§ 63.1656 - Performance testing, test methods, and compliance demonstrations.

§ 63.1656 Performance testing, test methods, and compliance demonstrations.

(a) Performance testing.

(1) All performance tests must be conducted according to the requirements in § 63.7 of subpart A.

(2) Each performance test must consist of three separate and complete runs using the applicable test methods.

(3) Each run must be conducted under conditions that are representative of normal process operations.

(4) Performance tests conducted on air pollution control devices serving submerged arc furnaces must be conducted such that at least one tapping period, or at least 20 minutes of a tapping period, whichever is less, is included in at least two of the three runs. The sampling time for each run must be at least as long as three times the average tapping period of the tested furnace, but no less than 60 minutes.

(5) The sample volume for each run must be at least 0.9 dscm (30 dscf).

(6) You must conduct the performance tests specified in paragraph (c) of this section under such conditions as the Administrator specifies based on representative performance of the affected source for the period being tested. Upon request, you must make available to the Administrator such records as may be necessary to determine the conditions of performance tests.

(b) Test methods. The following test methods in appendix A of part 60 of this chapter must be used to determine compliance with the emission standards.

(1) Method 1 to select the sampling port location and the number of traverse points.

(2) Method 2 to determine the volumetric flow rate of the stack gas.

(3) Method 3 to determine the dry molecular weight of the stack gas.

(4) Method 4 to determine the moisture content of the stack gas.

(5) Method 5 to determine the particulate matter concentration of the stack gas for negative pressure baghouses and positive pressure baghouses with stacks.

(6) Method 5D to determine particulate matter concentration and volumetric flow rate of the stack gas for positive pressure baghouses without stacks.

(7) Method 9 of appendix A-4 A–4 of 40 CFR part 60 to determine opacity. ASTM D7520-13D7520–16, “Standard Test Method for Determining the Opacity of a Plume in the Outdoor Ambient Atmosphere” may be used (incorporated by reference, see § 63.14) with the following conditions:

(i) During the digital camera opacity technique (DCOT) certification procedure outlined in Section 9.2 of ASTM D7520-13D7520–16, the owner or operator or the DCOT vendor must present the plumes in front of various backgrounds of color and contrast representing conditions anticipated during field use such as blue sky, trees and mixed backgrounds (clouds and/or a sparse tree stand).

(ii) The owner or operator must also have standard operating procedures in place including daily or other frequency quality checks to ensure the equipment is within manufacturing specifications as outlined in Section 8.1 of ASTM D7520-13D7520–16.

(iii) The owner or operator must follow the recordkeeping procedures outlined in § 63.10(b)(1) for the DCOT certification, compliance report, data sheets and all raw unaltered JPEGs used for opacity and certification determination.

(iv) The owner or operator or the DCOT vendor must have a minimum of four (4) independent technology users apply the software to determine the visible opacity of the 300 certification plumes. For each set of 25 plumes, the user may not exceed 15 percent opacity of any one reading and the average error must not exceed 7.5 percent opacity.

(v) Use of this approved alternative does not provide or imply a certification or validation of any vendor's hardware or software. The onus to maintain and verify the certification and/or training of the DCOT camera, software and operator in accordance with ASTM D7520-13 D7520–16 and these requirements is on the facility, DCOT operator and DCOT vendor.

(8) The owner or operator may use equivalent alternative measurement methods approved by the Administrator following the procedures described in § 63.7(f) of subpart A.

(c) Compliance demonstration with the emission standards.

(1) The owner or operator must conduct an initial performance test for air pollution control devices or vent stacks subject to § 63.1652(a) through (e) to demonstrate compliance with the applicable emission standards.

(2) The owner or operator must conduct annual performance tests for the air pollution control devices and vent stacks associated with the submerged arc furnaces, with the exception of any air pollution control devices that serve tapping emissions combined with non-furnace emissions, such as the MOR process or equipment associated with crushing and screening. Also excluded are air pollution control devices that serve dedicated non-furnace emissions, such as the MOR process or equipment associated with crushing and screening. The results of these annual tests will be used to demonstrate compliance with the emission standards in § 63.1652(a) through (e), as applicable.

(3) Following development, and approval, if required, of the site-specific test plan, the owner or operator must conduct a performance test for each air pollution control device or vent stack to measure particulate matter and determine compliance with the applicable standard.

(i) An owner or operator of sources subject to the particulate matter concentration standards in § 63.1652(a)(2), (d), or (e), must determine compliance as follows:

(A) Determine the particulate matter concentration using Method 5 or 5D, as applicable.

(B) Compliance is demonstrated if the average concentration for the three runs comprising the performance test does not exceed the standard.

(ii) An owner or operator of sources subject to the particulate mass rate standards in § 63.1652(b) or (c) must determine compliance as follows:

(A) Determine the particulate matter concentration and volumetric flow rate using Method 5 or 5D, as applicable.

(B) Compute the mass rate (E_M) of particulate matter for each run using the following equation:

Where:

E_M = mass rate of particulate matter, kg/hr (lb/hr).

N = total number of exhaust streams at which emissions are quantified.

