Air quality aspects of the White River shale project

The White River Shale Project included a study effort to develop estimates of potential changes in air quality which could be expected to result from implementation of the project. This proposed project in E. Utah would, at full-scale operation, include the mining, crushing, and retorting of 160,000 tons/day of oil shale to produce 100,000 bpd of crude shale oil. Estimates of potential atmospheric emissions from the proposed processes were derived; as many as 47 potential point and area sources were identified. Atmospheric contaminants considered included particulates, sulfur oxides, nitrogen oxides, hydrocarbons, and carbon monoxide. The geometry of source terms, which varied for each contaminant, was complex. An estimate of emissions for each species was made in order to arrive at reasonable estimates of short- and long-term downwind concentrations. It was also necessary to estimate stack heights for a large number of elevated sources, and to make concurrent vertical height adjustments in design-stage stacks to achieve acceptable air quality in the environment. This study discusses the means by which a large number of sources were handled utilizing several computer programs available from the Environmental Protection Agency.