Lecture Four

Air quality monitoring and

emissions assessment
Professor S.C. Lee
Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering
The Hong Kong Polytechnic University
ZS943
Email: ceslee@polyu.edu.hk,
Tel: (+852) 2766-6011, Fax: (852) 2334-6389

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 Educational Objectives

⚫Air Quality Monitoring

⚫ Emission Assessments – Emission
factor and emission rate

2
 Air quality

◼ Defined
 Qualitatively
➢ Visibility reduction
➢ Building soiling/ materials damage
➢ Plant/crop damage
➢ Adverse health effects

 Quantitatively
✓ Pollutant concentrations
✓ Mass of target pollutants

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 Air quality monitoring (1)

◼ Defined as
 Systematic, long-term measurement of
pollutant concentrations at specially
identified/located sites

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 Air quality monitoring (2)

◼ Major goals
 Determine compliance with National Criteria
 Determine long-term Air Quality trends
 Determine potential human exposures
 Support air quality index (AQI) program
 Support emissions reduction program
 Determine effectiveness of emissions control programs
 Support environmental assessments such as visibility impairment,
acidic deposition effects, etc
 Support pollutant exposure/health effects research studies
 Characterizing new pollutant-related problems, e.g. mercury
 Tracking changes in O3-destroying chemicals
 Tracking changes in greenhouse gases
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 Question ???

Describe differences between qualitative and

quantitative assessments of air quality.

Quantitative assessments are based on actual

measurements of pollutant concentrations.
Qualitative assessments are not; they may be
descriptive of what the air quality may be on a
particular day or time period.

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 Monitoring considerations

◼ Sampling
◼ Averaging times
◼ Sampling techniques

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 Sampling (1)

◼ Process of collecting samples

◼ Samples collected since it is not possible to
measure pollutant concentrations in every
part of the atmosphere at all possible time
periods
◼ Sample concentrations are used to infer
what pollutant concentrations are around
sampling site for variety of time periods

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 Sampling (2)

◼ Manual methods
 Samplingand analysis are discrete events
(e.g.VOCs collected on sorbents)
◼ Automated methods
 Samplingand analysis are conducted
simultaneously in real-time

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 Manual methods (1)

◼ Sample size or volume determined by the

limit of detection (LOD) of the analytical
technique
◼ Sample volume is a direct function of the
sampling rate and duration
◼ Samples are usually collected
intermittentently

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 Manual methods (2)

◼ Sampling rate
 Rate of air flow through sampling device
 Determined by collection efficiency
 Optimized to meet sampling objectives

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 Collection efficiency

◼ Collection efficiency is equal to % of

pollutant collected compared to pollutant
concentration actually present
◼ Depends on
 Sampling technique employed
 Physical/chemical properties of pollutants

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 Manual methods (3)

◼ Sampling duration
 Time used/required to collect sample
 Commonly reflects time needed to meet
sample LOD requirements
 Commonly reflects regulatory averaging time
requirements

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 Automated real-time sampling

◼ Utilize very sensitive analytical procedures

(such as UV absorption for O3 analysis)
◼ Sampling rates are very low (< 1L/min)

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 Question ???

What is the relationship between sampling and air

quality monitoring?

Sampling is the process of making individual

measurements of pollutant concentrations; it is a
component of air quality monitoring.

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 Monitoring considerations
◼ Sampling
◼ Averaging times
◼ Sampling techniques

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 Averaging times (1)

◼ Defined as
 Time period over which pollutant concentration
is averaged
◼ Used to summarize pollutant
concentrations over meaningful time
periods

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 Averaging times (2)

◼ In manual methods
 Often require long sampling durations
 Produce integrated data for the sampling
period
 Reflect intended use of data

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 Averaging times (3)

◼ In automated real-time methods

 Data of continually fluctuating concentrations
are generated
 Data are so voluminous as to be uninterpretable
 Data must be integrated to produce averaged
values that reflect regulatory needs

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Differences in averaging times
associated with real-time data

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 Monitoring considerations

◼ Sampling
◼ Averaging times
◼ Sampling techniques

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 Sampling techniques

◼ Requirements
A mechanism/system for drawing airborne
gases/particles to the surface of or into a
collecting medium or a sensing environment
◼ System described as a sampling train

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 Sampling train

◼ Includes
 Vacuum pump
 Flow controlling device
 Collecting medium/sensing environment
 Filter to remove particles (in some gas
sampling devices)

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 Sampling techniques

◼ Samples may be collected by these

methods
 Passive
 Grab
 Intermittent
 Continuous

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 Passive sampling

◼ No air moving equipment utilized

◼ Used in the early years of air pollution
control
◼ New methods based on diffusion
principles
◼ Widely used for
 Personal monitoring in occupational
environments
 Area sampling in indoor environments for
radon, formaldehyde, NO2
 Health effects research studies
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Passive O3 monitor

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 Grab sampling

◼ Samples collected over a period of

seconds to minutes
◼ Commonly used in problem environments
◼ Used at Photochemical Assessment
Monitoring Stations sites
◼ Use evacuated canisters or tubes,
sampling bags, gas-tight syringes

