BEV 2036/EV 414 (Environmental Engineering Analysis and Design)

Faculty of Engineering, Technology & Built Environment (FETBE)

Chapter 3:
Air Pollution

Dr. Mohd Razman Salim

Razman@ucsiuniversity.edu.my

Block E, Level 10
 Lecture Outline

• Introduction • Health Effects of Air

• Gases in the Pollutions
Atmosphere • Impact of Air
• Air Pollution Pollution
• Definition of Air • Greenhouse effect and
Pollution global warming
• Sources of Air • Ozone depletion
Pollution
• Acid rain
• Classification of Air
Pollutants • Air Pollution Control
 INTRODUCTION

• Air (containing oxygen) is a vital requirement

for sustaining life. At present there is about
21% oxygen in the atmosphere and almost
every creature consumes it for its metabolism.
• Fortunately nature has the process of
photosynthesis in which the green plants
produce oxygen (O2) in presence of sunlight
and consume carbon dioxide (CO2). Thus the
concentration of O2 is recouped and the CO2
produced by the human and natural activities is
consumed.
 INTRODUCTION

• CO2 as such is not a harmful gas. It acts like

glass in green house effect and thus keeps the
earth warm. It allows the sun’s shortwave
radiation to pass through it and does not allow
the earth’s long wave heat radiation to escape
through it.
• Thus it keeps the earth warm. Had there been
no CO2 on earth it would have been not
habitable. The temperature of earth’s surface
would have been negative in the absence of it.
So that way it is a useful gas.
 INTRODUCTION

• Then why do we curse CO2 for global

warming?

• Global warming means increase in the

temperature of earth resulting in over
melting of ice and raising of water level in
the oceans and increase in vector borne
diseases and the discomfort.
• Here lies the concept of ‘Pollution’.
 GASES IN THE ATMOSPHERE

Atmosphere
● Def: body of air
or gasses that
protects the planet
and enables life
● (Air:
78% Nitrogen,
21%Oxygen,
1% other)
GASES IN THE ATMOSPHERE
 AIR POLLUTION

The Air around Us

● 147 million metric tons of air
pollution released each year in
U.S.
● 2 billion metric tons/year for
the world
● Developed countries
decreasing air pollution while
developing countries are
increasing
 AIR POLLUTION

• Pollution is “change in background

concentration”.
• Pollution means mixing of anything
which is undesirable, leading to some
harmful effect. “Any substance
introduced into the environment that
adversely affects the usefulness of a
resource”.
 AIR POLLUTION

• Pollution happens because no process is

100% efficient; each process produces
pollution.
• As the case of CO2 is there, a certain
percentage of CO2 is desirable to keep the
earth warm and cozy, but beyond that it
increases the temperature so high which
is undesirable and thus causes air
pollution.
 The clean dry air has following average composition:-

**Note: Undesirable changes in the above composition, or mixing of harmful

solid particles (suspended particulate matter) or addition of sound beyond
particular level is known as air pollution.
 DEFINITION OF AIR POLLUTION

Perkins (1974) defined air pollution as “air

pollution means the presence in the outdoor
atmosphere of one or more contaminants
such as dust, fumes, gas, mist, odor, smoke
or vapor in such concentrations that may
tend to be injurious to human, plant or
animal life or to property or which
unreasonably interferes with the
comfortable enjoyment of life and property”.
**Note: Not only outdoor, the indoor pollution is more severe these days,
because of the emissions from kitchen, smoking in close space and faulty
planning.
 DEFINITION OF AIR POLLUTION

 Air pollution defined as the of one or more

contaminants or combinations in such quantities
and of such durations as may be or tend to be
injurious to human, animal or plant life, or property,
or which unreasonably interferes with the
comfortable enjoyment of life or property or conduct
of business.
 DEFINITION OF AIR POLLUTION

• The condensed water vapor present in the air

(fog) straps the pollutants like oxides of
sulphur and particulate matter (tiny solid
particles floating in the air) leading to fatal
action on human beings.

• There are so many other such incidents in the

worldwide history which are enough for us to
have a serious thought regarding the control of
air pollution. The following table shows some
of the major air pollution disasters:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iqH9e58ngAk
 SOURCES OF AIR POLLUTION

Air pollution can be caused by natural processes or by

human activities.

Natural Sources
Natural sources of air pollution include dust storms, forest fires,
ash from smoking volcanoes (volcanic eruptions), the decay of
organic matters and pollen grains (spores) floating in the air.

