© The Hong Kong Polytechnic University

THE HONG KONG POLYTECHNICAL UNIVERSITY

DEPARTMENT OF CIVIL AND ENVIRONMENTAL ENGINEERING

2017/18 SEMESTER II EXAMINATION

Programme: BEng (Hons) in Civil Engineering (31469)

BSc (Hons) in Environment and Sustainable Development (31473)
BEng (Hons) in Environmental Engineering and Sustainable Development (31474)
BSc (Hons) in Environmental and Occupational Safety and Health (31470)

Subject: Air and Noise Pollution Studies for Civil Engineering

Air and Noise Pollution Studies for ESD
Air and Noise Pollution Studies

Subject CSE30331 / CSE20331 / CSE331

Code:

Session: 2017/18

Date: 8 May 2018

Time: 3:15 p.m. – 6:15 p.m.

Time Three hours

Allowed:

This question paper has 13 pages.

Instructions to Candidates:

The paper contains TWO sections.

Section A – Two parts in this section. Part I is compulsory and answer any TWO questions
in Part II.

Section B – Two parts in this section. Part I is compulsory and answer any TWO questions
in Part II.

All questions carry marks as indicated.

Use SEPARATE answer book for each section.

DO NOT TURN OVER THE PAGE UNTIL YOU ARE TOLD TO DO SO

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Section A

Part I Compulsory (20 marks)

1. Below is the annual trend of SO2 emission in Hong Kong (unit in ton). Please explain
why there was an increase in SO2 emission in 2003-2004.
(4 marks)

2. What are the unique characteristics of great smog of London?

(3 marks)

3. The Hong Kong government claimed that the emissions of nitrogen oxides (NOx) and
volatile organic compounds (VOCs) have been decreased since 1997, why is O3
pollution more serious in recent years given that NOx and VOCs are O3 precursors?
(3 marks)

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4. Why will the plume emitted from a stack of a manufactory located in a river valley
be trapped inside the valley after sunset? When will the trapped plume be
disappeared?
(4 marks)

5. Below is a sampling train: why are the pump and sample flow controller placed behind
the gas analyzer?
(3 marks)

6. The uncontrolled emission rate of SO2 from a power plant is 80 kg/ton and the
controlled emission rate is 5 kg/ton. What is the collection efficiency?
(3 marks)

Part II Answer any TWO out of the THREE questions (30 marks)

7A. The area of Los Angeles basin is 10,452 square kilometers. The heavily polluted air
layer is assumed to be 606 m thick on average. One solution to Los Angeles’ problems
would be to pump this contaminated air away. Suppose that we wish to pump out the
Los Angeles basin every day and that the air must be pumped 80 kilometers to the
desert. Assume also that the average velocity in the pipe is 12 m/s. Estimate the
required pipe diameter. Please comment the result.
(6 marks)

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7B. A gas stream contains particles of three sizes: large, medium, and small. These are
present in the gas stream with 20% of mass for small size, 30% of mass for medium
size, and 50% of mass for large size.

(i). We pass this gas stream through a collector that is 99% efficient on large particles,
X% efficient on medium particles, and Y% efficient on small particles. The overall
weight percent efficiency of this collector is 75%. We assume Y = 0.6*X, what are
the collection efficiency on the medium particles i.e. X% and on the small particles
i.e. Y%?
(5 marks)

(ii) If three of the above collectors are in series, what will the overall collection efficiency
be?
(4 marks)

8A. Determine the stack height for an industry source emitting 150 ton/day of 1,2-
dichloroethane (C2H4Cl2) if a residential complex is sited 1.5 km downwind and the
ambient limit should not exceed 700 μg/m3. The neutral conditions (D) occur 85
percent of the time and this is to be the designed atmospheric condition. Assume UH
does not change with height. The characteristics are:

Gas exit velocity: υs = 15 m/s

Gas exit temperature: Ts = 150˚C
Stack tip diameter: d = 3 m
Ambient temperature: Ta = 20˚C
The mean wind speed at plume height: UH = 6 m/s
Q = 150 ton/day = 1.7 kg/s
(Please refer to the graphs in appendix).
(10 marks)

