Potential to emit.

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OKLAHOMA DEPARTMENT OF ENVIRONMENTAL QUALITY
AIR QUALITY DIVISION
GUIDANCE DOCUMENT February 7, 2012
SUBJECT: Potential to Emit
Potential to Emit (PTE) is defined as the maximum capacity of a stationary source to emit any air pollutant based on its physical and operational design. Thus, your PTE is the maximum amount of air pollution that your facility could possibly emit if
• Each process unit is operated at 100% of design capacity;
• Materials that emit the most air pollution are processed 100% of the time;
• All of the equipment is operating 24 hours per day, 365 days per year; and
• No pollution control equipment is used, unless the equipment is required by a federal rule.
Any physical or operational limitation on the capacity of the source to emit an air pollutant, including air pollution control equipment and restrictions on hours of operation or on the type or amount of material combusted, stored, or processed, shall be treated as part of its design if the limitation is “federally enforceable.” Even if you never operate at your PTE, it is theoretically possible to do so.
How Do I Calculate My PTE?
This is typically a 4-step process. You should consider the emissions units that emit a pollutant, and then the pollutant that is being emitted.
Step 1: Identify all emissions sources (units and processes) at your facility. These include all emissions from vents and stacks, or emissions that could reasonably pass through a vent or stack. Fugitive emissions (i.e., those emissions that cannot reasonably be collected and routed through a stack or vent, such as dust from roads, slag pile, etc.) must be considered in determining whether a source is a major stationary source if it belongs to one of the categories of stationary sources listed in Table 1.
Table 1 – Categories of Stationary Sources (Note: For these categories, fugitive emissions must be considered in determining whether a source is a major stationary source.)
(i) Coal cleaning plants (with thermal dryers);
(ii) Kraft pulp mills;
(iii) Portland cement plants;
(iv) Primary zinc smelters;
(v) Iron and steel mills;
(vi) Primary aluminum ore reduction plants;
(vii) Primary copper smelters;
(viii) Municipal incinerators capable of charging more than 250 tons of refuse per day;
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