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IEE - Environmental Info. requirement. - Stack Emissions Testing Page 6 of 8 In certain locations, stack emissions testing is required upon installation for every cremator to show compliance with emissions limits. Stack emissions testing is the process of ineasuring the actual pollutant output of a cremator under real operating conditions. This involves laboratory technicians coming to the site and inserting sampling or suction probes into the stack to withdraw certain amounts of the exhaust gases during cremator operation. This is accomplished with a vacuum pump that pulls samples out of the stack, through special cooling coils, and through a filter pad. Particulate or solid matter are picked up on the filter pads, where they are weighed with very sensitive scales to determine the exact amount of the cremator is exhausting. Levels of gases such as carbon monoxide, carbon dioxide and oxygen are also verified through stack testing. These gases are generally subjected to special chemicals that measure their quantities in the overall gas stream of the cremator. Under certain conditions, highly accurate measurement of the gases is required, and samples are actually taken in plastic bags to laboratories, where they can be analyzed with more complex equipment. Visible emissions' testing is often associated with laboratory stack testing. • Visible Emissions Testing Visible emissions testing is sometimes necessary to show compliance with visible emissions limits. Visible emissions testing requires a certified smoke watcher to make a visual assessment of the opacity of the smoke coming out of the stack (on a scale of 0% to 100%) every 15 seconds for an hour. The smoke watcher must regularly be recertified by an approved authority, usually every six months. - Daily Logbook In order show compliance with usage limitation, such as limit on the number of cremations or operating hours, a daily logbook may be required. In instances where there is a limit on the total weight of remains per year it may be necessary to estimate the weight or to weigh the body. Equipment Upgrading Existing crematory installations have usually been exempt from regulations adopted after they began operation. However, some states have required existing crematory installations to obtain new permits and upgrade their machinery and operating conditions to new standards, including: - Increasing the operating temperature of the cremation equipment � Increasing retention time (time the exhaust gases spend in the pollution control portion of the equipment) - Lowering the levels of particulate matter and carbon monoxide output from the crematory exhaust. These upgrades can be troublesome for older cremation equipment. Increasing the operating temperature causes the equipment to use more fuel to accomplish the same cremation, raising the equipmenYs exterior temperature and significantly increasing maintenance. Increasing the retention time often requires the addition of more refractory brick chamber to the existing cremation equipment. Space limitations within the cremator or the building can make this difficult. Generally, however, lower levels of particulate and carbon monoxide are not a problem for cremation equipment as it typically operates below the set levels for these two pollutants. Emissions Extensive emissions' testing was conducted on a crematory to determine http://www.ieeco.com/environ2.htm � " " � � � �� 06%21/2001