Manmade or anthropogenic
Population explosion, deforestation, urbanization and
industrialization are all human causes of air pollution. Manmade
Sources – Industrial units, thermal power plants, automobile
exhausts, fossil fuel burning, mining, nuclear explosions.
 SOURCES OF AIR POLLUTION

Stationary
Mobile
Point source- large stationary source
Area source- small stationary source and mobile source with
indefinite routes
Line source- mobile source with definite routes
Air Pollution Disaster
 CLASSIFICATION OF AIR POLLUTANTS
Pollen is important natural
Refer to the dispersion of solid or liquid
contaminant because of its peculiar
particles of microscopic size in the air. It can
properties of irritation and allergy
also be defined as a colloidal system in
sometimes leading to bronchitis,
which the dispersion medium is gas and the
asthma and dermatitis. They are
dispersed phase is solid or liquid. The term
discharged into the atmosphere from
aerosol is applicable until it is in suspension
plants etc. The air transported pollen
and after settlement due to its own weight
grains range mainly between 10 and
or by addition with other particles
50 microns.
(agglomeration) it is no longer an air Natural
pollutant. The diameter of the aerosol may Contaminants
range from 0.01 (or less) micron to 100
Following are the main air
micron. The various aerosols are as pollutant gases:
follows:-
1). Sulphur dioxide (P)
2). Oxides of nitrogen
1). Dust Aerosols Gases 3). Carbon monoxide (P)
2). Smoke 4). Hydrogen sulphide
5). Hydrogen fluoride
3). Mists
6). Chlorine and hydrogen
4). Fog chloride
5). Fumes 7). Ozone (S)
8). Aldehydes
 CLASSIFICATION OF AIR POLLUTANTS

Pollutants can be grouped into two categories:

(1)primary pollutants, which are emitted directly

from identifiable sources. The major primary
pollutants include:
• particulate matter (PM),
• sulfur dioxide,
• nitrogen oxides,
• volatile organic compounds (VOCs),
• carbon monoxide, and
• lead.
 CLASSIFICATION OF AIR POLLUTANTS

(2) secondary pollutants, which are produced in the

atmosphere when certain chemical reactions take place
among primary pollutants. Examples include:

• Atmospheric sulfuric acid.

• Air pollution in urban and industrial areas is often
called smog.
• Photochemical smog, a noxious mixture ofgases
and particles, is produced when strong sunlight
triggers photochemical reactions in the
atmosphere.
• The major component of photochemical smog is
ozone.
CLASSIFICATION OF AIR POLLUTANTS
 CLASSIFICATION OF AIR POLLUTANTS

**Note: Primary pollutants are those that are emitted directly from identifiable
sources. Secondary air pollutants are those that are produced in the air by the
interaction of two or more primary air pollutant.
HEALTH EFFECTS OF AIR POLLUTION
The air pollutants have harmful effect on human beings, animals,
plants and even on the buildings. The air pollutants may have their
origin from vehicular emissions or by other industrial or other human
or natural activity. The following tables show their harmful effects.
 IMPACTS OF AIR POLLUTION

Environmental Impacts
• It causes depletion of the ozone layer, due to which ultraviolet
radiation can reach the earth and cause skin cancer and
damage to the eyes and immune system.
• It causes acid rain, which damages crop plants, trees, buildings,
monuments, statues and metal structures and also makes the
soil acidic.
• It causes the greenhouse effect and global warming, which
leads to excessive heating of the earth's atmosphere, further
leading to weather variability and a rising in sea level. The
increased temperature may cause the melting of ice caps and
glaciers, resulting in floods.
 IMPACTS OF AIR POLLUTION

Human Health Impacts

• Air pollution affects the respiratory system, causing breathing difficulties and
diseases such as bronchitis, asthma, lung cancer, tuberculosis and pneumonia.
• It affects the central nervous system causing carbon monoxide poisoning. CO
has more affinity for haemoglobin than oxygen and thus forms a stable
compound carboxy haemoglobin (COHb), which is poisonous and causes
suffocation and death.
• Pollution of the air from certain metals, pesticides and fungicides causes
serious ailments.
• Lead pollution causes anaemia, brain damage, convulsions and death.
• Certain metals cause problems in the kidneys, liver, circulatory system and
nervous system.
• Fungicide pollution can cause nerve damage and death.
• Pesticides like DDT (dichloro diphenyl trichloroethane), which are toxic, enter
into our food chain and get accumulated in the body. This can cause kidney
disorders and problems of the brain and circulatory system.
https://youtu.be/7y6cvg_-6Lo
 GREENHOUSE EFFECT & GLOBAL WARMING

