Abstract
Tactical airlifter like C-130H has been in use for more than 50 years, and is expected to serve for many years to come. However, the emission characteristics data of the aircraft are scarce. To increase our understanding of turboprop engine emissions, emissions from a military C-130H cargo aircraft were characterized in field conditions in the fall of 2005. Particulate and gaseous pollutants were measured by conventional and advanced instrumentation platforms that were built with in-situ extractive or remote optical sensing technologies. The measurements performed at the C-130H engine exhaust exit showed increased levels of emissions as the engine power setting increased. In contrast, there was no such a relationship found for the C-130H emitted particulate matter (as a function of engine power setting) measured at about 15-m downstream of the engine exhaust plane. The emitted gaseous species measured at both locations were, however, proportional to the engine power setting and comparable (at both locations) when corrected for ambient dilution indicating the lack of particulate emission-power setting relationship at the far field is unique. The result clearly indicates that the aircraft emission factor or index for particulate matter cannot be experimentally determined at a downstream location away from the exhaust exit and has to be determined right at the engine exhaust plane. Emission indices that are needed for air quality modeling will be presented.
