Keywords

Carbon monoxide, screening model, moves, cal3qhc, fdot

Abstract

Citizens in the United States are fortunate to have an excellent system of roadways and the affluence with which to afford automobiles. The flexibility of travel on demand for most allows for a variety of lifestyles, assists with conducting business, and contributes to the feeling of freedom that most citizens enjoy. The current vehicle fleet, which is primarily powered by internal combustion engines burning fossil fuels, does however contribute to the deterioration of air quality. This effect is particularly significant in metropolitan areas. Motor vehicle exhausts contain several combustion bi-products that pose harmful effects to the environment and human health, in particular. The United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) have selected carbon monoxide (CO) as the air pollutant on which it has based its guidelines for assessing potential air quality impacts from roadway construction (EPA 1992). The design of roadway networks must consider traffic flows, Level of Service (LOS), cost, and National Ambient Air Quality Standards (NAAQS) requirements. In light of the environmental standards it is necessary to model to estimate potential future near-road concentrations of CO. This modeling has two aspects, first determining the rate of pollutant emissions, and second determining how those pollutants disperse near the road. Obtaining a precise, realistic estimate of the near-road CO concentrations under a wide variety of weather and traffic patterns is a potentially huge undertaking. With budgetary constraints in mind, the development of a screening model is appropriate. CO Florida 2012 (COFL2012) is such a model that uses conservative assumptions to predict worst-case, near-road CO concentration. Projects that pass a COFL2012 model run do not require additional air quality modeling. Projects that fail a COFL2012 model run, however, may still be viable, but will require additional, detailed modeling and possibly project modifications. COFL2012 uses tables of emission factors (EFs) that were derived from numerous runs of the EPA's MOtor Vehicle Emission Simulator (MOVES2010a), which is indicated as the preferred model for near-road modeling of CO.(EPA 2009) COFL2012 then inputs the EFs, along with assumed link configurations, geographical assumptions, and user-inputted traffic information into input files that are run through CAL3QHC Version 2.0 (CAL3QHC2), the EPA's approved near-road dispersion model (EPA 1995). COFL2012 is a brand new Florida CO screening model, written from scratch. This author has written the computer code for COFL2012 in Visual Basic, using Microsoft Visual Studios 2010. Visual Studios utilizes the .net Framework 4. COFL2012 is easy to learn, quick to operate, and has been written to allow for future updates simply and easily, whenever the EPA releases updates to the databases that feed MOVES2010a.

Notes

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Graduation Date

2012

Semester

Spring

Advisor

Cooper, C. David

Degree

Master of Science in Environmental Engineering (M.S.Env.E.)

College

College of Engineering and Computer Science

Department

Civil, Environmental, and Construction Engineering

Degree Program

Environmental Engineering

Format

application/pdf

Identifier

CFE0004233

URL

http://purl.fcla.edu/fcla/etd/CFE0004233

Language

English

Release Date

May 2012

Length of Campus-only Access

None

Access Status

Masters Thesis (Open Access)

Subjects

Dissertations, Academic -- Engineering and Computer Science;Engineering and Computer Science -- Dissertations, Academic

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