C_si = concentration of particulate matter from exhaust stream “i”, mg/dscm (gr/dscf).

Q_sdi = volumetric flow rate of effluent gas from exhaust stream “i”, dscm/hr (dscf/hr)

K = conversion factor, 1 × 10⁶ mg/kg (7,000 gr/lb).

(C) Compliance is demonstrated if the average of the mass rates for the three runs comprising the performance test does not exceed the standard.

(iii) An owner or operator of sources subject to the particulate matter process-weighted rate standard in § 63.1652(a)(1) must determine compliance as follows:

(A) Determine particulate matter concentration and volumetric flow rate using Method 5 or 5D, as applicable.

(B) Compute the process-weighted mass rate (E_P) of particulate matter for each run using the following equation:

Where:

E_P = process-weighted mass rate of particulate matter, kg/hr/MW (lb/hr/MW).

N = total number of exhaust streams at which emissions are quantified.

C_si = concentration of particulate matter from exhaust stream “i”, mg/dscm (gr/dscf)

Q_sdi = volumetric flow rate of effluent gas from exhaust stream “i”, dscm/hr (dscf/hr)

P = Average furnace power input, MW

K = conversion factor, 1 × 10⁶ mg/kg (7,000 gr/lb).

(C) Compliance is demonstrated if the average process-weighted mass rate for the three runs comprising the performance test does not exceed the standard.

(4) If a venturi scrubber is used to comply with the emission standards, the owner or operator must establish as a site-specific operating parameter the lowest average pressure drop on any individual complying run in the three runs constituting any compliant test. The pressure drop must be monitored at least every 5 minutes during the test and hourly averages recorded.

(i) [Reserved]

(ii) The owner or operator may augment the data obtained under paragraph (a)(4) of this section by conducting multiple performance tests to establish a range of compliant operating parameter values. The lowest value of this range would be selected as the operating parameter monitoring value. The use of historic compliance data may be used to establish the compliant operating parameter value if the previous values were recorded during performance tests using the same test methods specified in this subpart and established as required in paragraph (a)(4) of this section.

(d) Compliance demonstration with opacity standards.

(1)

(i) The owner or operator subject to § 63.1653 must conduct initial opacity observations of the shop building to demonstrate compliance with the applicable opacity standards according to § 63.6(h)(5), which addresses the conduct of opacity or visible emission observations.

(ii) In conducting the opacity observations of the shop building, the observer must limit his or her field of view to the area of the shop building roof monitor that corresponds to the placement of the affected submerged arc furnaces.

(iii) The owner or operator must conduct the opacity observations according to EPA Method 9 of 40 CFR part 60, appendix A, for a minimum of 60 minutes.

(2)

(i) When demonstrating initial compliance with the shop building opacity standard, as required by paragraph (d)(1) of this section, the owner or operator must simultaneously establish parameter values for one of the following: the control system fan motor amperes and all capture system damper positions, the total volumetric flow rate to the air pollution control device and all capture system damper positions, or volumetric flow rate through each separately ducted hood that comprises the capture system.

(ii) The owner or operator may petition the Administrator to reestablish these parameters whenever he or she can demonstrate to the Administrator's satisfaction that the submerged arc furnace operating conditions upon which the parameters were previously established are no longer applicable. The values of these parameters determined during the most recent demonstration of compliance must be maintained at the appropriate level for each applicable period.

(3) The owner or operator must demonstrate continuing compliance with the opacity standards by following the monitoring requirements specified in § 63.1657(c) and the reporting and recordkeeping requirements specified in §§ 63.1659(b)(4) and 63.1660(b).

(e) Compliance demonstration with the operational and work practice standards - —

(1) Fugitive dust sources . Failure to have a fugitive dust control plan or failure to report deviations from the plan and take necessary corrective action would be a violation of the general duty to ensure that fugitive dust sources are operated and maintained in a manner consistent with good air pollution control practices for minimizing emissions per § 63.1652(f).

(2) Baghouses equipped with bag leak detection systems. The owner or operator demonstrates compliance with the bag leak detection system requirements by submitting reports as required by § 63.1659(b)(5) showing that the alarm on the system does not sound for more than 5 percent of the total operating time in a 6-month period. Calculate the percentage of total operating time the alarm on the bag leak detection system sounds as follows:

(i) Do not include alarms that occur due solely to a malfunction of the bag leak detection system in the calculation.

(ii) [Reserved]

(iii) Count 1 hour of alarm time for each alarm where the owner or operator initiates procedures to determine the cause within 1 hour of the alarm.

(iv) Count the actual time it takes the owner or operator to initiate procedures to determine the cause of the alarm for each alarm where the owner or operator does not initiate procedures to determine the cause within 1 hour of the alarm.

(v) Calculate the percentage of time the alarm on the bag leak detection system sounds as the ratio of the sum of alarm times to the total operating time multiplied by 100.

[64 FR 27458, May 20, 1999, as amended at 71 FR 20462, Apr. 20, 2006; 80 FR 37399, June 30, 2015; 82 FR 5409, Jan. 18, 2017]