Documenti di Didattica
Documenti di Professioni
Documenti di Cultura
,urt>un , e hapter 1 NO, all nurogen ox1de>, mostl y NO and N01 . The mass shown 1s based on a 0
ll<-mll .unrnrd
10
N0
1
, thl\" rtlerrcd 10 "'"NO, expre"cd as NO,"; see Chapter 12. VOC = volaule orgamc
"""l'<lund,, ,ee ll.lpter 10 Ph lead, '"" ' haptcr
u \'.tluc ",hown for PMJO cm1" 100, U\ tl I ructi on of 1970 because no reliable estimate is for PM 10
t'll\h\IUO\ lfl 1970 hlrt\l hrc' ure the 1110,, nnportunt of the "Mi'iccllaneous" sources. for most pollutants. Th1_s table
nu rntry foro,, wlu.,;h 1, u muJOr pollut unt, but which almost entirel y a secondary pollut ant for which there
nu ltliJUf prim ry tlllh\IUn , 0un.:c' VO(' urc laMed not because they are direc tl y harmful to human health. but
ht Ut\C thC)' Oft l ffiftJnr pnmury prct:Ur\Uf of \l!COIIdUry 01 .
\oun' !tel 2
l:. n in' 'rs r cogni;.c that there is not one air pollution problem but a group of
r I at d pn bl ms, and that som of the problems are mostly caused by industry and
oth 'rs ur' mostly caused by m tor vehi cles. The public and many politicians hope
t > lind a imp! , nc-ste p, inexpensive solution to "the air pollution problem."
l::.n ' in rs rccogniz that we arc unlikely to find such a solution, and must continue
t > apply limited solutions to parts of the family of air pollution problems.
4. h om 1970 to 1997, th ' United States has made s ignificant progress in reducing
of lead (mostl y by taking lead out of gasoline) and modest progress
111 t 'du ing emissions of the other major pollutants. The air pollutant emission
''tuation can he roughly approximated by
I
. (economic activity)
pu all on
per person
(
pollutant emission.s )
per umt of economiC
activity
(I. I )
in the environmental awakening of 1969- 1970, the population of the United
has increased by about 30%, our economic activity per person by about 80%.
and ur m tor vehi cle usag' by about a factor of 4 . But the pollutant emissions
per unit of ccon mic activity have declined steadily becau e of stringent programs
< f mi.,si 11 c ntrol. Thus, in most of the United States, the emi ssions and hence
th m 'a-. ur d concentrati ns of m st pollutants in the atmosphere declined steadily
b t n 1970 and 1997. he decline has not been as rapid as many have wished, or
a., rapid a.-. predicted. and there arc exception to thi s decline (e.g., increases
1n a ' ld rUin 111 the northeastern nited State ). In general, however, the install ation
I'IH.lltJl( 110 tO \IN. l'Olll IIO''dD,IW.Ol 7
of ev r-m r -effe tive pollution control eqtupmcnt ha-. allowed u' to lll<.:n:a'c our
populati n and inc rea e our level of economic a<.:ti\ 1ty per pcr,on '' h!lc
m t m a ured air pollutant concentration... nfortunatcl . the law ol umllnl\hmg
ret um appli 1 air pollution control : the pollution <.:ontrol '>lep' taken to date have
be n i rand cheaper than the ones we will have w take in the fulllrc.
1.5
N , TRANSPORT, RE ' EPTORS
Figur 1.1 i a hematic of the air pollution proce'' . ome '>Ourc..: ..: n11l\ pollutant\
to th atm ph re. The pollutant s arc tran-.portcd. diluted. and modified cht'llll call y
or phy i lly in the atmosphere; and finally they rcat:h \01111.! rcc..:ptor. \\hen: they
d mag health, property, or some other part of the ..: nvironment. Some ol th..: poilu
tants ar removed from the atmosphere by natural proce,-,e.., , -,o that the} lll'll'l find
arc pt r.