8B. Sulfur dioxide (SO2) in ambient air can be measured using wet chemical method. The
detection limit of this method is supposed to be 5 µg in 50 ml of absorbing solution.
If the sampling flow rate is 1 liter/minute, calculate the minimum sampling time
required if the concentration of SO2 in ambient air is 40 µg/m3?
(5 marks)

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9A. A China coal is burned at a rate of 1.00 kg/second. If the analysis of the coal reveals a
sulfur content of 3.00%, what is the annual rate of emission of SO2? (the sulfur in the
ash is 5% of input sulfur) The atomic weight of S is 32 and O is 16.
(5 marks)

9B. An industrial plant emits process gas with a flow rate of 300 m3 min-1 at 82˚C and
1 atm (=760 mmHg = 1.01325×105 Pa) containing 500 ppm (v/v) SO2. If the gas is to
be cleaned by a packed bed scrubber using sodium hydroxide (NaOH) solution
containing 20% NaOH by mass, determine the NaOH flow rate if we need a 60% SO2
removal?

Assume specific gravity of the solution is 1. Atomic masses: Na (23), O (16), H (1),
S (32).

Chemical reaction: 2NaOH + SO2  H2O + Na2SO3

(10 marks)

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Section B

Part I Compulsory (20 marks)

1.
(a) What is noise exposure forecast? (2 marks)

(b) What is the major purpose of using the A-weighting system in (2 marks)
measurement of environmental noise?

(c) Define the term “phons”. Show the relationship between phons and sones. (4 marks)

(d) Discuss the working principle of accelerometers. (4 marks)

(e) What is the usage of beamforming/spatial filtering techniques? (4 marks)

(f) What are traction noise and impact noise in railway systems? (4 marks)

Part II Answer any TWO out of the THREE questions (30 marks)

2.
(a) According to the document “Calculation of Railway Noise” issued from the U.K.
Department of Transport, briefly state the six stages for the noise prediction of
railways.
(6 marks)

(b) Suppose that the total noise level measured at a receiver is 78 dB, which is an addition
of two sound effects. The first one travels over the direct line-of-sight from a noise
source to the receiver, and the second one is once reflected from the ground with a 7.5
dB loss when comparing to the first one at the receiver. If an obstacle is placed to
block the direct light-of-sight between the noise source and the receiver, sound will
only reach the receiver by diffraction around the obstacle and reflection from the
ground. In this case, the total noise level at the receiver is a combination of three
propagation paths. The first path suffers 6 dB loss on reflection from the ground and
8.5 dB loss on diffracting over the obstacle. The second path suffers 6.5 dB loss on
reflection from the ground and 7 dB loss on diffracting over the obstacle. The last one
suffers 6 dB loss on reflection from the ground and 5 dB loss on diffracting over the
obstacle. What is the reduction of the total noise level at the receiver after the
installation of this obstacle?
(5 marks)

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(c) A sound wave is generated in air to strike a concrete wall at normal incidence. Some
acoustic energy can be transmitted into the concrete wall, and the remaining energy is
all reflected. It is noted that there is no energy loss due to any other forms. The sound
intensity level of the incident sound wave is 85 dB. The intensity ratio of the reflected
wave and the incident wave is given by:

I reflected

Z 2  Z1 
2

I incident Z1  Z 2 2

where Z 1 and Z 2 are the characteristic impedance values for air and concrete,
respectively. I incident is the sound intensity of the incident wave and I reflected is the sound
intensity of the reflected wave. Calculate the sound intensity level of the transmitted
wave. The characteristic impedance values for air and concrete are
410 rayl and 7.4  106 rayl, respectively.
(4 marks)

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(a) State two control remedies for structure-borne noise generated from fans and two control
remedies for air-borne noise generated from piping systems in buildings.
(4 marks)

(b) Tonal noise is created from rotating machines. A centrifugal fan of the backward curved
blade type has 62 blades. It operates at a speed of 480 rpm against a pressure of 170 Pa
to deliver 1.7 m3/s of air. Sound power levels produced by the centrifugal fan can be
approximated by the following equation. Assume that the efficiency correction is
ignored. Determine the blade pass frequency and calculate the overall sound power level
for the following octave bands.

