Wintertime Overnight NOx Removal in a Southeastern United States Coal-Fired Power Plant Plume: A Model for Understanding Winter NOx Processing and Its Implications

Abstract: Nitric oxide (NO) is emitted in large quantities from coal-burning power plants. During the day, the plumes from these sources are efficiently mixed into the boundary layer, while at night, they may remain concentrated due to limited vertical mixing during which they undergo horizontal fanning. At night, the degree to which NO is converted to HNO3 and therefore unable to participate in next-day ozone (O3) formation depends on the mixing rate of the plume, the composition of power plant emis…