Air Quality Services

Redhorse Corporation’s environmental and engineering professionals from a variety of industry, government, and regulatory backgrounds are providing a broad range of air quality services to our clients.

Capabilities

The Redhorse team offers a wide range of air quality expertise, including:

• Air quality permitting
• Emissions inventories and emission calculation techniques
• Dispersion modeling and impact analysis
• Compliance and relative accuracy testing
• Air quality and meteorological monitoring and reporting
• Engineering design and evaluation of control technologies
• Hazardous waste combustion permitting and compliance
• Emission reduction programs and pollution prevention techniques
• Strategic planning to reduce environmental risk
• Air quality training.

Air Quality Permitting:  Redhorse staff has supported air permitting for power generation (ranging from emergency generators to advanced combustion turbines for large coal-fired power plants), petrochemical, oil and gas exploration and transmission, mining, manufacturing, construction, airports, hazardous waste incinerators, landfills, and Department of Energy and Department of Defense facilities.  Permitting has involved emission inventories, control technology evaluations (reasonably available control technology [RACT], best available control technology [BACT], lowest achievable emissions rate [LAER], and maximum achievable control technology [MACT]), regulatory support, air quality impact analysis, increment consumption, and evaluation of air quality related values (AQRVs).

Emission Inventories and Emission Calculation Techniques:  The Redhorse air quality professionals have compiled emission inventories for small and large permitting projects for numerous industrial clients, as well as for tribal governments.  We have developed emissions inventories for compliance with Prevention of Significant Deterioration (PSD) and nonattainment permitting regulations, state air quality regulations, and federal Title V and Risk Management Plan (RMP) regulations.  Air emissions were calculated for source categories ranging from simple point sources to large industrial complexes with hundreds of source types, emission characteristics, and fugitive emissions.  Motor vehicle emissions have been evaluated using both the MOBILE6 and NONROAD emission models.

Dispersion Modeling and Impact Analysis:  Redhorse air quality professionals have conducted dispersion modeling for air quality impact analysis of potential emissions of criteria and toxic air pollutants from a variety of stationary, mobile, and nonpoint sources.  We specialize in dispersion modeling for both routine and accidental release scenarios.  Dispersion modeling tools include a variety of standard U.S. Environmental Protection Agency models, such as AERMOD, ISCST3, ISC-PRIME, SCREEN3, SLAB, CALPUFF, and VISCREEN.  We also have experience with transportation models such as CAL3QHC and CALINE3.  Furthermore, our air quality scientists offer expertise in visibility modeling related to regional haze increments and best available retrofit technology (BART).

Compliance and Relative Accuracy Testing:  Our staff has implemented compliance testing that includes criteria and toxic air pollutants for a variety of sources, including boilers, turbines, and internal combustion engines.  Our services include verification of control equipment removal efficiency and certification and annual Relative Accuracy Test Audits (RATA) for Continuous Emission Monitoring Systems (CEMS).

Air Quality and Meteorological Monitoring and Reporting:  We routinely conduct meteorological and ambient air quality monitoring for criteria pollutants, including air monitoring program development and implementation designed to analyze ambient concentrations of criteria and hazardous air pollutants.  Our air quality professionals are also experienced in visibility and radiation monitoring and reporting.  We have provided monitoring and reporting services for clients ranging from uranium mines and mills to tribal air quality programs.

Engineering Design and Evaluation of Control Technologies:  Redhorse is providing professional engineering support for design and evaluation of various control technologies for nitrogen oxides, sulfur dioxide, carbon monoxide, fine particulates, and acid gases.  Our air quality engineers and scientists have conducted BACT, RACT, LAER, and MACT evaluations for various industries and have managed performance guarantee testing for emissions controls on utility boilers.

Hazardous Waste Combustion:  Our work in this arena has involved calculating hazardous air pollutant emissions for various source categories, including storage tanks; process heaters and boilers; barge, tank, and railcar loading operations; printing lines; and process vents.  We have helped clients in both government and the private sector in permitting the most advanced hazardous waste incinerators.

Emission Reduction Programs and Pollution Prevention Techniques:  Redhorse air quality professionals are skilled at applying our experience in cost-effective pollution reductions for both natural gas- and coal fired-generation and incorporating our regulatory experience in applying BACT and LAER for the various control options.  Our staff has experience in reviewing and recommending low-cost pollution reduction options for routine operations.

Strategic Planning to Reduce Environmental Risk:  Redhorse applies our strong regulatory knowledge and experience in helping utilities with strategic planning for generation resources, including renewable and fossil fuel options.  We have assisted clients with optimizing generation at existing sites, including New Source Review (NSR) applicability, and have worked closely with a variety of clients to define areas of risk from current operations, plant retirement, acquisitions, and expansion plans.  Our team of specialists helps clients develop effective tools for reducing environmental risk by establishing partnerships among industries and between industry and government to develop innovative strategies that produce optimum results and avoid litigation or punitive regulatory actions.

Air Quality Training:  Our air quality experts have developed and delivered workshops to teach the fundamentals of air quality permitting, air dispersion modeling, and compliance to a variety of clients.