In thi b k, in any dist:ussion of air pollution. or any '> tudy of the regulatory
\tru tur fair pollution control. one myriad detai ls. One aJ..,o hnd-. that what
11 d n f r nc kind f source or one parti cular pollutant i ... diffcr..:nt from what i..,
don f r n thcr . ourcc or pollutant. orne of diller rK..:.., r..:..,ult frofll h1..,ton
nccid'nt. and me result from the very difkr..:nt -,ourc..:.., and controltc<.: hnolog1 .,
lor th vari u major pollutant s. Faced with thi-, di vcr..,ity of tkt;ul..,, lllll' would do
well t I k asionally at Fi g. 1. 1 to -.ee how that part1cul;u dctad fit, rnto th..:
ov rail air p lluti n schemati c shown here.
In ig. 1. 1 we also sec a major why air pollution"' dllklt"llt !rom water
poll uti n r industrial hygiene. If the fi gure were drawn lur wat<.:r pollution.
th atm ph ric transport box would be replaced hy a box tor gmundwat<.:r or \ II <.:am
trans rt . hose mechanisms arc indeed complex. hut not nea1l y a-. compkx a.., at
mosph ric tran p rt. We would e that the t: hcrni ca l 01 hiologicalloi flllfl wh1ch
most water pollutants arc emitted is the one that cau'e" h;umf ul effect'>. The ..,a me
not tru fair p llution: many of the major pollutant\ arc fo1111<.:d 111 th<.: atmo
pher and are called secondary pollutont.1 to them f mill then pr <.:c lll"lll\ ,
thcprima pol/wants. The industrial hygie ni..,t. who i' re..,pon\lhlc for protecting
Em! 1 n Almo, phcrc.
-}
Tr:111 'por1
Dolutoon
Mo<.lrfouoto on
Pollulanl removal hi
nalurat mcchan"m'
I lk< 1' ""
Jt um.lnlw.oilh
...
M;olcrr.ol'
< iloh.ol <iom.ll<'
hemaiiC, howmg 1hc mlcrrclatoon' ;omon): cn"""'n'. lran,pon . dliutum.
IR POLLUTIO COI'(fROL ENGINtERI G
rkcr in fa toric and other workpl aces, is often concerned with the same emis-
n a i the air p llut ion control engineer, but the industrial hygienist normally
a m r ea ily defined tran port path between emission and those affected, and
rar ly d al wi th econdary pollutants.
ev rat ft hc e idea are illustrated in Fi g. 1.2, where we see smoothed average
one ntration of four air pollutants for one day in Los Angeles. CO and NO are
prim ry p llutants, emiued most ly by automobil es (Chapter 13), as is hydrocarbon
(H ), n t . hown on thi s figure. The peak concentrations of CO and NO occur during
th m min mmute period. N02 and 0 3 are secondary pollutants formed in the
sph rc by a c mplcx set of reactions, summari zed (see Appendix D) as
N + H + 0 2 + unli ght -+ N02 + 0 3 (1.2)
(} ~ } ,--r---,---r----r----r-----,---...,----, 50
NO
()40
40
l
6'
1
() \0
E
0.
30
0.
c:S
/.
ci
u
._
0
/.
0
c:
0
- ~
J
() ()
b
c:
.,
20
(.)
c:
0
u
CliO
10
0100
0600
0900 1200 I 500
1800
2100
2400
Time of day
. mooth d vern c dail y concentrati On\ f . elected ll utant s in .
