Chap 5 1

What is Air ?

A continuous, compressible, ideal

fluid. It is a mixture of gases, with
numerous suspended particles,
some solid and some liquid.

Chap 5 2
 What is Air Pollution ?

The presence in the air of one or more air

contaminants in sufficient quantities, of
such characteristics, and of such duration
as to be or to threaten to be injurious to
human, plant, or animal life or to property,
or which reasonably interferes with the
comfortable enjoyment of life or property.

Chap 5 3
How to control pollution?

Emission limits or standards are frequently

established rather than ambient air quality
standards

Chap 5 4
Composition of the Atmosphere
Gas Conc., by volume Conc., % by volume
Nitrogen 280,000 78.09
Oxygen 209,000 20.95
Argon 9,300 0.93
Carbon dioxide 320 0.032
Neon 18 0.0018
Helium 5.2 0.00052
Methane 1.5 0.00015
Krypton 1.0 0.0001
Hydrogen 0.5 0.00005
Dinitrogen Oxide 0.2 0.00002
Carbon monoxide 0.1 0.00001
Ozone 0.08 0.000008
Chap 5 5
 Structure
of
the
Atmospher
e

Chap 5
6
Basic Calculations
Ideal Gas Law:
PV = nRT
Dalton’s Law of Partial Pressure
Pt = P1 + P2 + P3 + …..

Chap 5 7
 Units of Measure
Particulates:
High Low

mg/m3 g/m3 or ppm

Gases:
High Low
% by Vol. ppmv, ppbv or g/m3

Chap 5 8
Units of Measure
Converting ppm to g/m3
At standard condition (0oC and 101.325
3
kPa) g / m 3  ppm g mol mass 10
L / mol
Mp
Vp  22.414 L / GM
GMW
For temperatures (T2) and pressures (P2) other
than standard conditions
L T2 101.325 kPa
22.414  
GM 273 K P2
ppm = Vp/Va Chap 5 9
Example
A one-cubic-meter sample of air was found
to contain 80 µg/m3 of SO2. The
temperature and pressure were 25oC and
103.193 kPa when the air sample was
taken. What was the SO2 concentration in
ppm?

Chap 5 10
Solution
Determine GMW of SO2
GMW of SO2 = 32.07 + 2(16.00) = 64.07
Convert temperature to absolute temperature
25oC + 273 K = 298 K
80 g 298 101.325
22.414  
ppm  64.07 3
273 103.193
3
1.00m 1,000 L / m
= 0.0300 ppm of SO2

Chap 5 11
Air pollution

Chap 5 12
Sources of pollutants
Natural air pollutant sources
 plant pollens
wind-blown dust
volcanic eruptions
lightning-generated forest fires
Manmade sources
 transportation vehicles
industrial processes
power plants
municipal incinerators Chap 5 13
Classification by state of
matter
Major classes Subclasses Typical members of subclasses
Particulates Solid Dust, smoke, fumes, fly ash
Liquid Mist, spray
Gases
Organic Hydrocarbons Hexane, benzene, ethylene,
Inorganic Aldehydes and ketones methane, butane, butadiene
Other organics Formaldehyde, acetone
Oxides of carbon Chlorinated hydrocarbons, alcohols
Oxides of sulfur Carbon monoxide, carbon dioxide
Oxides of nitrogen Sulfur dioxide, sulfur trioxide
Other inorganics Nitrogen dioxide, nitric oxide
Hydrogen sulfide, hydrogen fluoride,
ammoniaChap 5 14
 Classification by Origin
Primary air pollutants are pollutants in the
atmosphere that exist in the same form as in source
emissions.
 carbon monoxide, sulfur dioxide, and total
suspended particulates.
 Secondary air pollutants are pollutants formed
in the atmosphere as a result of reactions such as
hydrolysis, oxidation, and photochemical oxidation.
 acidic mists and photochemical oxidants.
Air quality management  source control of
primary air pollutants.
Chap 5 15
Air Pollution Regulations
The Clean Air Act established two types of air
quality standards.
Primary standards set limits to protect public
health, including the health of "sensitive"
populations such as asthmatics, children, and
the elderly.
Secondary standards set limits to protect
public welfare, including protection against
decreased visibility, damage to animals, crops,
vegetation, and buildings.

