Data from Unocal Corp.'s recycled auto program, part of its southern California air pollution control program, show that pre-1971 vehicles emit more than twice as much hydrocarbons as originally forecast.
That is significant for U.S. refiner/marketers, who maintain that turnover of the nation's vehicle fleet will make a major contribution to air emissions reductions and thus lessen the need for alternate fuels and other stringent air pollution control measures.
Unocal started the South Coast Recycled Auto Program (Scrap) June 1, paying $700 apiece for pre-1 971 vehicles to eliminate as many as 7,000 polluting older cars from southern California roads. Scrap is one of three environmental initiatives Unocal introduced to improve air quality in southern California (OGJ, June 25, p. 16).
SCRAP PROGRAM DATA
Test data from the first 1,500 vehicles scrapped show the vehicles have on average more than 60 times as much hydrocarbon emissions as 1990 models.
Original projections indicated that pre-1971 vehicles would emit 30 times more hydrocarbons than new cars equipped with catalytic converters.
BAR-90 machines, the same approved for use in state mandated smog checks, test each car's tailpipe emissions before it is crushed for scrap.
Unocal tested a 1990 Ford Taurus and found it emitted a volume of 14 ppm of hydrocarbons.
Unocal's Scrap cars were tested at average hydrocarbon emissions of 950 ppm, but emission levels could be sharply higher, the company said.
Of the Scrap cars tested, 20% emitted at least 2,000 ppm, the maximum measurement on the BAR-90. Unocal thus is testing a different machine that can measure hydrocarbon emissions of as much as 10,000 ppm.
Preliminary data gathered during the first few weeks of the Scrap program also suggest that older cars are driven much more than expected-an average of 7,000 miles/year vs. about 6,000 miles/year, the figure that's used in air quality computer models.
Unocal hired Hugo NeuProler Co. to crush the old cars at its downtown Los Angeles metal center. The salvage company's Terminal Island plant in Los Angeles Harbor, where metal from the scrapped cars is recycled, is the world's largest scrap metal recycling and exporting operation, Unocal said.
PRAISE FOR UNOCAL
South Coast Air Quality Management District (Scaqmd), whose current Air Quality Management Plan for southern California may be the most sweeping environmental regulatory program ever seen, sent a letter to Unocal Chairman Richard Stegemeier praising the Scrap program.
"Scaqmd cannot carry the clean air banner alone but must count on private sector pioneers to step forward and share the duty," Scaqmd Chairman Norton Younglove wrote.
"Unocal's contribution not only meets the challenge but also illustrates the commitment and leadership we all must exert to make clean air a reality in southern California."
Stegemeier noted that test results suggest the company is removing some of the heaviest polluting cars from Los Angeles' roads.
"Obviously, Unocal's programs cannot solve Los Angeles's air pollution problem by themselves," he said. "These environmental initiatives are not intended to be panaceas.
"They are demonstration programs designed to try out new, cost effective ways of reducing pollution."
Copyright 1990 Oil & Gas Journal. All Rights Reserved.
