Articles | Volume 14, issue 2
https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-14-945-2021
© Author(s) 2021. This work is distributed under
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-14-945-2021
© Author(s) 2021. This work is distributed under
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
Research article
| 
08 Feb 2021
Research article |
| 08 Feb 2021
| 08 Feb 2021
Quantifying fugitive gas emissions from an oil sands tailings pond with open-path Fourier transform infrared measurements
Air Quality Research Division, Environment and Climate Change
Canada (ECCC), Toronto, M3H 5T4, Canada
now at: Department of Physics, University of Toronto,
Toronto, M5S 1A7, Canada
Samar G. Moussa
Air Quality Research Division, Environment and Climate Change
Canada (ECCC), Toronto, M3H 5T4, Canada
Lucas Zhang
Alberta Environment and Parks, Edmonton, T5J, 5C6, Canada
Long Fu
Alberta Environment and Parks, Edmonton, T5J, 5C6, Canada
James Beck
Suncor Energy Inc., Calgary, T2P 3Y7, Canada
Air Quality Research Division, Environment and Climate Change
Canada (ECCC), Toronto, M3H 5T4, Canada
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Short summary
Tailings ponds in the Alberta oil sands represent an insufficiently characterized source of fugitive emissions of pollutants to the atmosphere. In this study, a novel approach of using a Fourier transform infrared spectrometer along with measurements of atmospheric turbulence is shown to present a practical, non-intrusive method of quantifying emission rates for ammonia, alkanes, and methane. Results from a 1-month field study are presented and discussed.
Tailings ponds in the Alberta oil sands represent an insufficiently characterized source of...