Chap 5 16
Criteria Air Pollutants
The Clean Air Act characterizes five primary
pollutants and one secondary pollutant as
criteria air pollutants.
Primary criteria pollutants include the gases
sulfur dioxide (SO2), nitrogen oxides (NOx), and
carbon monoxide (CO) and solid or liquid
particulates (smaller than 10 µm, PM-10) and
particulate lead.
Secondary criteria pollutant Ozone (O3) is the
regulated under Clean Air Act.
Chap 5 17
 Adiabatic Expansion and
 Compression
An adiabatic process is one that takes place with no addition
or removal of heat and with sufficient slowness, so that the gas
can be considered to be in equilibrium at all times.
 With the first principle of thermodynamics we have:

Heat added=Increase in External work

To gas thermal energy+ done by or on
the gas
zero
(adiabatic
process)
 If the air expands, its temperature will decrease

Chap 5 18
Air Pollution Meteorology

Chap 5 19
Highs and lows
Air pressure is the weight of air resting on a given
area of the Earth's surface
Low pressure occurs when air is warm, expands,
gets lighter and rises.
High pressure occurs when air gets cold, contracts,
becomes heavier (denser) and sinks (falls).
Air flows from regions of high pressure (highs) to
low pressure (lows) as it tries to equalize the
difference between the two, known as the pressure
gradient.
This movement of air is wind. Chap 5 20
 Highs and lows

isobars

The greater the difference between the high and the low pressure, the greater
the wind speed.
The closer the isobars on a weather map are together, the stronger the winds.

Chap 5 21
Cyclone and Anticyclone

Good weather Foul weather

Tornadoes
Hurricanes
Chap 5 22
Turbulence
Turbulence: the addition of random fluctuations of
wind velocity to the overall average wind velocity.
Mechanical Turbulence
Shearing of the atmosphere  Eddies
The greater the wind speed the larger the turbulence
Thermal Turbulence
Caused by heating/cooling of the Earth’s surface

Rising density Sinking density

current current

Chap 5 23
Stability
The tendency of the atmosphere to resist or enhance
vertical motion/turbulance.
Lapse rate: The rate at which air temperature
changes with height.
Dry adiabatic lapse rate: The rate at which dry air
cools as it rises.
dT/dz = -1.00oC/100 m
Three categories of stability:
Neutral
Unstable
Stable Chap 5 24
Stability and Lapse rate
Superadiabatic, Strong, Unstable
Temperature Reduction > 1 oC/100m
Subadiabatic, Weak, Stable
Temperature Reduction < 1 oC/100m
Neutral
Temperature Reduction = 1 oC/100m
Inversion (Extreme Subadiabatic)
Temperature Increase with Height

Chap 5 25
 Lapse Rates
Dry Adiabatic Lapse Rate
100
m

Sub
adia

n
io
rs
bati

ve
In
Elevation Sup

c
erad
(m) iaba
ti c

T-1 T

Temperature (oC)
Chap 5 26
Superadiabatic – Unstable

Chap 5 27
Subadiabatic – Stable

Chap 5 28
Example
Given the following temperature and elevation
data, determine the stability of the atmosphere.

Elevation, Temperature,
m o
C
2.00 14.35
324.00 11.13

Chap 5 29
 Solution
Determine the existing lapse rate

T T2  T1 11 .13  14.35
   0.0100o C / m  1.000 C / m
Z Z 2  Z1 324.00  2.00

 The atmospheric stability is

neutral

Chap 5 30
Strong Lapse Condition
(Looping)
Wind

Chap 5 31
Weak Lapse Condition (Coning)

Wind

Chap 5 32
Inversion Condition (Fanning)

Wind

Chap 5 33
Inversion Below, Lapse Aloft
(Lofting)
Wind

Chap 5 34
Weak Lapse Below, Inversion
Aloft (Trapping)
Wind

Chap 5 35
Terrain Effects
Heat Islands
Absorbs or radiates heat at a greater rate than
the surrounding
The atmosphere becomes more stable

Chap 5 36
 Terrain Effects-Land Breath
During night , the land cools more rapidly than the
water.

Chap 5 37
Terrain Effects-Sea Breath
During the morning the land heats faster than water.

