What is Particulate Matter?
Particulate Matter (referred to as Dust in the MCPD and also as PM), can be found in sizes that range from a few nanometres to around 100 micrometres (100 ฮผm, about the thickness of a human hair).
Diesel gensets used in industrial, commercial and power generation applications are a primary source of particulate matter.
- Why is particulate matter so bad?
PM can have a detrimental affect on health. Particulates have the greatest impact on people with pre-existing lung or heart conditions, the elderly and children. There is evidence that short- and long-term exposure to particulate matter causes respiratory and cardiovascular illness.
- What are we doing about dust emissions?
The UK implementation of the Medium Combustion Plant Directive imposes different dust limits (either 10 or 20mg/Nm3) depending on the plant size and date of installation (this does not apply to engines running on gas oil i.e EN590 Diesel).
The non-road mobile machinery regulations imposes a limit of 0.025g/kWh for particulate matter.
Clean Air Zones will be particularly important for the reduction in PM. In the first 5 years of London’s Clean Air Zone, particulate matter dropped by 3.1% according to the BBC.
5 new Clean Air Zones will be implemented by 2020, and they will be located in: Birmingham, Derby, Southampton, Nottingham and Leeds.