Figure 5.20 Hydrogen Fluoride Emissions Profile
Hydrogen Fluoride Emission Estimates
Hydrogen fluoride (HF) is an acidic gas released to air from combustion of fuels which contain trace amounts of fluoride. Some industrial processes use HF as a an acidic reagent (or produce HF), giving rise to emissions. HF is chemically very similar to HCl.
Hydrogen fluoride emissions for the UK are presented here for the first time. As expected, the emissions of HF displays a similar source pattern to HCl (see Section 5.4). However, the emissions of HF from the power generation sector do not account for such a high percentage of the total (see Table 5.12). The reduction of the emissions from this sector with time is an indication of the increased use of emissions abatement equipment. Emissions of HF from the residential sector are noted to have decreased with time. This is due to the decreasing use of coal in domestic heating. These trends with time are highlighted in Figure 5.20.
Table 5.12 UK Emissions of Hydrogen Fluoride by UN/ECE Source Category and Fuel (kt)
|
1970 |
1980 |
1990 |
1991 |
1992 |
1993 |
1994 |
1995 |
1996 |
1997 |
1998 |
1999 |
1999% |
|
|
BY UN/ECE CATEGORY1 |
|||||||||||||
|
Comb. in Energy Prod. |
|||||||||||||
|
Public Power |
6.1 |
7.1 |
6.6 |
6.5 |
6.1 |
5.1 |
4.6 |
3.5 |
2.9 |
2.0 |
2.1 |
1.8 |
47% |
|
Other Comb. & Trans. |
2.8 |
1.1 |
1.0 |
0.9 |
0.8 |
0.8 |
0.8 |
0.8 |
0.8 |
0.8 |
0.8 |
0.8 |
21% |
|
Comb. in Comm/Inst/Res |
|||||||||||||
|
Residential Plant |
1.8 |
0.8 |
0.4 |
0.4 |
0.4 |
0.4 |
0.4 |
0.2 |
0.2 |
0.2 |
0.2 |
0.2 |
7% |
|
Comm/Pub/Agri Comb. |
0.4 |
0.2 |
0.1 |
0.1 |
0.1 |
0.1 |
0.1 |
0.0 |
0.1 |
0.1 |
0.0 |
0.0 |
1% |
|
Combustion in Industry |
|||||||||||||
|
Iron & Steel Comb. |
0.1 |
0.0 |
0.0 |
0.0 |
0.0 |
0.0 |
0.0 |
0.0 |
0.0 |
0.0 |
0.0 |
0.0 |
0% |
|
Other Ind. Comb. |
1.8 |
0.8 |
0.8 |
0.8 |
0.8 |
0.8 |
0.8 |
0.8 |
0.7 |
0.7 |
0.6 |
0.5 |
14% |
|
Production Processes |
0.5 |
1.8 |
1.3 |
1.4 |
1.1 |
1.1 |
1.1 |
1.1 |
1.1 |
1.1 |
1.1 |
0.4 |
10% |
|
TOTAL |
13.6 |
11.8 |
10.2 |
10.1 |
9.4 |
8.2 |
7.6 |
6.4 |
5.7 |
4.9 |
4.8 |
3.7 |
100% |
1 See Appendix 4 for definition of UN/ECE Categories
Figure 5.20 Hydrogen Fluoride Emissions Profile