➢The solar radiation at temperature 600 degree

Kelvin is short-wave radiation which can pass
through the glass. If there is a glass chamber the
solar radiation comes through the glass and heats up
the belongings inside. These heated up air or the
other belongings radiate heat as the long wave
radiation.
➢Glass is opaque to the long wave radiation and thus
it does not allow the inside heat to go out. Thus the
temperature of that house keeps on increasing to
(certain limit) depending on the conditions.
 GREENHOUSE EFFECT & GLOBAL WARMING

➢This phenomenon is used for growing greenery at

this comfortable with suitable temperature inside
that house. This is known as the GREENHOUSE
EFFECT.
➢CO2 plays the same role in atmosphere as allows
the short-wave radiation of sun but does not allows
the earth’s long wave radiation to escape.
➢The increasing concentration of CO2 (because of
human activity like industrialization urbanization
etc.) is increasing the temperature of the earth to a
harmful level, known as GLOBAL WARMING.
 OZONE DEPLETION

90% of the ozone is Because of the air pollution

concentrated in the this ozone layer is depleting
stratosphere and absorbs and wherever the
95% of the UV radiation concentration becomes very
low it is termed as ozone hole
Ozone layer is a ring of
protective gases around the
Earth that absorbs harmful Main culprit for ozone layer
UV rays before they reach depletion are
the surface. chlrofluorocarbons (CFCs).

Note:
Aircrafts release large CFCs is a non reactive,
quantities of nitric acid that odorless, nonflammable non
reacts with the ozone and toxic and non corrosive.
thus breaks the protective
layer It extremely used in air
conditioners, refrigerators
and some sprays.

CFCs stay for a long period in

stratosphere (more than 50
years).
 OZONE DEPLETION

• About 20 km above Earth is the ozone layer.

• Ozone is a molecule made of three oxygen atoms,
just like the ozone in smog. Unlike smog, the
ozone that exists at high altitudes helps Earth’s
organisms by absorbing some of the Sun’s harmful
rays.
• One chlorine atom can destroy nearly 100,000
molecules of ozone. If too many ozone molecules
are destroyed, harmful radiation from the Sun could
reach Earth.
OZONE DEPLETION
OZONE DEPLETION
 Effects of Ozone Layer Depletion

As the concentration of ozone reduces in the

protective layer, the harmful ultraviolet radiation
(UV-A, UV-B and UV-C) shall reach the earth
surface and shall cause many diseases like the
following:
i. Skin cancer of various types including the
dangerous melanoma.
ii. The ultraviolet radiation directly increases the
cataract (disease of eyes).
 Effects of Ozone Layer Depletion

iii. The UV radiation affects

the eyes of wild life also
and as they cannot
protect themselves this
effect is more
pronounced.
iv. The depletion of ozone
lead to increased
photochemical smog and
degradation of outdoor
paint and plastic.
 ACID RAIN – How it happen?

• The main gases as air pollutants are SOX and NOX.

• When the rainfall occurs it dissolves the CO2 present in
the air and makes the carbonic acid.
• This makes the rain slightly acidic and reduces its pH.
The reduction of pH up to 5.6 is considered as
normal and it is not termed as acidic rainfall.
• Due to industrialization and the automobile exhaust,
SOX and NOX are present in the air in large quantities.
When they react with the moisture to form sulfuric and
nitric acids they make such rain as acid rain (acidity
below pH 5.6 level).
• The pH of lakes and streams may decrease.
 ACID RAIN – How it happen?

• Cases e.g.:
“Rapidly growing use of electricity produced by
coal and other fossil fuels serious problem of acid
rain has emerged in US, Canada, Europe and
China”.

