Study of Pollutant Monitoring System

Definition of Air Pollution:

“Air Pollution means the presence in the outdoor atmosphere of one or more
contaminants, such as dust, fumes, gas, mist, odour, smoke or vapour , in
quantities , of characteristics and of duration such as to be injurious to human,
plant or animal life or to the property, to interfere unreasonably with the
comfortable enjoyment of life and property”.
(Engineer’s Joint Council, USA)
 Combustion generated Pollutants:
The five principal pollutant species emitted from combustion sources are
* Particulates (PM)
*Sulphur oxides (SOx)
*Carbon monoxide (CO)
*Nitrogen oxides (NOx)
and *Organic compounds (Largely unburned and partially burned
hydrocarbons) (UHC)
 Monitoring means;
Periodic or continuous determination of the amount of pollutants
present in the environment

 Monitoring of pollutants involves

• Sampling
• Analysis

 Sampling Ambient air

Stack gases

Sampling Probes Stainless Steel

Cooled or Uncooled
Quartz
 Stack Sampling Probe

 Sample Transfer Line

o The moisture present in the stack gases could get condensed in the
sampling line and dissolve the gaseous constituents of interest.

o To prevent condensation, the sampling line may be heated

o Tubing should be of inert material to avoid reaction with the flowing

gases

o Teflon is the preferred material for the sample transfer lines.

 Sample Conditioning and Dilution
o To meet temperature and pressure requirements of the analyzers, the
sample is conditioned before analysis

o To avoid condensation, sample is heated and maintained at constant

temperature

o To bring the concentration of sample within the measuring range of the

analyzer, the sample is diluted

o Dilution is done with zero air

o Dilution ratio is kept constant

o Calibration gases are used to check the accuracy

Sample Conditioning and Dilution Unit
 Analysis of Gaseous Pollutants:

 Air quality measurements are generally done by continuous automatic

analyzers (Discrete Sample Analysis is also used in some Labs.)

 Pollutant monitoring instruments need to get Reference or Equivalent

method designation from EPA

 These instruments are based on any of the following analytical techniques

(i) IR/UV absorption

(ii) Flourescence

(iii) Chemiluminescence

(iv) Electro-chemical
Non-Dispersive Infrared (NDIR) Analyzer for CO2 :-
Principle of Operation:
 Selective Absorption of IR by gases
 Gas species are used to detect themselves
 IR of a particular wavelength is absorbed by a gas, other wavelengths are
transmitted by that gas
 Certain gases match-up with certain wavelengths in IR band

Maximum Absorption
by CO2 in wavelength
range 4 - 4.5 µm

while for CO it is 4.5

– 5 µm
Gas Filter Correlation (GFC) – CO Analyzer:-
Flame Ionization Detector (FID) – UHC/THC Analyzer:
 NO + O3  NO2 + O2
Chemiluminescent NO-NOx Analyzer:
NO + O3  NO2* + O2
NO2*  NO2 + h
NO2* +M NO2 + M*
Oxygen Analyzer: