOx emissions through the injection of a reductant into the exhaust gas followed by a special catalytic converter; the common SCR reductants are ammonia and urea.  An innovative storage technology has been developed by Amminex A/S which stores gaseous ammonia in solid magnesium hexa-ammine chloride blocks within the crystal lattice structure of this material.  The storage system includes a monolithic substrate which stores the ammonia gas, a substrate heating element, an ammonia-release control module (ECU) for the heating element, various sensors to provide pressure and temperature information to the ECU, and a small gas storage reservoir.  Existing mobile retrofit SCR systems can benefit from a solid storage technology in lieu of ammonia gas cylinders due to the reduced handling cost and reduced safety hazard for operation and gas storage.

The project tasks consist of a prototype fabrication, laboratory demonstration, emission testing and a field demonstration of two units.  This demonstration can potentially lead to CARB or U.S. EPA verification of this system.   The goals of this project are to obtain data that supports (1) adding the solid ammonia storage system to the verified ADEC1 SCR system, and (2) extending the verification to include other off-road and, possibly on-road diesel engines.

This project was solicited and selected for funding by CARB through its Innovative Clean Air Technologies (ICAT) program.

LPG Stop-Fill Unit
During the refilling of residential liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) tanks, LPG (or, propane) is emitted into the atmosphere.  These emissions occur through a valve referred to as an outage gage or spitter valve that is left open in order to help fill the tank, to know when a prescribed tank level has been reached and to prevent overfilling.  The outage valve assembly includes a thin tube which pierces the shell of the tank.  The lower end of the tube is at the maximum fill level inside the tank.  The outage valve and tube are continuously open during refilling, and LPG is vented into the atmosphere throughout the process.  The maximum fill level is reached when the liquid level in the tank reaches the bottom of the tube, at which point a white cloud of LPG and frozen condensation sprays out of the tank, indicating to the operator to stop filling.

ASCENT (Adept Science and Technologies, LLC) has developed a technology to eliminate these refilling emissions.  This stop-fill technology uses proprietary acoustic sensors to non-invasively and non-intrusively signal when the LPG has reached a predetermined maximum fill level inside storage tanks.  This will allow residential LPG tanks to be filled with the outage gauge closed, thus eliminating the LPG emissions that occur during refilling. 

During this project 15 stop-fill devices will be fabricated.  These will then be demonstrated at two LPG stations.  The design will be revised as necessary and a final report provided.

This project was solicited and selected for funding by CARB through its Innovative Clean Air Technologies (ICAT) program.

Particulate Measurement Device for In-Use Vehicles
Environmental Systems Products Holdings, Inc. (ESP) has developed an instrument called an Electronic Tailpipe PM Sensor (or ETaPS) that measures PM emissions from exhaust particles as small as 10 nm using a simple electrostatic method.  Particles in the exhaust are charged with a corona discharge, and the total electrical charge is then measured.  The amount of charge is proportional to the particle’s active surface area and to the PM mass.  The instrument is calibrated by correlating these charge measurement with conventional PM test data using filters.  Such a low-cost instrument could be used for diesel vehicles as well as stationary-engine measurements.

Another part of ESP’s business is remote sensing for the detection of high-emitting vehicles and the development of remote sensing devices (RSD).  The overall goal of this project is to correlate ETaPS measurements with RSD and conventional PM filter-based measurements.  Potentially, the ETaPS can become a low-cost PM instrument for a diesel vehicle inspection and maintenance (I& M) program.

This project will have three tasks.  During the first task, emission testing will be conducted on a small number of trucks correlating ETaPS PM measurements with RSD and filter-based measurements.  Testing will include the full UDDS, EC13, CBD, and several other driving cycles.  During the second task, a greater number of heavy-duty diesel vehicles will be recruited from truck and bus fleets.  Emissions measurements and correlations between the ETaPS-based system and RSD and filter-based system will also be performed on a narrower suite of test driving cycles.  Additional information will also be collected on vehicle operating parameters during this task.  In the third task, the viability of an I& M program based on ETaPS measurements and RSD screening measurements will be evaluated. On-road trucks and buses will be screened by the RSD, and detected gross emitters will be referred to a test station.  There, an abbreviated test cycle will be performed using the ETaPS using the correlations developed in the first two tasks.  It is anticipated that the initial emission cut-points for an ETaPS-based I& M program can also be developed.

This project was solicited and selected for funding by CARB through its Innovative Clean Air Technologies (ICAT) program.

Spatiotemporal Analysis of Air Pollution and Mortality in California Based on the American Cancer Society Cohort
This proposal is to co-fund an analysis of mortality and its relation to air pollutant levels in a cohort of individuals from the American Cancer Society (ACS) cohort.  This is a national cohort recruited by the ACS for a long-term study and includes over 95,000 residents in California.  Information of various health risk factors, dietary, lifestyle, demographic, occupational and educational influences have also been collected for this cohort.

The proposed project will analyze deaths in this group between 1982 and 2000 and the levels of air pollution estimated from available monitoring data at the residence of each member.  The researchers will use a geospatial interpolation method previously developed to estimate the pollutant levels.  This is an innovative method for large scale studies, and is thought to give a more accurate measure of pollutant exposure than using a central city monitor or average of several monitors in a geographic area.

