40 CFR § 60.4380 - How are excess emissions and monitor downtime defined for NOX?

For the purpose of reports required under § 60.7(c), periods of excess emissions and monitor downtime that must be reported are defined as follows:

(a) For turbines using water or steam to fuel ratio monitoring:

(1) An excess emission is any unit operating hour for which the 4-hour rolling average steam or water to fuel ratio, as measured by the continuous monitoring system, falls below the acceptable steam or water to fuel ratio needed to demonstrate compliance with § 60.4320, as established during the performance test required in § 60.8. Any unit operating hour in which no water or steam is injected into the turbine when a fuel is being burned that requires water or steam injection for NOX control will also be considered an excess emission.

(2) A period of monitor downtime is any unit operating hour in which water or steam is injected into the turbine, but the essential parametric data needed to determine the steam or water to fuel ratio are unavailable or invalid.

(3) Each report must include the average steam or water to fuel ratio, average fuel consumption, and the combustion turbine load during each excess emission.

(b) For turbines using continuous emission monitoring, as described in §§ 60.4335(b) and 60.4345:

(1) An excess emissions is any unit operating period in which the 4-hour or 30-day rolling average NOX emission rate exceeds the applicable emission limit in § 60.4320. For the purposes of this subpart, a “4-hour rolling average NOX emission rate” is the arithmetic average of the average NOX emission rate in ppm or ng/J (lb/MWh) measured by the continuous emission monitoring equipment for a given hour and the three unit operating hour average NOX emission rates immediately preceding that unit operating hour. Calculate the rolling average if a valid NOX emission rate is obtained for at least 3 of the 4 hours. For the purposes of this subpart, a “30-day rolling average NOX emission rate” is the arithmetic average of all hourly NOX emission data in ppm or ng/J (lb/MWh) measured by the continuous emission monitoring equipment for a given day and the twenty-nine unit operating days immediately preceding that unit operating day. A new 30-day average is calculated each unit operating day as the average of all hourly NOX emissions rates for the preceding 30 unit operating days if a valid NOX emission rate is obtained for at least 75 percent of all operating hours.

(2) A period of monitor downtime is any unit operating hour in which the data for any of the following parameters are either missing or invalid: NOX concentration, CO2 or O2 concentration, fuel flow rate, steam flow rate, steam temperature, steam pressure, or megawatts. The steam flow rate, steam temperature, and steam pressure are only required if you will use this information for compliance purposes.

(3) For operating periods during which multiple emissions standards apply, the applicable standard is the average of the applicable standards during each hour. For hours with multiple emissions standards, the applicable limit for that hour is determined based on the condition that corresponded to the highest emissions standard.

(c) For turbines required to monitor combustion parameters or parameters that document proper operation of the NOX emission controls:

(1) An excess emission is a 4-hour rolling unit operating hour average in which any monitored parameter does not achieve the target value or is outside the acceptable range defined in the parameter monitoring plan for the unit.

(2) A period of monitor downtime is a unit operating hour in which any of the required parametric data are either not recorded or are invalid.