BITS Pilani

Pilani campus

IEE (CE F323) – Air Pollution

Dr Selva Balaji

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 Air quality management
An air pollution system involves three
components:

• The pollution source

• The movement or dispersion of the pollutant

• The recipient
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 Air quality management

• control of air pollution sources

• effective dispersion of pollutants in the

atmosphere.

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 Meteorology

– Study of dynamics of Atmosphere

– elements that have effects on the distribution of air

pollutants are wind speed and direction, solar radiation,
stability, and precipitation.

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 Dispersion of pollutants
Horizontal and vertical dispersion of pollutants

• Wind predominant factor in horizontal

dispersion of pollutants

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Wind

• Wind is the motion of the air relative to the earth’s

surface.

• three dimensional in its movement, generally only the

horizontal components are generally considered

• from the unequal heating of the earth’s surface and the

adjacent air,
• horizontal variation in temperature and pressure.
• The variation in pressure (pressure gradient) constitutes an imbalance in forces
so that air motion from high toward low pressure is generated.

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 Different magnitudes of organized air motions
(Wind circulations) in the atmosphere.
– Primary or general (global) circulation associated with the large scale
hemispheric motions between the tropical and polar regions,
– secondary circulation associated with the relatively large-scale
motions of migrating pressure systems (highs and lows) developed by
the unequal distribution of large land and water masses, and
– tertiary circulation (local) associated with small-scale variations in
heating, such as valley winds and land and sea breezes.
• Micro-meteorological scale
– by thermal convective currents resulting from heating from below
(thermal turbulence)
– by disturbances or eddies resulting from the passage of air over
irregular, rough ground surfaces (mechanical turbulence).
– wind speed generally increases with height in the lower levels due to
the decrease with height of the ‘‘frictional drag’’ effect of the
underlying ground surface features.

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 General (global) circulation

• Hadley circulation
• Thermal forces
• Coriolis forces
• Uneven distribution of
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 Sea and land breeze

http://www.mfe.govt.nz/

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 Valley and mountain breezes

http://www.mfe.govt.nz/

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 Wind rose

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 Effect of Wind speed

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 Vertical dispersion
www.windows2universe.org

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 Atmospheric Stability
The stability of the atmosphere is its ability to enhance or
suppress vertical air motions.

• Under unstable conditions the air motion is

enhanced, and

• under stable conditions the air motion is suppressed.

• The conditions are determined by the vertical

distribution of temperature and humidity of ambient
air

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 Lapse rate
• Important characteristic of atmosphere is ability to
resist vertical motion: stability
• affects ability to disperse pollutants

Rate of change of temperature with altitude

• When small volume of air is displaced upward

- Encounters lower pressure
- Expands to lower temperature

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 Lapse rate
• Due to the decrease of pressure with height, an
air parcel displaced upward will encounter
decreased pressure and expand.
– If this expansion process is relatively rapid or over a
large area so that there is little or no exchange of
heat with the surrounding air or by a change of state
of water vapor, the process is dry adiabatic and the
parcel of air will be cooled.

• If the displacement is downward so that an

increase in pressure and compression is
experienced, the parcel of air will be heated
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• Warm air is lighter than cold air.

• Humid air is lighter than dry air !!.

• A warmer or more humid air than the surrounding ambient

air is characterized as unstable and will ascend into the
atmosphere.

• On the contrary, an air volume that is colder or drier than

the surrounding ambient air is characterized as stable and
will descend into the atmosphere until it reaches
equilibrium.

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• the dry adiabatic lapse rate,Гd (0.9760C/100 m).

• The normal lapse rate (Saturated or moist adiabatic

lapse rate) on the average, Гs (0.650C/100 m).

• This relationship holds true in the troposphere up to

about 10 km (6 miles).

• Ambient or environmental or actual or prevailing lapse

rates much different due to wind speed, sunlight, and
geographical features

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 Conditional
Stability Гs
Absolutely stable
Гd

A
Altitude

Absolutely unstable

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 Temperature Inversions
• Under certain meteorological conditions, temperature
increases with height within a layer of air. This is called
an ‘‘inversion’’ and constitutes an extremely stable
condition.

• Caused due to radiation, subsidence, frontal and

geographical feature of landscape

• Radiation inversion
– Nocturnal cooling of earths surface, especially clear winter nights
– Begins to form from dusk
– Temporary till morning sun

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• Fumigation

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 Subsidence inversions

• Develops in high-pressure systems (generally associated with fair

weather) within a layer of air aloft when the air layer sinks to replace
air that has spread out at the surface.

• Upon descent, the air heats adiabatically, attaining temperatures

greater than the air below.

• Can remain for months together

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 Subsidence Inversion

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 Mixing Depth
• Projecting ground temp at DALR or from
known air parcel temp
• Noting the point at which it crosses ALR
• Then mixing depth is the altitude at top of the
mixing layer

• Comparing

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 Ventilation coefficient
• Product of mixing depth and average wind
speed within the mixing depth

• Indicator of atmosphere's dispersive capability

• m2/s

• Values less than 6000 m2/s is indicative of high

pollution
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 Smokestack plumes

Types of
Smokestack Plumes:
• Looping
• Fanning
• Coning
• Lofting
• Fumigating

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 Modelling Sources

• Point sources (stacks)

• Line sources (roads)

• Area sources (treatment ponds)

• Volume sources (buildings)

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 Why Use Dispersion Models?

