Assessment of Paved Road Dust Emissions (Road Dust) Modeling

Details

• Creators:
  Hopkins, Francesca M ; Bahreini, Roya ; Venkatram, Akula
• Corporate Creators:
  University of California, Riverside. Department of Mechanical Engineering
• Corporate Contributors:
  California Department of Transportation. Division of Research, Innovation and System Information
• Subject/TRT Terms:
  Air Quality Management Condition Surveys Dust Maintenance Particulates Roads
• Publication/ Report Number:
  CA25-3785
• Resource Type:
  Tech Report
• Geographical Coverage:
  United States;Southern California
• Edition:
  Final Report
• Corporate Publisher:
  California. Department of Transportation
• Abstract:
  Under this project a novel road dust collection system has been designed that utilizes a modified van with a vacuum collection system that samples road dust on freeways. The project has also developed a new mechanistic model for particulate matter (PM) emission estimates as an alternative approach to the EPA's AP-42 model. The test for the road dust collection system has been conducted in a range of traffic flows from 1000 vehicles per hour to 14,0000 vehicles per hour in the State Highway System. The geographic scope of the study occurred in CA-91, CA-60, CA 71, CA 55, I-15, I-215 freeways across 3 counties of southern California. Finally, the project applied the mechanistic model to the collected road dust samples. The van-based road dust collection system effectively sampled road dust on freeways, without disrupting traffic. Further, the researchers demonstrated the utility of the novel mechanistic model, determining the quantity, distribution and additional characteristics of road dust in the test area. The model provides comparable PM emissions estimates to the EPA AP-42 model and may be more broadly applicable to a wider range of conditions, including high traffic. Road dust is a significant pollutant of concern, and this research expanded the state of knowledge regarding how to assess it. The results of this project provide Caltrans and other regulatory agencies a new, efficient, and scalable method for assessing road dust’s impact to air quality on highways and urban roads. If utilized further, this collection system and mechanistic model could extend Caltrans ability to test for road dust across the State Highway System and be used to develop a larger road dust model in the future. Such a model, that more fully characterizes road dust existing conditions and how the pollutant levels change, due to such factors as the increase of electric vehicles adoption, would provide Caltrans and other regulatory agencies a clearer understanding of the scope and scale of road dust, and when to consider regulatory adjustments. The model may also be developed further and potentially considered in the future as a Federal Equivalent Method regarding road dust emissions. That would improve Caltrans transportation project planning process, test new road dust mitigation methods, advance the Department’s compliance with CEQA and NEPA more efficiently, and ultimately support improved public health.
• Format:
  PDF
• Collection(s):
  US Transportation Collection
• Main Document Checksum:
  urn:sha-512:61e79aaeea27486cb578db7ca5c4022f5f96620ecee59325689dc54f33f6d79dd7be7aa82214171ef3586a14f5652c26833c52d60c1a57898eb70f9d8745a171
• Download URL:
  https://rosap.ntl.bts.gov/view/dot/85002/dot_85002_DS1.pdf
• File Type:
  [PDF - 5.15 MB ]