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Gas sampling canisters and airbags

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 Intermittent sampling (1)

◼ Sampling conducted at various intervals of

time
◼ Widely used for gas-phase pollutants such
as SO2 and NOx in early 70s
◼ Sampling approach of choice for PM10 and
PM 2.5

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 Intermittent sampling (2)

◼ Major advantage is relatively low

instrument cost
◼ Utilizes relatively long averaging times,
typically 24 hours
◼ Major disadvantages include the absence
of data on days when samples are not
being collected

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 Continuous monitoring

◼ Provides a continuous output of real-time

data
◼ These are systems of choice in Air Quality
Management programs
◼ Major disadvantages include high capital
and equipment maintenance costs

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 Sampling for gas-phase pollutants

◼ Manual methods
 Absorption (e.g. SO2)
 Adsorption (e.g. air toxics)
 Condensation (e.g. hydrocarbons)
 Capture

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 Absorption (1)

◼ Pollutant collection in a liquid reagent

◼ Not commonly used in Air Quality
Management
◼ Widely used in personal monitoring in
workplace environments

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 Adsorption (2)

◼ Pollutants captured on solid sorbent

surfaces
◼ Commonly used for non-polar VOCs
◼ Widely used in personal or area monitoring
in workplace environments

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 Condensation

◼ Pollutants collected by reducing air

temperature to condense or freeze them
◼ Once used for VOCs
◼ Use is presently relatively uncommon

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 Capture

◼ Used in grab sampling

◼ Common approaches include the use of
 Evacuated containers
 Gas sampling bags
 Gas-tight syringes

◼ Collected gases are analyzed in the

laboratory

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 Sampling for particulate-
phase pollutants

◼ Primary collection principles include

 Filtration
 Impaction

◼ Primary analytical methods include

 Gravimetry
 Optical sensing

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 Filtration

◼ Primary collection method

◼ Collection on a fibrous medium
◼ Filters are prepared, exposed, and
reweighed
◼ Used in high volume (HiVol) PM10, and
PM2.5 samplers
◼ Concentrations determined from the weight
of the collected PM mass
◼ Concentrations reported as μg/m3
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PM10 sampler

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 Impactors

◼ Fractionate PM into individual size ranges

◼ Cascade impactors
 Utilize multiple orifice plates with collection on
filters
◼ Dichotomous or virtual impactors
 Impact particles into a void
 Used to fractionate PM into PM 2.5 (< 2.5um)
and PM 2.5- PM10 (> 2.5- < 10 um)

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Dichotomous impactor

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 Continuous PM monitors

◼ Collected particles are quantitatively

determined from filter tape or
exchangeable cartridge
◼ Analytical methods
 Betaattenuation
 Frequency change in sensing element (tapered
element oscillating monitor, TEOM)

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TEOM monitor

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 Question ???

What is the significance of the following in conducting air

sampling: (a) sample size, (b) sampling rate, and (c) sampling
duration?

(a) Sample size is the volume of air collected. It is

determined by how much pollutant needs to be
collected for accurate analysis. (b) Sampling rate is set
at a desired airflow to optimize collection efficiency. (c)
Sampling duration is based on desired sample size and
averaging time to be used.

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Reporting pollutant concentrations

◼ Mixing ratios-expression of choice in US

◼ System international- SI units used in
metric using countries

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 Calculating ppmv

◼ Assume the following

 SO2 is collected at a rate of 0.2 L/min over 24
hours
 On analysis the quantity of SO2 collected in an
absorbing reagent was 40 μg
◼ What was the average concentration of
SO2 over the sampling period? (standard
ambient condition: 25˚C and 760 mmHg)

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 Conversion of ppmv to SI units

◼ Convert 0.08 ppmv O3 to μg/m3

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 Answers

Q1 Mixing ratio (ppbv)

=[40/(0.2*24*60*0.001)]*62.36*298/(760*64)
= 53 ppbv

Q2
80 ppbv = X*62.36*298/(48*760)
X (μg/m3) =80*48*760/(62.36*298) = 157 μg/m3

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Standardizing air volume to reference
conditions

Using the equation

where V s = standardized volume, L

Vm = measured volume, L
T1 = field temperature, oK
T2 = reference temperature, oK
P1 = field atmospheric pressure, mmHg
P2 = reference atmospheric pressure, mmHg

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 Example

◼ Assume field temperature and pressure of

22 oC and 740 mmHg, measured volume is
288 l.
Then

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 Accuracy

◼ Relative agreement between measured

and true value
◼ Because of sampling/analytical errors
100% accuracy is difficult to achieve
◼ Determined and reported as absolute or
relative error
 Error may be positive or negative

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 Calculating error

◼ Error can be calculated from the following

equation

Where O means observed value and A

means true value.

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 Example: Calculating error

◼ In measurements of a known (1 ppmv)

concentration of SO2, the observed
average was 0.925 ppmv what is the error?