• Evaluate receptor
exposure
• Monitoring network
design
– Review data
– Peak locations
– Spatial patterns
• Model Verification

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 Dispersion Model
A dispersion model is essentially a computational procedure for
predicting concentrations downwind of a pollutant source

Routinely used in:

Environmental impact assessments
Risk analysis
Emergency planning

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 Types of Models
• Gaussian Plume
– Mathematical approximation of dispersion
• Numerical Grid Models
– Transport & diffusional flow fields
• Stochastic
– Statistical or probability based
• Empirical
– Based on experimental or field data
• Physical
– Flow visualization in wind tunnels, scale models,etc.

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Processes - Momentum, Heat & Mass Transport

• Advection
– Movement by flow (wind)
• Convection
– Movement by heat
• Heat island
• Radiation
• Diffusion
– Movement from high to low concentration
• Molecule Dance

• Dispersion
– Tortuous path, spreading out because goes around obstacles

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 • Plumes tell story
– Ambient vs DALR

• Models predict air

pollution concentrations

• Input knowledge of
sources and meteorology

• Chemical reactions may

need to be addressed
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Source: http://www.maths.mq.edu.au/texdev/MathSymp/Finnigan/node2.html
 Model Parameters
• The model is based on our knowledge of the
following parameters:
– The emissions characteristics (stack exit velocity,
plume rise, temperature, stack diameter)
– Terrain (surface roughness, local topography,
nearby buildings)
– State of the atmosphere (wind speed, stability,
mixing height, wind direction)

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 Simple Gaussian Model Assumptions

• Continuous constant pollutant emissions

• Conservation of mass in atmosphere
– No reactions occurring between pollutants
– When pollutants hit ground: reflected, or absorbed
• Steady-state meteorological conditions
– Short term assumption
• Concentration profiles are represented by
Gaussian distribution—bell curve shape
• The terrain is a flat country

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 The instantaneous plume boundary and a time-
averaged plume envelope.

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 Gaussian model equation

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 Plume dispersion coordinate system, showing Gaussian
distributions in the horizontal and vertical directions

−𝐻 2 −𝑦 2
𝑄 2𝜎𝑧 2 2𝜎𝑦 2
𝐶 𝑥, 𝑦 = 𝑒 𝑒
𝜋𝑢𝜎𝑦 𝜎𝑧

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Wind Speed Changes with Elevation
UH/Ua= (H/za)p
UH – Wind speed at Elevation H
Ua – Wind speed at anemometer height
H – Effective height of the plume
Za – Anemometer ht above ground
P – parameter which depends on surface roughness and Atmospheric stability

Smooth terrain flat fields, near bodies of water

values of p should be multiplied by 0.6 with that
given in above table.
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 Table 6

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Table 7 - Stability classes A - F

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 The Gaussian Dispersion Coefficients
10000

y = a x 0.894

1000

A
B
C
y, m

D
E
F

100

10

0.1 1 10 100

Downwind distance, km

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 z = c x + f d
1000 A

B
C

100
• a,c d,f given inTable 7.8 P.
D
E 457 on Gilbert Masters
z , m

10

Some values of dispersion

coefficients for selected downwind
distances
1
0.1 1 10 100
Table 7.9 p457
Downwind distance, km

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 Table 8

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 Table 9

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Downwind Ground level Concentration
– Y=0, z=0

– C(x,o) =

• Peak Downwind concentration

– Depends on effective stack heights
– Atmospheric stability conditions
– Figure 7.52 and eq 7.50

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• A coal-fired power plant emits at the rate of
6.47x 108 μg/s. The stack has an effective
height of 300 m. An anemometer on a 10-m
pole measures 2.5 m/s of wind, and it is a
cloudy summer day. Predict the ground-level
concentration of 4 km directly downwind

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 Downwind concentration Peak
𝑄 𝐶𝑢𝐻
𝐶𝑚𝑎𝑥 =
𝑢𝐻 𝑄 𝑚𝑎𝑥

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 Plume rise

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 Downwind Concentrations under Temperature inversion
Downwind distance from the source is at least twice the
distance to where plume interacts with the inversion layer

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 Line source dispersion model

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 Area source dispersion model
C

Wind,u H
Cin
Area Source, qs
W
L

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 Area Source Model
𝑞𝑠 𝐿
𝐶 ∞ =
𝑢𝐻

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Under which of the following conditions would you expect the strongest
inversion (largest positive lapse rate) to form?
a. Foggy day in the fall after the leaves have fallen
b. Clear winter night with fresh snow on the ground
c. Clear summer morning just before sunrise
Explain why.

Photochemicaloxidants are not directly attributable to either people or

natural sources. Why, then, are automobiles singled out as the major cause of the
formation of ozone?

Explain why the PM2.5 standard is more appropriate than a "Total Suspended Particulate" for
protection of human health.

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 Cement dust is characterized by very fine particulates. The exhaust gas
temperatures from a cement kiln are very hot. Which of the following air
pollution control devices would appear to be appropriate? Explain the reasoning for
your selection.
a. Venturi scrubber
b. Baghouse
c. Electrostatic precipitator

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 Reading Sources
• http://tools.envirolink.govt.nz/assets/Uploads/Good-Practice-Guide-MFE-atmospheric-dispersion-
modelling-jun04.pdfhttp://site.iugaza.edu.ps/afoul/files/2010/02/chapter_7.pdf
• https://wildcardweather.files.wordpress.com/2014/10/62668-004-8b29bac5.jpg

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Thank You
Thanks to Prof. Shibani Khanra Jha
For providing the ppt

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