Lw  Kw  10log10 Q / Q0   20log10  P / P0   BT  CN
where
Lw = sound power level (dB);
K w = specific sound power level depending on the type of fans (dB), refer to the
following Table;
Q = volume flow rate; Q0 = reference value 0.47 l/s;
P = total pressure; P0 = reference value 248.8 Pa;
BT = Blade tone, the correction for a pure tone produced by the blade pass frequency;
and
C N = efficiency correction.

Table: Specific Sound Power Level Spectrum for Various Types of Fans
Type of Blade Octave Band Centre Frequency (Hz)
Centrifugal Fans tone 63 125 250 500 1000 2000 4000 8000
(dB)
Airfoil blade 3 35 35 34 32 31 26 18 10
Backward 3 35 35 34 32 31 26 18 10
curved blade
Radial blade 5–8 48 45 45 43 38 33 30 29
Forward curved 2 40 38 38 34 28 24 21 15
blade
Tubular 4–6 46 43 43 38 37 32 28 25
Source: J.B. Graham, How to Estimate Fan Noise, Sound and Vibration, 6: 24-27, 1972.

If a construction worker triples his distance from this fan that can emit sound fields
uniformly in all directions, what is the change of the sound intensity level? Assume that
the fan is suspended outdoors and there is no any reflection effect.

(7 marks)

(c) An aircraft produces a sound power of 10 kW during take-off, what would be the sound
pressure level at 5 km away from the runway? Assume that the sound effect can radiate
in all directions in air and there is no reflection sound from ground.
(4 marks)

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4.
(a) What are designated areas?
What are trunk roads, district distributor roads and local distributor roads?
(4 marks)

(b) Briefly discuss four common acoustic considerations for the design of noise barriers on
roads. In addition, state four non-acoustic issues (i.e., engineering aspects and
environmental issues) that need to be taken into consideration for the design of noise
barriers on roads.
(4 marks)

(c) In the following plan view, it is assumed that the effective source of road traffic noise is
located on the dotted line (i.e., on ground surface) of the road segment. The length of
the road segment is 1000 m and the length of the existing barrier is 200 m. The ground
receiver (R) is located on the middle line of the road segment and the existing barrier.
The distance between the receiver R and the existing barrier is 48 m. The traffic flow
volume in this road segment is 3000 vehicles per hour and the traffic speed is 70 km/hr.
The percentage of heavy vehicles of the traffic flow is estimated to be 25%. There is no
gradient of the road segment. If the length of the existing barrier is further extended 80
m on the left-hand side only, what is the change of the total noise level L10 (dB(A)) at
the receiver? The extended barrier portion is directly connected with the existing barrier,
and they have the same height and identical material properties. Suppose that the effects
of road surface, ground cover and façade reflection are all negligible. Given:

L10  BNL  Cpv  Cd  Ca  Cb dB(A);

BNL  42 .2  10 log 10 q  dB(A) ;
 500   5p 
C pv  33log10 V  40    10 log10 1    68.8 dB(A) ;
 V   V 
 d    
Cd  10 log10   dB(A) ; and Ca  10 log10   dB(A)
 13.5   180 

where BNL = basic noise level, Cpv = correction for mean traffic speed and percentage
of heavy vehicles, Cd = correction for distance, Ca = correction for angle of view, C b =
barrier attenuation ( Cb  10 dB(A) when the receiver is inside the shadow zone and
C b = 0 dB(A) when the receiver is outside the shadow zone), q = traffic flow (veh/hr),
V = vehicular speed (km/hr), p = percentage of heavy vehicles, d = horizontal distance
between the noise source and the receiver (m) and  = angle of view (degree).

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Figure: Plan view of road segment (Not To Scale)

(7 marks)

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Appendix 2
Brigg’s equations:

1.6 F 1 / 3  (10h) 2 / 3
h 
UH

Ts  Ta )
F  2.45 s d 2 (
Ts

Here,
υs is the gas exit velocity, m/s
d is the stack tip diameter, m
Ts is the gas exit temperature, K
Ta is the ambient temperature, K
UH is the wind speed at plume height, m/s
h is the physical height of the stack, m

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Appendix 3

– End of the paper –

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