“Annual SO2 emissions in India has almost

doubled in the last decade which has resulted in
low pH value of rain water but still it is in control
as fortunately the Indian coal has low sulphur
value”.
 ACID RAIN – Deposition
Wind
Transformation to
sulfuric acid
(H2SO4) and nitric Windborne ammonia gas and
acid (HNO3) particles of cultivated soil
partially neutralize acids and Wet acid depostion
form dry sulfate and nitrate (droplets of H2SO4
salts and HNO3 dissolved
Nitric oxide (NO) in rain and snow)
Sulfur dioxide Dry acid deposition
(SO2) and NO (sulfur dioxide gas and
particles of sulfate and
nitrate salts)
Acid fog
Farm
Lakes in shallow soil
Ocean low in limestone
Lakes in deep become acidic
soil high in
limestone are
buffered
 Solutions
Acid Deposition
Prevention Cleanup
Reduce air pollution Add lime to
by improving neutralize
energy efficiency acidified lakes
Reduce coal use
Add phosphate
Increase natural
gas use fertilizer to
neutralize
Increase use of acidified lakes
renewable energy
resources

Burn low-sulfur coal

Remove SO2
particulates & NOx
from smokestack
gases

Remove NOx from

motor vehicular
exhaust

Tax emissions of SO2

 ACID RAIN – The bad effect

✓ Acid rain strongly harms every where and everybody. It

might be a building, human beings, animals,
plants, the fresh bodies of water or the soil.
✓ High acidity kills the fish and other aquatic animals and
plants such as green algae and many useful bacteria.
✓ The killed organism and destroyed plants increase the
organic matter and as the rate of its decomposition
reduces the situation becomes worst.
✓ Acid rain adversely affects the soil and the vegetation by
accelerates the surface erosion, infertile soil and
the growth of plants is hampered and the trees
are badly affected
 ACID RAIN – The bad effect

The acid rain can be reduced by:

i. Using low sulfur coal
ii. Gasification
iii.Alternative methods of power generation
like the renewable sources of energy, like
solar, wind, hydro-electrical, biomass etc.
iv.Desulfurization of fuel gas
 ACID RAIN

The following table gives details about the formation of

acid rain:
 AIR POLLUTION CONTROL

Air pollution can be prevented by

changing:-
(i) the raw material
(ii) the process conditions
(iii)the procedure and
(iv) by having the preventive
maintenance
 AIR POLLUTION CONTROL

Some of the examples are as follows:-

i. Selection of proper material. For example
using low sulfur coal reduces the SO2 problem.
ii. Applying zoning to distribute the impact of air
pollution in a community.
iii.Controlling the spread of coal dust by
sprinkling water on it before handling in a
thermal power plant.
iv.Preventive maintenance by repairing leaky
valves in advance so as to prevent the leakages
of the harmful gases in air.
 AIR POLLUTION CONTROL

For dealing with the particulate matter the

following control technologies are used,
• Settling chambers (course particle)
• Cyclone separators (course particle)
• Fabric filters (fine particle)
• Electrostatic precipitators (fine particle)
• Wet collector - scrubbers (fine particle)
 AIR POLLUTION CONTROL

 There are a of ways to prevent and control

air pollution from coal-burning facilities.
 Electrostatic precipitator: are used to
attract negatively charged particles in a
smokestack into a collector.
 Wet scrubber: fine mists of water vapor trap
particulates and convert them to a sludge that
is collected and disposed of usually in a
landfill.
Electrostatic Precipitator

 Can remove 99% of

particulate matter
 Does not remove
hazardous ultrafine
particles.
 Produces toxic dust that
must be safely disposed
of.
 Uses large amounts of
electricity
Wet Scrubber

 Can remove 98% of

SO2 and particulate
matter.
 Not very effective in
removing hazardous
fine and ultrafine
particles.
 Solutions

Stationary Source Air Pollution

Prevention Dispersion or
Cleanup

Burn low-sulfur Disperse emissions

coal above thermal
inversion layer with
tall smokestacks
Remove sulfur
from coal

Remove pollutants
Convert coal to a after combustion
liquid or gaseous
fuel

Tax each unit of

Shift to less pollution produced
polluting fuels
 Solutions

Motor Vehicle Air Pollution

Prevention Cleanup
Mass transit Emission
control devices
Bicycles and
walking

Less polluting
engines
Less polluting fuels Car exhaust
inspections
Improve fuel efficiency twice a year

Get older, polluting

cars off the road

Give buyers large tax

write-offs or rebates for
buying low-polluting, Stricter
energy efficient emission
vehicles standards
 CONTROL OF AUTOMOBILE POLLUTION

Major automobile pollutants:

✓carbon monoxide
✓unburnt hydrocarbons, and
✓the oxides of nitrogen.