4 I r\'C th progr on N NO po . . Los Angeles. Californi a. Jul y 19 1965 [3
d
2 l and the d1fferent beh f . ' '
P1 eh m1cal rca lion m the atm sphere. av tor CO. whtch does not undergo
I"'TRODV<TIOI' TO AIR POll.LrrlOS CONTROL 9
The peak on entration of 0 2 occurs before the peak for
1
because the reaction
n e, whi h i much more complex than the in q. ( 1.2), form
0
2
fi l , then 3 The CO con entration peak, which is hown on the right-hand
scale a b ing :::::: 70 times the peak concentration of NO, doe not decline as rapidly as
the peak becau e the 0 con entration is reduced only by atmospheric mixing
and diluti n ( hapter 6) whereas the NO concentration is reduced by dilution and
mixing and by the chemical reaction in q. ( 1.2). The afternoon commute also
produce increa es in NO and 0, but the measured arc not large
a them ming peaks because the average wind speed is higher and the atmospheric
mtxmg i tronger in the aftern on than in the morning ( haptcr 5). causing
m re rapid dilution. It has al o been bserved that the highest peak 0
1
conccntrati n
n rmally cur about 30 to 60 miles downwind of the place that had the maximum
m rning emi i n of NO and H because the polluted air mass can ride the wind
that far in a day. Thus. any regulatory scheme for these pollutanb 3. I 0.
and 12) must a c unt for the fact that the worst pollutant may occur in a
different city, state, or country from the major emission source.
The two pollutants of greatest current (lat e 1990s) health concern arc both
secondary: oz ne, as described above, and fine particles. The very small particle!->
that enter mo t deeply into our lungs and that arc believed to be most harmful arc
largely rmed in the atmosphere by reactions that can be summarit.cd (in very
si mplified rm) a.
Hydrocarb ns +sulfur oxides+ nitrogen oxidel.
ce hapter .
1.6 UNIT AND STANDARDS
line particles ( 1.3)
k, both ngli sh and I units arc U),Cd . As much as we the
mm nly u ed in the United tales in that particular part of the air pollution
contr I field. Hi tori cally, cicnti sts have used metric or . I (often the of
metric) whereas engineers have used the ' nglish engineering l.ystem. The regulators
have u d mixed y terns. The permitted from ( ' hapter 13)
arc . tat d in g/mil e, a mixed metric Engli sh unit! This like an tllogical unit .
but it i n t. The emi sion data arc used in mathematical modcb ( ' hapter 6) that
expr emi s i n in g/s. The available data on automobile arc all in vehicle
mile driven/h ur, and the federal automobile fuel efficiency which arc
te ted by the air p llution branch of the . . PA, are in mile1./gallon. The prudent
engine r will accept the unit in use. clearly state the unit'> on any quantity. and
alway check the unit in every cal ulation.
M t "practical" air pollution books present formulae that arc untl-\pectlic.
wherea m t" ientifi c" or "theoretical" books present equation<, that arc indepen-
dent f unit . F r exampl e, the power requirement of a low-prc.,.,ure fan or blower
( hapter 7) i
l Q IR POU.UTION I "GI EfRI G
Po= Q6.P (1.4)
TJ
t Q the volumetric flow rate, 6. P the pressure
wh r p i. the power requtremen , bl
inc.:r a acr the blower, and TJ the efficiency of the blower or of the
combinati n. Thi equation i. correct in any set of units. One regularly sees It wntten
Q6.P l
p ------
33,000
( 1.5)
TJ
htch i'> nly rr ct if the power is expressed in horsepo:-ver, the flow rate in
r. t r minut (cfm). and the pressure in lbflft
2
. That ts an uncommon umt for
pr .,.,ur , s ne is quite likely to mi su e this equation. If we use the more common
lbf/in (psi). then thi s become
= QD.P . = 0.00436 QD.P (1.6)
Po TJ 33,000 TJ
whi hi-. nly correct for horsepower, cfm, and psi . . .
In this book all equati o ns arc of the type of Eq. ( 1.4), correct many consistent
, t ,r units, except if th rc is an explicit statement to the contrary. Some of the
pmbl ms ask the reader to convert from the universal form to "practical" forms like
( 1.5) and ( 1.6).