Previous work by the researchers on a Southern California cohort found higher health effects from exposure to particulate matter than studies using national cohorts.  The proposed study will use a much larger number of study subjects residing in major cities throughout the state and will provide for a larger statistical power for the analyses.  The proposed project will be conducted by the University of California at Berkeley.

This project has been reviewed and approved by the CARB Research Screening Committee.

Extended Analyses of Air Pollution and Cardiopulmonary Disease in the California Teachers Study Cohort
The California Teacher Study is an ongoing cohort study of over 100,000 female school teachers.  Previous studies of this cohort have found associations of long-term exposure to PM2.5, CO, and NO2 with increased risk of heart attacks and stroke, and well as an association of PM2.5 with mortality. 

This proposal is to extend the analyses using different exposure periods, will include additional disease categories, and will examine associations of disease and death with specific components of PM2.5 such as elemental carbon, nitrates, and sulfates.  In addition, the investigators will assess the relation of metrics related to traffic emissions and adverse health effects.

The proposed project will be conducted by investigators from the California Department of Health Services, in collaboration with the California Office of Health Hazard assessment and the University of California at Berkeley. 

This project has been reviewed and approved by the CARB Research Screening Committee.

Benefits to AQMD

The demonstration project of Retrofit SCR for NOx Emission Reduction Using Crystalline Matrix Storage for Ammonia is included in the March 2006 update of the Technology Advancement Plan under Develop and Demonstrate Advanced Aftertreatment Technologies.  This project will develop and demonstrate a new reductant storage which can facilitate the use of SCR in both mobile and stationary diesel engine applications.  SCR systems have the potential to reduce NOx exhaust emissions by up to 99 percent.  The current inventory of NOx emissions from mobile sources in the Basin is about 1000 tons per day, and about 600 tons per day is needed for compliance in 2014.

The demonstration of LPG Stop-Fill Unit is included in the March 2006 update of the Technology Advancement Plan under Demonstrate Equipment to Reduce Fugitive Fueling Emissions.  This project will demonstrate new technology from ASCENT that could eliminate LPG fugitive fueling emissions.  LPG emissions come from fueling both mobile and stationary storage tanks.  It is estimated that about 30 tons per day of LPG are emitted in the Basin (ASCENT).  LPG contains various VOCs that contribute to ambient ozone formation.  The current inventory of VOC is about 1000 tons per day, and about 600 tons per day is needed for compliance in 2014.

The demonstration of a Particulate Measurement Device for In-Use Vehicles is included in the March 2006 update of the Technology Advancement Plan under Identify and Demonstrate In-Use Fleet Emission Reductions.  This project will demonstrate a low-cost PM measurement technology that can be utilized for inspecting and correcting excess PM emissions from diesel vehicles in the in-use fleet.  Current measurement technology is unable to fully characterize excessive PM emissions.  This new technology under the Smog Check program would be capable of quickly identifying excessive emissions as well as validating their repair.  Approximately 10 tons per day of PM are emitted into the basin from on-road diesel vehicles.

The study of Spatiotemporal Analysis of Air Pollution and Mortality in California Based on the American Cancer Society Cohort is included in the March 2006 update of the Technology Advancement Plan under Assess Sources and Health Impacts of Particulate Matter.  The results of this study will provide a more robust estimate of air pollution and mortality risk using a California specific population.  The findings will be directly relevant to determining the appropriate level of PM2.5 that will protect public health and will provide more specific estimates of the benefits of reducing emissions related to PM2.5

The Extended Analyses of Air Pollution and Cardiopulmonary Disease in the California Teachers Study Cohort are included in the March 2006 update of the Technology Advancement Plan under Assess Sources and Health Impacts of Particulate Matter.  The results will be used to determine if any particular components of PM2.5 are more or less associated with adverse effects.  This will provide information useful for determining the benefits of emissions controls for specific PM2.5 precursors.

Sole Source Justification

Section VIII.B.2 of the Procurement Policy and Procedures identifies four major provisions under which a sole source award may be justified.  This request for five sole-source awards is made under provision B.2.d (1): Projects including cost sharing by multiple sponsors.  These five projects are being developed in partnership with CARB which is a major contributing sponsor to each.  In addition for Retrofit Selective Catalyst Reduction (SCR) for NOx Emission Reduction Using Crystalline Matrix Storage for Ammonia, Extengine Transport Systems, LLC, is sharing the project cost.  For Liquefied Petroleum Gas (LPG) Stop-Fill Unit, The Adept Group is sharing the project cost.  For Particulate Measurement Device for In-Use Vehicles, Environmental Systems Products Holdings, Incorporated, is sharing the project cost.

Resource Impacts

Total cost for the five proposed projects is $2,376,310.  AQMD’s share of the cost will not exceed $795,814 and is detailed below.

Sufficient AQMD funds are available in the Clean Fuels Fund, which is established as special revenue from the state-mandated Clean Fuels Program.  The Clean Fuels Program, under Health and Safety Code Sections 40448.5 and 40512 and Vehicle Code Section 9250.11, establishes mechanisms to collect revenues from stationary and mobile sources to support projects to increase the utilization of clean fuels, including the development of the necessary advanced enabling technologies. Funds collected from motor vehicles are restricted, by statute, to be used for projects and program activities related to mobile sources.  Likewise, funds collected from stationary sources must be used for projects and program activities related to stationary sources that support the objective of the Clean Fuels Program.