Air Pollution

Ms Noor Rosyidah Binti Sajuni School of Engineering rosyidah@ucsi.edu.my

Unit of Measurement
Air quality measurement are commonly reported in terms of: micrograms per cubic meter (g/m3) parts per million (ppm) or parts per billion (ppb) For particulate matter, sizes are expressed in micron or micrometer. ppm is a volume-to-volume ratio, which makes it independent of local temperature and pressure.
ppmx10 6 xMWx103 L / m 3 x106 Qg / g Qg / m ! V ( L / mol )
3

MW : gram molecular weight of the gas V1 P V2 P2 1 ! T1 T2

Standard conditions: V=22.4 L/mol @ 273K & 760 mmHg

Converting g/m3 ppm

The conversion between g/m3 and ppm is based on the fact that at standard conditions (00C and 101.325 kPa), one mole of an ideal gas occupies 22.414 L. We may write an equation that converts the mass of the pollutant Mp in grams to its equivalent volume Vp in liters at standard temperature and pressure (STP).

GMW Vp Mp

= g MW of the pollutant = equivalent volume = mass of the pollutant

 REMEMBER!! For readings made at T & P other than standard conditions, the standard volume, 22.414 L/GM must be corrected. Use Ideal law to make correction

T2 and P2 (absolute temperature and absolute pressure at which the readings were made. ppm is a volume ratio, Where Va = volume of air in cubic meters at T,P of the reading.

 Final equation:

Where GMW Vp Mp Va T2 P2

= gram MW of the pollutant = equivalent volume = mass of the pollutant ( g) = volume of air in cubic meters at T,P of the reading = absolute temperature at which the readings were made = absolute pressure at which the readings were made

Factors converting g to g and L to million of L to millions of L cancel one another. Unless otherwise stated, assumed that Va =1.00 m3

Example
A one-cubic-meter sample of air was found to contain 80 g/m 3 of SO2. The temperature and pressure were 250C and 102.193 kPa when the air sample was taken. What was the SO2 concentration in ppm? Given; S = 32.07 O = 16.00

Solution
1. Determine the GMW of SO2 . GMW of SO2 = 32.07 + 2(16.00) 2. Convert temp to absolute temp. 250C + 273K = 298K 3. Solve the equation

Answer ; 0.0300 ppm of SO2