Industrial Boiler MACT Rule
Reading the article on the Industrial Boiler MACT Rule (“Understanding the Industrial Boiler MACT Rule,” June 2010, http://bit.ly/d1jFga) leads me to this question: Do we need to be addressing our boilers for compliance? I work for a rural hospital with three locations. We have a variety of boilers dating from 1957 to our newest, installed last year with NOx- (nitrogen-oxide-) measurement devices. Can you give me any guidance?
David Schairbaum
Community Hospitals and Wellness Centers
Bryan, Ohio
Author's response:
The first criterion for Boiler MACT applicability is that your boilers must be located at a facility that is a major source of hazardous air pollutants (HAP). A major source of HAP is any facility with the potential to emit (PTE) more than 10 tons of a single HAP or more than 25 total tons of HAP in a single year. If your facility is not a major source, then your boilers are not subject to the rule. Typically, a major-source facility is one that contains coal-fired boilers, oil-fired boilers, and/or manufacturing processes with air emissions in an amount that trip the HAP PTE thresholds.
I assume your hospital has only relatively small natural-gas-fired boilers and no other air emissions. Therefore, I do not believe your facility is a major source of HAP. Also, in the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's database of approximately 1,500 Boiler MACT-affected facilities, there is only one hospital.
Don Wolf, PE
Burns & McDonnell
Chesterfield, Mo.
Sustainable Shaft Grounding
Thank you for publishing the article “Extending Motor Life With Sustainable Shaft Grounding” (by Adam Willwerth, May 2010, http://bit.ly/ceTEi4). It was very informative and to the point. It summarized very briefly all of the factors contributing to motor-bearing failure. I have some experience with large-motor-bearing failure and variable-frequency drives. My research found conflict causes and several solutions. After reading this article, I feel confident that my solution was the correct solution.
Anthony J. Zabloudil
Luckett & Farley
Louisville, Ky.
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