AIR POLLUTION

MONITORING & SAMPLING NEWSLETTER     

January 2010
No. 363

Decisive Classification of Monitoring Technology is Needed

Will Americans be able to speak International English? A U.S. news columnist attended an international conference and was surprised to find that even though the conference was all in English, he and his fellow Americans could not understand the speakers. On the other hand, those people who spoke English as a second language seemed to have no problem. He conjectured that we may reach a point where Americans would be the only ones not understanding International English.

His analysis was focused on the pronunciation. But there is a far more serious threat. The definition of English technical words is now being transformed by the Asians. Here is a very obvious example. If you Google the words “Denitration SCR,” you see a display of links to articles in English by Chinese, Korean and Japanese authors. You also see U.S. patent references but all for applications by Asians.

We are helping the organizers of the “The 14^th Sulfur Dioxide, Nitrogen Oxide, Mercury and Fine Particle Pollution Control Technology Conference” to be held next May in Shanghai. Their website is much better than those for other Chinese conferences in terms of English usage. But they do use “denitration” instead of DeNOx or NO_x reduction. The words “denitration” and denitrifcation have been used to describe elimination or reduction of nitrogen compounds. Since DeNOx eliminates oxygen, denitration is theoretically incorrect. But denitration seems to be the word of choice instead of DeNOx in Asia. Since definitions are ever changing and validated by usage it will not be long before denitration is equally acceptable.

If there is confusion at the highest fluency level, the problem is magnified tremendously as we move down the proficiency scale. Many English versions of conference programs and websites of Asian companies have words, phrases, and whole paragraphs that are either incomprehensible or confusing.

As part of its “Free News” site McIlvaine will be tackling this problem with the development of standard terminology in both English and in Chinese. The first step is to establish the standard classification terms in English. Much of this is already started in the five Air Quality Decision trees.

“Decisive Classification” is displayed at

http://www.mcilvainecompany.com/Universal_Decision_Tree/subscriber/Tree/Default.htm.

The classification system is a foster lineage formed with children from genetic lineages. Here are some foster lineages relevant to monitoring.

 Protocols 协议

Each column is a word or phrase selected from a genetic lineage. CO₂ is a child of Air Quality. Its siblings are DeNOx, FGD, Particulate, SO₃ and Mercury. This is decisive classification because the division is based on the need for unique technology. Theoretically, FGD which involves SO₂ might be the parent of SO₃ but since scrubbers do not do a good job of removing SO3₃ it needs a separate column. 

Using the same decisive logic HCl is not listed as a separate technology. The reason is that the FGD scrubber which captures the SO₂ will also capture the HCL. The opposite is true in classifying air pollution technologies for waste incinerators. HCL would be the major class and SO₂ would be incidental.

 CO₂ Monitors 二氧化碳监测器

 CO₂ Emission Reporting 二氧化碳排放报告

 Electric Generating Units 发电机组

 Federal Regulations 联邦法规  EPA Regulations 环保署法规

 CO₂ Emission Reporting 二氧化碳排放报告

 Greenhouse Gas Reporting Rule 温室气体报告规则

These displays from the McIlvaine CO₂ decisions system also illustrate the way Chinese equivalents are displayed.

Here are some examples from FGD Decisions system.

Electric Utilities - coal-fired boilers – air quality - FGD

Electric Utilities - coal-fired boilers – air quality - FGD

Electric Utilities - coal-fired boilers – air quality - FGD

Electric Utilities - coal-fired boilers – air quality - FGD

Electric Utilities - coal-fired boilers – air quality - FGD

The foster family sequence includes links to extensive data at each step along the way.

Here is an example from the NO_x Decision Tree.

Electric Utilities—coal-fired boilers – air quality - DeNOx

NO_x Continuing Decision Process For: Products

CEM Measurement of NH₃ and Low Level NO_x. Presented by Dan Kietzer, Sick Maihak. Hot Topic Hour October 22, 2009.

http://www.mcilvainecompany.com/NOx_Decision_Tree/subscriber/Tree/DescriptionTextLinks/Dan Kietzer - Sick Maihak 10-22-09.pdf

In-situ - System with Standard Components, presented by Dan Kietzer, Sick Maihak. Hot Topic Hour November 13, 2008.

http://www.mcilvainecompany.com/NOx_Decision_Tree/subscriber/Tree/DescriptionTextLinks/Phillip Zyskowski - Sick Maihak - 11-13-2008 Part 2.pdf

Application SCR DeNOx Plant

http://www.mcilvainecompany.com/NOx_Decision_Tree/subscriber/Tree/DescriptionTextLinks/Sick MaihakMcIlvaine 7-12-07 Presentation.htm

The final examples are from the Particulate Decision Tree.

Electric Utilities—coal-fired boilers – air quality - Particulate

Particulate Continuing Decision Process For: Products

Continuous PM CEMS Update, presented by Jeremy Whorton, ThermoFisher. Hot Topic Hour October 1, 2009.

http://www.mcilvainecompany.com/Particulate_Decision_Tree/subscriber/Tree/DescriptionTextLinks/Jeremy Whorton - ThermoFisher - 10-01-09.pdf

Electric Utilities - coal-fired boilers – air quality - mercury

Mercury Continuing Decision Process For: Products

Managing your HG CEMS Maintenance and Certification. Presented by Terry Marsh, Shaw Environmental Hot Topic Hour March 6, 2008.

http://www.mcilvainecompany.com/MercuryDecision_Tree/subscriber/Tree/DescriptionTextLinks/Terry Marsh, Shaw McIlvaine Presentation March 2008.pdf

CMMS and Appendix K - July 12, 2007

http://www.mcilvainecompany.com/MercuryDecision_Tree/subscriber/Tree/DescriptionTextLinks/Shaw Appendix K Hot Topic Pres.htm

Hg Monitoring Update - April 12, 2007

http://www.mcilvainecompany.com/MercuryDecision_Tree/subscriber/Tree/DescriptionTextLinks/Hot Topic Hg Presentation April 2007.pdf

Back to Monitoring Newsletter No. 363 Table of Contents