ARP1533B: Procedure for the Analysis and Evaluation of Gaseous Emissions from Aircraft Engines

Features

Issuing Committee: E-31 Aircraft Eng Gas and Particulate Emissions Measurement

Scope

Content

SAE Aerospace Recommended Practice ARP1533 is a procedure for the analysis and evaluation of the measured composition of the exhaust gas from aircraft engines. Measurements of carbon monoxide, carbon dioxide, total hydrocarbon, and the oxides of nitrogen are used to deduce emission indices, fuel-air ratio, combustion efficiency, and exhaust gas thermodynamic properties. The emission indices (EI) are the parameters of critical interest to the engine developers and the atmospheric emissions regulatory agencies because they relate engine performance to environmental impact.

While this procedure is intended to guide the analysis and evaluation of the emissions from aircraft gas turbine engines, the methodology may be applied to the analysis of the exhaust products of any hydrocarbon/air combustor. Some successful applications include:

Aircraft engine combustor development rig tests (aviation kerosene fueled)
Stationary source combustor development rig tests (natural gas and diesel fueled)
Afterburning military engine tests (aviation jet fueled)
Internal combustion aircraft engine diagnostics (AVGAS fueled)

Each application may be characterized by very different measured emissions levels (parts per million versus percent by volume) but this common approach solves the same basic combustion chemical equation.

This revision of ARP1533 assumes that major advances will occur in gas analysis technology in the near future. New instruments will be accepted by the regulatory agencies such that it will no longer be appropriate to specify the measurement method for each chemical species.

The matrix method of solving the combustion chemical equation is recommended because of all the potential variations in exhaust gas measurement requirements. Changes in the fuel type, addition of diluents, addition of measured species, and options for wet or dry basis measurements are most easily handled by revising individual matrix row equations. Matrix solution software is widely available on personal computers. However, derivation of the algebraic solution of the chemical equation is retained for traceability to previous versions of this document. New sections have been added to this document that pertain to data quality checks, measurement uncertainty, and water content calculations.

Rationale

Content: SAE Aerospace Recommended Practice ARP1533A is being revised to resolve two discrepancies and to correct several typographical errors. The first discrepancy concerned the third column in Table 1 that listed the molecular weights for a variety of fuels. In both ARP1533A and ICAO Annex 16, the molecular weight of fuel used in the calculation of the emission indices and air to fuel ratio is defined as m(M_C + α M_H). The third column in Table 1 has been eliminated to avoid confusion with other listings of fuel weights.

The second discrepancy concerned the units of the interference coefficients and the form of the interference correction equations. The original AIR1533 described the interference effects as either a “zero shift” or a “concentration factor” effect. ICAO Annex 16 and ARP1256 specify the maximum limits of each interference coefficient with units for each parameter:

The interference effects on the CO measurement were described as “zero shift” effects with the form:

The “zero shift” descriptor is consistent with the units of L and M in the table above. Some number of ppm CO is added to the measured CO concentration for each mole percent CO₂ or H₂O that was present. The interference effects on the NOx measurement were described as a “concentration factor” effect with the form:

The “concentration factor” descriptor is consistent with the units of L’ and M’ in the table above. The measured NOx concentration is multiplied by a factor representing the percent reduction in the NO reading for each mole percent CO₂ or H₂O that was present. The “concentration factor” descriptor is also consistent with the units of J in the table above. The measured CO₂ concentration is multiplied by a factor representing the percent reduction in the CO₂ reading for each mole percent O₂ that was present.

Therefore the units for the interference coefficients and the forms of the interference correction equations must be compatible. ARP1533A incorrectly specified all of the interferences to be zero shifts. Equations 15, 16, 17, 19, 20, 21, and 25 in ARP1533A were modified by leaving out the [NOx]_ms, [NO]_ms, [CO₂]_ms terms to make them compatible with the “P” terms (moles). However Equations 35, 36, 37, 40, and 41 (the equations used in the matrix A) retained the [NOx]_ms, [NO]_ms, [CO₂]_ms terms which is consistent with the ARP1256 units on the interference coefficients. Both of the sample calculations in the ARP1533A used the correct units for the interference coefficients and the correct forms of the equations.

With this ARP1533 revision comes a caution that if in the future the form of interference coefficients are changed, then so too must the form of the correction equations. Every attempt should be made for consistency between ARP1533, ICAO Annex 16 and ARP1256.

Meta Tags

Topics: Emissions measurement
Carbon monoxide
Environmental regulations and standards
Carbon dioxide
Nitrogen oxides
Combustion and combustion processes
Gas turbines

Details

DOI: https://doi.org/10.4271/ARP1533B

Pages: 43

Citation: SAE International Recommended Practice, Procedure for the Analysis and Evaluation of Gaseous Emissions from Aircraft Engines, SAE Standard ARP1533B, Revised January 2013, Issued January 1996, https://doi.org/10.4271/ARP1533B.

Additional Details