Chap 5 38
Mini- Project Presentation
On the following Saturdays from 8:30 AM
May 8, 2010
Envtl impact of construction
Automobile and the environment (Tsegaye group)
What does sustainable development mean?(Fikru
Group)
Green buildings
Recent climate changes (Amare)

Mini-project: well formatted softcopy (15 to 20 pages)

Assignments: all compiled together

Chap 5 39
Mini- Project Presentation
Saturdays from 8:30 AM
May 15, 2010
Noise Pollution and control (Alemnesh Group)
Global warmming (Dereje Kurabachew group)
Recycling, reuse and resource recovery (Amha group)
Recent climate changes (Debebe Amerga)
Hazardous and Radioactive wastes (Adam group)
Product life cycle assessment (Workeneh Bekele
Group)
Mini-project: well formatted softcopy (15 to 20 pages)
Assignments: all compiled together

Chap 5 40
 Mini- Project Presentation
Saturdays from 8:30 AM
May 22, 2010
Ground water pollution (Negash)
Global warmming (Daneil Abebe group)
Automobiles and the environment (Abayeneh group)
Sustainable development (Yonas group)
Impacts of Dams (Mestawot Group)
Risk assessment and decision (Shiferaw group)
Mini-project: well formatted softcopy (15 to 20 pages)
Assignments: all compiled together

Chap 5 41
 Mini- Project Presentation
Saturdays from 8:30 AM
May 29, 2010
Ground water pollution (Bisrat Seyoum Group)
Product life cycle assessment (Kamile group)
Risk Assessment and decision( Doyo group)
Renewable sources of energy (Berhane group)
Indoor air quality (Amsalu Group)
Ecological foot print (????? Group)
Mini-project: well formatted softcopy (15 to 20 pages)
Assignments: all compiled together

Chap 5 42
 Atmospheric Disperssion
Dispersion is the process by which contaminants move
through the air and a plume spreads over a large area, thus
reducing the concentration of the pollutants it contains.

Chap 5 43
Atmospheric Disperssion
The plume spreads both horizontally and
vertically.
If it is a gaseous plume, the motion of the
molecules follows the laws of gaseous
diffusion.

Chap 5 44
Gaussian Dispersion Model

Chap 5 45
Wind Rose

Chap 5 46
Dispersion Model Assumptions

 The predominant force is the wind.

 The greatest concentration of the
pollutant molecules is along the plume
centerline.
 The process is a steady state process.

Chap 5 47
Dispersion Model Construction
 Plume travels horizontally in x-direction
 Plume disperses horizontally (y) and
vertically (z)
 Concentration inside the plume follows
Gaussian Distribution
 Concentration (C(x,y,z)) is proportional to:
 Source strength (Q)
 Inverse of wind speed (1/U)
 Normalized Gaussian distribution function in the y and z
directions that is dependent on weather conditions
Chap 5 48
Plume Dispersion Coordinate
System

Chap 5 49
 Gaussian Dispersion Model

At ground level, we have z=0, thus

Chap 5 50
Gaussian Dispersion Model
The greatest value of the ground level
concentration in any direction, and this is the
concentration along the plume centerline; that is,
for y = 0. We have

Finally, for a source of emission at ground level, H = 0, and

the ground level concentration of pollutant downwind along
the plume centerline is given by

Chap 5 51
Maximum ground level conc.

For a release above ground level the maximum

downwind ground level concentration Occurs
along the plume centerline when the following
condition is satisfied:

H
z 
2

Chap 5 52
Key to Stability Categories

Chap 5 53
Horizontal
Dispersion
Coefficient
s

Chap 5 54
Vertical
Dispersion
Coefficients

Chap 5 55
Effective Stack Height
 Carson and Moses Equation
Superadiabatic
Stability

Nuetral Stability
Subadiabatic
Stability

Vs = stack gas exit speed (in m/s ) ,

d = stack diameter (in m), and
Qh = heat emission rate from the stack (in kJ/s).
Chap 5 56
Effective Stack Height
 Holland Formula

vs d    Ts  Ta  
1.5   2.68 10 ( P )  d  
2
H  
u    Ts   

Where
vs = stack velocity, m/s
d = stack diameter, m
u = wind speed, m/s
P = pressure, kPa
Ts = stack temperature, K
Ta = air temperature, K
Chap 5 57
Example
 It has been estimated that the emission of SO
2
from a cola-fired power plant is 1,656.2 g/s. At
3 km downwind on an overcast summer
afternoon, what is the centerline concentration
of SO2 if the wind speed is 4.50 m/s? (Note:
“centerline” implies y =0)
 Stack parameter:
 Height = 120.0 m
 Diameter = 1.20 m
 Exit velocity = 10.0 m/s
 Temperature 315 oC
 Atmospheric conditions:
 Pressure = 95.0 kPa
 Temperature = 25.0oC Chap 5 58
Example 1
 A 40 percent-efficient, 1,000MW (106 kW)
coal-fired power plant emits SO2 at the
legally allowed rate of 0.6 lb SO2 per million
Btu of heat into the plant. The stack has an
effective height of 300m. An anemometer on
a 10-m pole measures 2.5 m/s of wind, and it
is a cloudy summer day. Predict the ground-
level concentration of SO2 4km directly
downwind.