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 Example: Calculating error

◼ Convert this error to a percentage

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 Precision

◼ Measure of the reproducibility of results of

repeated measurements
◼ Quantified by calculating standard
deviation around the mean of measured
results

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 Precision

◼ Commonly reported as the coefficient of

variation(CV)
 CV = (standard deviation/mean) ×100
 CV = +/- %

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 Precision

◼ Standard deviation can be calculated

from the following equation
0.5
 n

 =  ( xi − x ) / n
2

 i =1 

Where xi is the measured value for i sample; x is the

mean value of n samples; n is the number of samples.

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 Example: Precision

◼ There are 10 measurements: 0.850, 1.000,

0.950, 0.960, 0.870, 0.900, 0.880, 0.920,
0.940, 0.990. The coefficient of variation
can be calculated from equation 7.9

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 Bias

◼ Data are inaccurate in a systematic way

◼ May show good precision
◼ Bias represents measurement results that
show a consistent deviation from the true
value.
◼ Bias is often observed when instruments
are out of calibration.

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Accuracy, precision, bias

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 Use of accuracy in AQM context

◼ Includes both random (precision) and

systematic (bias) errors
◼ Accuracy is therefore reported as ± % of
the true value
◼ Accuracy values of ± 10% are desirable,
± 25% are acceptable for passive sampling

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 Calibration

◼ Process whereby measured values are

compared to standard or reference
values
◼ Conducted to insure data are reliable
◼ All instruments must be periodically
calibrated
◼ Calibration errors indicate the need for
instrument adjustment (s)
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 Quality assurance

◼ Programs that set

 Data collecting policies
 Data quality objectives
◼ Programs that
 Oversee data collection management
 Assign responsibilities
 Conduct data collection reviews

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 Quality control

◼ Focuses on technical aspects of data

quality with implementation of procedures
such as
 Calibrations
 Checks
 Replicatesamples
 Routine self- assessments
 Audits

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 Data summarization

◼ Data must be
 Reduced to meaningful values, tables, graphs,
statistics
 Interpreted
◼ Most commonly used summarization
methods
 Graphs/tables
 Statistics

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Histogram of TSP data

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Box plot of CO concentrations

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 Statistical summarization

◼ Common to report measures of central

tendency
 Mean – average of all data values
 Median – middle value when data are arrayed
in ascending or descending order
 Mode – the most frequent value

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 Measures of central tendency

◼ Mean, median and mode are the same

value if data are normally distributed
◼ Median is commonly used when data are
not normally distributed

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 Geometric mean

◼ Calculated from the following equation

Where xi is the measured value of sample i; N is the

number of samples.

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 Air quality index (AQI)
◼ Used to provide guidance to public and
health authorities relative to
“healthiness/unhealthiness” of air in a
community
◼ Reported daily
◼ Scaled relative to 6 levels of concern
◼ Values vary from 0-500

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 Emissions assessment

◼ Need for emissions data to

 Identifysources primarily responsible for
ambient pollutant levels
 Formulate emission control policy
 Comply with emission reporting
requirements
 Compile annual national emission
inventories
 Use in AQ modeling

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 Emissions assessment

◼ Conducted by
 Stack sampling
 Using emission factors

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 Stack sampling/testing

◼ Conducted by
 Manual one-time sampling procedures
 Continuous emission monitors

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Stack sampling train for USEPA
method 5

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 Emission factors

◼ These are
 Toolsto estimate source emissions
 Expressed as mass/unit weight, mass/ unit
volume, mass/ heat input

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 Emission factors

◼ Are obtained from source tests, material

loss/mass balance evaluations,
engineering estimates
◼ Rated from A-E to indicate their relative
reliability

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Emission factors for a medical
incinerator

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 Emission rates

◼ Used to estimate source emissions by

Where
E = emission rate, kg air pollutant/hr,
ton/day
A = activity rate
EF = uncontrolled emission factor, kg/ton
CE = control efficiency

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Example: Emissions calculation

◼ Problem: Calculate the emission rate

per day, per hour, and per year from a
municipal incinerator that burns 50 tons
of waste per day with an emission factor
of 17 lb/ton

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 Emissions calculation

Using equation 7.13

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 Emissions calculation

◼ If the emission limit were 1.5 lb/ton what

would be the minimum collection
efficiency required?
CE =[(emission factor – emission limit)/emission
factor](100) = [(17 lb/ton – 1.5 lb/ton)/17
lb/ton](100) = 91%

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 Emissions calculation

◼ Using equation 7.12 the emission rate

would be

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 Question ???
(a) At some distance downwind (x) of an industrial boiler burning 12 tons (10.9
mton) of 2.5% sulfur coal/hr with an emission rate of 151 g/s
The following exist : H = 120 m, u = 2 m/s, y = 0, it is one hour before sunrise,
and the sky is clear.
The stability class (from table 7.4) for this atmospheric condition is F.
The horizontal dispersion coefficient y for a downwind distance of 10 km for F
atmospheric stability class = ~270 m
The vertical dispersion coefficient z = 45 m

(b) If emissions are from a ground level source with H = 0, u = 4 m/s, Q =

100 g/s, and the stability class = B, we can calculate downwind
concentrations at various receptor distances (e.g., 200 and 1000 m).

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Solution

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Calculating ground level concentrations

(b) For a receptor distance of 200 m:

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