Generated by:
✓evaporation of fuel from carburetor,
✓leakage between piston rings and cylinder
wall, and
✓combustion of fuel (exhaust gases)
 CONTROL OF AUTOMOBILE POLLUTION

To prevent the automobile pollution, actions/

ways can be taken as below:
1. The industry can be compelled to
manufacture the vehicles in such a way i.e.
enforcing the Euro standards, that they
produce minimum pollutants.
2. The user has to maintain the vehicle by its
proper servicing (tuning of engine) in such a
way that the exhaust emissions are under
control.
 CONTROL OF AUTOMOBILE POLLUTION

3. Control the quality of fuel. If the fuel is

having lead in it, neither the vehicle nor the
owner can prevent its emission to the
ambient air.
4. Minimizing the use of vehicles by walking
for small distances, pooling of the vehicles,
switching off the vehicles on red lights,
maintaining the vehicles in proper order,
adopting efficient ways of driving, better
design and maintenance of roads
 FATE OF AIR POLLUTANTS

Sulphur Oxides

• May be both primary and secondary pollutants. Power plants,

industry, volcanoes and the oceans emit SO2, SO3 and SO24-
directly as primary pollutants. Biological decay processes and
some industrial sources emit H2S, which is oxidized to form
secondary pollutant SO2.
• In terms of sulphur, approximately 10 Tg is emitted annually by
natural sources. Approximately 75 Tg of sulphur may be
attributed to anthropogenic sources each year.
• Most important oxidizing reactions for H2S appears to be one
involving ozone:
H2S + O3 H2O + SO2
 FATE OF AIR POLLUTANTS

• The combustion of fossil fuels containing sulphur yields sulphur

dioxide in direct proportion to the sulphur content of the fuel.

S + O2 SO2

• This reaction implies that for every gram of sulphur in the fuel,
2 grams of SO2 is emitted to the atmosphere. Because the
combustion process is not 100% efficient, generally it is assume
that 5% of the sulphur in the fuel ends up in the ash, that is,
1.90 g SO2 per gram of sulphur in the fuel is emitted.
 FATE OF AIR POLLUTANTS

Example:
A power plant burns coal at a rate of 1.00 kg.s-1. If the analysis of
the coal reveals a sulphur content of 3.0%, what is the annual rate
of emission of SO2?
Solution:
Using the mass balance approach, draw the following mass-
balance diagram:
Sulphur dioxide (SSO2)

Sulphur in
(Sin)

Sulphur dioxide (Sash)

 FATE OF AIR POLLUTANTS

The steady-state mass balance equation may be written as

Sin = Sash + Sso2

From the problem data, the mass of “sulphur in” is

Sin = 1.00 kg.s-1 x 0.030 = 0.030 kg.s-1

In one year,

Sin = 0030 kg.s-1 x 86,400 s.day-1 x 365 day.year-1 = 9.46 x 105 kg.year-1

The sulphur in the ash is 5% of the input sulphur,

Sash = (0.05)(9.46 x 105 kg.year-1) = 4.73 x 104 kg.year-1

 FATE OF AIR POLLUTANTS

The amount of sulphur available for conversion to SO2 is

Sso2 = Sin - Sash = 9.46 x 105 - 4.73 x 104 = 8.99 x 105 kg.year-1

The amount of sulphur formed is determined from the

proportional weights of the oxidation reaction

S + O2 SO2

MW = 32 + 32 = 64

The amount of sulphur dioxide formed is then 64/32 of the sulphur

available for conversion.

Sso2 = 64/32 x 8.99 x 105 kg.year-1 = 1.80 x 106 kg.year-1

 ATMOSPHERIC DISPERSION - Basic Point Source Gaussian Dispersion
Model

Ground Level Concentration, X of pollutant at a point (x and y) downwind

from a stack with an effective height (H) is shown in the figure below. The
standard deviation of the plume in the horizontal and vertical directions is
designated by sy and sz respectively.

The standard
deviations are
functions of the
downward distance
from the source and
the stability of the
atmosphere. The
equation is as follows:
 ATMOSPHERIC DISPERSION - Basic Point Source Gaussian Dispersion
Model

Ground Level Concentration, X:

ATMOSPHERIC DISPERSION - Basic Point Source Gaussian Dispersion
Model
ATMOSPHERIC DISPERSION - Basic Point Source Gaussian Dispersion
Model

The value of sy and sz depend on the turbulent structure or

stability of the atmosphere. The following equations provide
an approximate fit, where a, c, d and f are defined in the table
below. These equations were developed to yield sy and sz in
metres for downwind distance x in kilometres.
ATMOSPHERIC DISPERSION - Basic Point Source Gaussian Dispersion
Model
THANK YOU