In th nited tatcs, a concentration expressed in parts per million (ppm) is
always ppm by volume or by mol if it is concentration in a gas, and ppm
h muss or weight if it is concentration in a liquid or solid. (For a liquid or a solid
with u sp ciflc gravi ty of 1.0, such as water or dilute solutions in water, ppm is the
., 1m a-. mg/kg, which is also widely used.) This mixed meaning for ppm continues
to b a sour" of confusion when both liquid or solid and gas concentrations appear
in th sam problem. One ofte n sees thi s concentration written as ppmv, to remind
th t ad r that f r gases it is most often ppm by volume. (The same is true of parts
r billi n; ppb = 1.1.g/kg for as lid or liquid material with specific gravity of 1.0.)
Wh n standard conditi n. for a gas are referred to, there seems to be only one
ch i f r pr ssur . the standard atmosphere, whose values in a variety of systems
of units ar . hown inside the ba k cover. Unfortunately, there is no comparable
a r m nt a. to which t mp rat urc should be used . Values of 0C, I8C, 20C, and
25 ar us d. Thr ughoutthis book, unless stated otherwise, air and process gases
nr as.,um d t b at I standard atmo phere and 20 C (= 68F). The properties of
air and wnt rat thi s temp raturc and several others are shown inside the back cover
a-. w II. ( rtunatcly, many PA regulations are based on a standard temperature
of 25 = 77F.)
1.7 TH PLA
FTHI BOOK
h r ar many p ssiblc ways to arrange an Air Pollution book, no one of which
\C .,., to please all readers. Th plan of thi s book is first to discuss topics that
ar comm n to all pollutants, and then to di scus individual pollutants. For each
INTRODUCTION TO AIR CONTROL 11
pollutant, the c ntrol te hnol gy i adapted to the sour es and the phy ical and
chemi In ture f that pollutant. hapter 1- 7 cover general t pies in air pollution.
hapter - 12 cover the four major air p llutants that have been and continue t be
the f u f m t f ociety's air p lluti n control efforts. hapter 13 covers m tor
vehicle , which play a unique role in air pollution and contribute significantly to
urban air p llution problems. hapter 14 discusses larger-scale problems. including
global nes. hapter 15 treats five additional specific air pollution topics briefly.
1.8 MMARY
I. Air p llution i. the pre ence of man-made harmful materials in the air, in 4uan-
titie large en ugh to produ e harmful effects.
2. Publi interest in air pollution was low before 1969. About that time, it im:reascd
dramatically, and has remained high.
3. We are unlikely to olve our air p llution problems by blowing the polluted air
away; we will have to solve them by reducing pollutant emissions.
4. There i not one "air p llution problem" but rather a family of related problems.
We are unlikely to find a cheap, easy way to solve these problems. we
will have to make many small steps to reach our air quality goab. and thc-.c will
pr bably be more expensive than the steps we have taken so far.
S. The verall air pollution problem takes the following form: emissions tran.., -
port, dilution, and modification in the atmosphere effects on people, property.
and the environment. Although the details may differ from pollutant to pollutant.
all fit thi pauern.
6. me fthe most important air pollutants arc secondary pollutants, formed in the
atm phere from primary pollutant pre ursors.
7. Ppm m an ppm by volume or mol when applied to and ppm hy rna....., or
weight when applied to liquids and solids.
8. r all pr blems and examples in thi s text, unless stated otherwi-.e. the
I atm and the temperature is 20 = 68oF (sec inside the back wver).
PR BLEM
ee mmon Unit and Values for Problems and Examples. inside the hack cover.
1.1. In xamplc 1. 1:
(a) timate the pres. ure drop r quircd.
(b) timate the pumping power requ1red.
ee any fluid mechanics textbook for of makmg
1.2. (a) In Table 1. 1 we see that 57 wt% of the li>tcd pollutant\ arc 0 Doco, 1t follow from that
table that 57 percent of the air pollution problem tn the n1tcd State'" a CO problem?
(b) The arne table shows that 57 wt % of a lithe 11 \ ted pollutant' come from tran\portation
(m tly aut m biles). Doc' it follow that 57 percent of our nauonal a1r pollut1on problem
i an automotive problem?