Chap 5 59
Chap 5 60
Chap 5 61
Example 2
 An oil pipeline leak results in emission of 100
g/h of H2S. On a very sunny summer day,
with a wind speed of 3.0m/s, what will be the
concentration of H2S 1.5 km directly
downwind from the leak?
 we may assume Class B stability
 from figure, at x = 1.5km, 𝜹y is approximately 210m
and 𝜹z is approximately 160m, and
Q = 100g/h = 0.02780.0278 g/s.

Chap 5 62
Example 3
 A coal-burning electric generating plant emits 1.1
kg/min of SO2 from a stack with an effective
height of 60m. On a thinly overcast evening, with a
wind speed of 5.0 m/s , what will be the ground
level concentration of SO2 500 m directly
downwind from the stack?

stability. Then, from figure, at x = 0.5 km, 𝜹y is

 Solution : From the table, we may assume Class D

approximately 35 m and 𝜹z is approximately 19 m,

and Q = 1.1 kg/min = 18g/s.
 In this problem, the release is elevated, and H = 60
m.
Chap 5 63
Chap 5 64
Air
Pollution
Control

Chap 5 65
Source Correction
 Changing or eliminating a process that produces a
polluting air effluent
 Elimination of lead from gasoline
 removal of sulfur from coal and oil before the fuel is
burned
 Controls: raw material substitution, and
equipment modification to meet emission
standards
 Abatement : devices and methods for decreasing
the quantity of pollutant reaching the atmosphere,
once it has been generated by the source.
Chap 5 66
 COLLECTION OF POLLUTANTS

Collection of pollutants for

treatment is the most serious
problem in air pollution control.
Chap 5 67
COOLING
 The exhaust gases to be treated are sometimes too
hot for the control equipment, and must first be
cooled.

Chap 5 68
Air Pollution Control
Technologies
 Control of Particulate Emission
- Settling
- Cyclone separation
- Wet scrubbing
- Baghouse filtration
- Electrostatic precipitation
 Control of Vapor-phase Emissions
 Wet scrubbing
 Activated carbon adsorption
 Incineration
Chap 5 69
Cyclone
 Control particulates
 Used as precleaners
 >90% efficiency for > 5m
 In expensive and maintenance
free

Chap 5 70
Cyclones

Chap 5 71
Fabric Filters
 known as
baghouses
 Control
particulates
 efficient and cost
effective
 99% efficient for
very fine
particulates
(<1m).
Chap 5 72
Baghouses

Chap 5 73
Wet Collectors
 The spray tower or
scrubber
 Remove larger particles
effectively
 can remove both gases
and particulate matter.
 A venturi scrubber is a
frequently used high-
energy wet collector.
 100% efficient in removing
particles >5 pm
Chap 5 74
Wet collectors

Chap 5 75
Electrostatic Precipitators

Chap 5 76
Electrostatic Precipitators

Chap 5 77
CONTROL OF GASEOUS POLLUTANTS
 Wet scrubbers: can remove pollutants by
dissolving them in the scrubber solution. Ex.
SO2 and NO2 in power plant .
 Packed scrubbers, spray towers packed with
glass platelets or glass frit, more efficient.
Ex. removal of fluoride from aluminum
smelter exhaust gases.

Chap 5 78
Activated Carbon Adsorber
 Removal of organic
compounds with an
adsorbent like activated
charcoal.

Chap 5 79
Incinerator
 Incineration, or flaring, is used
when an organic pollutant can
be oxidized to CO2 and water,
or in oxidizing H2S to SO2.
 Catalytic combustion is a
variant of incineration in which
the reaction is facilitated
energetically and carried out
at a lower temperature by
surface catalysis,
Chap 5 80
Effectiveness of Technologies

Chap 5 81