AIR QUALITY MODELING

AIR QUALITY MODELING (AQM)

 Predict pollutant concentrations at various locations
around the source.

 Identify source contribution to air quality problems.

 Assess source impacts and design control strategies.

 Predict future pollutant concentrations from sources after

implementation of new regulatory programs.
AREAS SURROUNDING THE SITE OF RELEASE
AIR QUALITY MODELING (AQM)
 Mathematical and numerical techniques are used in AQM to
simulate the dispersion of air pollutants.

 Modeling of the dispersion of pollutants

 Toxic and odorous substances
 Single or multiple points
 Point, Area, or Volume sources

 Input data required for Air Quality Modeling

 Source characteristics
 Meteorological conditions
 Site and surrounding conditions
 AMBIENT AIR CONCENTRATION MODELING
 Types of Pollutant Sources
 Point Sources
• e.g., stacks or vents

 Area Sources
• e.g., landfills, ponds, storage piles

 Volume Sources
• e.g., conveyors, structures with multiple vents
FACTORS AFFECTING DISPERSION OF POLLUTANTS
IN THE ATMOSPHERE
 Source Characteristics
 Emission rate of pollutant
 Stack height
 Exit velocity of the gas
 Exit temperature of the gas
 Stack diameter

 Meteorological Conditions
 Wind velocity
 Wind direction
 Ambient temperature
 Atmospheric stability
GAUSSIAN MODELS
 Advantages

Produce results that match closely with experimental

data

Incorporate turbulence in an ad-hoc manner

Simple in their mathematics

Quicker than numerical models

Do not require super computers

GAUSSIAN MODELS
 Disadvantages

Not suitable if the pollutant is reactive in nature

Fails to incorporate turbulence in comprehensive sense

Unable to predict concentrations beyond radius of

approximately 20 Km

Forgreater distances, wind variations, mixing depths and

temporal variations become predominant
DIFFERENCE BETWEEN NUMERICAL MODELS AND
GAUSSIAN MODEL
 The degree of completeness in the mathematical
description of the atmospheric dispersion processes

 Type of releases i.e., stack, jet or area source are easy to

handle manually

 The models are designed to handle, degree of completeness

in the description of non-transport processes like chemical
reactions

 Terrain feature complexities for which the model is designed

METHODS TO INCORPORATE PLUME RISE
 Effective Source Height Method
 Variable Plume Model Method
METHODS TO INCORPORATE PLUME RISE
 Effective source height method
 Independent of downwind distance, x
 Effective source height,
h = hs + ∆h – ht
where,
hs = Physical chimney height
ht = Maximum terrain height between the source and receptor

 Variable plume method

 Takes into account the tilt of the plume
PROBLEM
 Calculate the nighttime concentration of nitrogen oxides
1 km downward of an open, burning dump if the dump
emits NOx at the rate of 4 g/sec. The wind speed is 4
m/sec at 10 m above ground level. The one-hour
average diffusion coefficients at 1 km are estimated as sy
= 70 m and sz = 50 m and the dump is assumed to be a
point source.
SOLUTION
 Use Gaussian Model for ground level, center-line
concentration from a point source at ground level.
MODIFICATIONS IN GAUSSIAN PLUME MODEL
 Simplified Equations for Maximum Ground Level
Concentration

 Location of maximum concentration

 Ground Level Concentration during Limited Mixing

Condition

Where,
L = Mixing Height
TVA DISPERSION COEFFICIENTS
 Sigma’s are calculated as:
= Area / [C *(2*p) 0.5]
p peak
Where,
Area = Base times the average height of Concentration Profile along the axis
Cpeak = Maximum concentrations in that profile

 In a number of cases, sz is calculated using

Cmax = Q / [2*U* y* z*p]

and thus, the distribution is considered Gaussian i.e.,

C = Cmax exp[-0.5*(xg/s)2]
PROBLEM-1
 For the following data, find the maximum ground level
concentration at 4.2 km from the following stack:
 Effective stack height = 75 m
 Emission rate = 2520 g/sec
 Wind speed at stack height = 6 m/sec
 y = 560 m
 z = 535 m
PROBLEM-2
 For the following data, find the maximum ground level
concentration.
 Effective stack height = 150 m
 Emission rate = 1260 g/sec
 Wind speed at stack height = 6 m/sec

o Answer: C = --------- g/m3