(c) If the answer to these questions "no. explain your answer.
12
IR U.lrrl
GINELRING
1.4.
1997
(b) h 11 re on ble to make thi s compari son? Why or why not?
I. . n o ember 4, 199 . Jos Angel onchell o, the secretary of the second-largest political
party in Me i o (PAN), wrote to the mayor of Mexico City, proposing that four helicopters
be t1 rth ity todi\perse the air pollutants. He said, "Extraordinary situations require
lutions .... 1 refer 1 the use of the helicopters of the Federal Di strict , as if
th y w re huge 1 cause turbulence and vertical columns of contaminated air
to dtmtnt\h the poi\oning in the streets." [61 omment on the practicality of thi s proposal.
k I h th ir now gcncrutcd by hovering heli copters.
1.1\. 1 "law f returns" is widely di cussed in economonics texts. The author's
I vuril ample is thut the first h ur of cleaning a messy house produces a very visible
tmp uv m nt in its appearance, but that the next hour of cleaning effort produces less visible
II 't, nd nt on less. uggest other exampl es from daily life of the law of
duntnishtng r tum'> . ugg st how it applies to air pollution control.
II lhd , E "A lllMoncal Revi w of Atmospheric Pollution," in World Health Organization Mono-
/lrrlfllt Strit .\, No 46. cncvn. 1961 .
2 Na11mwl Air Q11al11y01td m1<sion Trends Report, 1997, EPA-454/R-98-0 16, and National Air Pollution
/million\ 1-'.\tlmattl, 1940 1990, PA 450/4-9 1-026.
" ompr h n"ve Tcchni cul Report on All Atmospheric Contami na nts Associated with Photochemical Air
I ullutaon." TM (L)-4411/<Xl2/0 I, System Development Corporatio n. Santa Monica. Calif. , June 1970.
4 " ar u hty ntcran for Natrogcn Oxides," AP-84, U.S. EPA. 197 1.
I a liang, R 1 .. rupucm.\ ofMt. St . llt.'/ens: Past, Presem and Future, U.S. Department of the Interior/USGS
( u d te). p. 17.
rta I La O/IIIUI. Mardrll'lata, Nov. 5, 1996. p. 6.
CHAPTER
2
AIR POLLUTION
CT
Thi i a b k about air pollution control. But any competent engineer any
engineering task by asking, among other things, "Why arc we doing at all'!"
We control air pollution because it causes harmful effects on human health. prop-
erty, ae thetic , and the global climate. This brief chapter r what we know
about the e effects on human health and property and on visibi lit y. ' hapttr 14 con
sider global effect . Because the air pollution laws in the nited and other
indu trialized countries arc mostly concerned with protecting human heulth. we will
con ider the effects on human health first.
2.1 EFFE T OF AIR POLLUTION ON HUMAN HEALTH
In Bh pal, India, in December 1984, a release of methyl isocyanate from a pe\tl<.:lde
plant killed ab ut 2500 people. Similar leakages of hydrogen from natural
gas pr e sing plants have killed hundreds of people. tragi<.: event\ attract
wide attention. Normally. they arc not con. idercd air pollution event\. hut rather
indu trial accident . The damages to human health caused by air pollut1on are of u
very different type. The materials involved arc rarely as toxic as methylJ\ocyanatc
rhydr gen ulfide. They are generally not released in con cntration\ nearly a\ high
a tho that cau e uch disa. ter, . Their effect. normally do not rc,ult from a single
expo ure (m thyl i ocyanatc and hydrogen sulfide can kill in a minute or two). but
from repeated expo ure to low concentrations for long periods.
Tabl 2.1 li t the air pollutants that arc regulated in the n1ted . tate\ in
199 cau e expo ure to them is harmful to human health. Th' majority of the air
poll uti neff rt in the United tate. (and mo. t of this book) is devoted to the control
13