The City of Manassas Sees a Clear Solution with CleanAIR

Santa Fe, NM – April 24, 2006 – When you see black smoke from a diesel engine billowing into the air, should you be concerned for your health? According to a recent report by the U.S. Public Interest Research Group (U.S. PIRG), the fine particle or “soot” pollution associated with diesel black smoke contributes to serious health conditions such as asthma attacks, strokes, heart attacks, and lung cancer. This could ultimately lead to the premature death of 70,000 Americans over the next 20 years, according to U.S. PIRG analysis, if levels of fine particle pollution are not reduced to recommended standards. Understanding the public health threat of particulate pollution, the City of Manassas Utility Department has taken action, making environmental concerns along with the health safety of their employees and customers a “top priority”. For a solution to eliminating visible black smoke and reducing fine particle pollution at the city’s power generation plant, Manassas turned to CleanAIR Systems, Inc.

After completing a two-year study, the Virginia Municipal Electric Association (VMEA), a seven-member purchase power group including the City of Manassas, established a pilot program in November of 2005 to install the first of sixteen regenerating (self-cleaning) exhaust filter/silencer systems on their diesel electric generators located at the VMEA Generation Plant in Manassas, Virginia. CleanAIR Systems of Santa Fe, New Mexico was contracted to design and manufacture the exhaust systems. After initial testing, Energy Services Manager, Brett Massey stated, “we are exceptionally pleased with the first filter. The test results are showing about a 90 percent reduction in visible emissions.” The installation of the remaining fifteen filter/silencer systems is scheduled for completion by the end of April.

An integrated manufacturer of diesel emission control systems since 1993, CleanAIR Systems approaches each project as a customized design, tailored to fit a client’s specific pollution requirements and installation space. With the VMEA’s stand-by generators, an emissions control system was needed to substantially decrease particulate matter (black smoke), carbon monoxide, hydrocarbons and the odor associated with these emissions. This was achieved by installing the CleanAIR PERMIT™ Filter, a regenerating catalyzed particulate filter, verified by the California Air Resources Board (CARB) to reduce more than 85 percent of particulate matter emitted by diesel emergency stand-by generators.

The filter works by trapping carbon particles within a catalyzed honeycomb ceramic substrate. When the engine exhaust temperature increases past a certain level, the filter self-cleans by oxidizing the particulate into harmless carbon dioxide, at the same time, decreasing other harmful gaseous emissions. “We are working towards a 0 percent opacity level by May,” says Jamie Hester, the Generation Supervisor at the power plant. “That means no visible black smoke.”

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has designated many large metropolitan areas located in the Mid-Atlantic States, including several counties in Virginia and the District of Columbia, as having high levels of fine particle pollution, exceeding the daily national health standard. By lowering particle pollution by more than 90 percent at its power generation plant, The City of Manassas, along with CleanAIR Systems, is working to change this statistic, protect the public health of the county and help create a cleaner environment for Virginia.