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10: Air Quality Modeling: Excerpts From Lecture Notes of Professor M. Ashraf Ali, BUET

This document summarizes key concepts in air quality modeling: 1) Air quality models use mathematical techniques to simulate how air pollutants disperse and react in the atmosphere. They are used for emission control legislation, evaluating control strategies, source location planning, and source-receptor analysis. 2) Models consider processes like advection, diffusion, deposition, chemical reactions, and emissions. Important processes depend on pollutant transport scales from near-field to global. 3) Approaches include deterministic models based on process descriptions and statistical models using data correlations. Model types are dispersion, photochemical, and receptor models. 4) Gaussian plume equations describe pollutant dispersion from point sources. Parameters include

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Ahmad Anas Nagoor Gunny
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247 views28 pages

10: Air Quality Modeling: Excerpts From Lecture Notes of Professor M. Ashraf Ali, BUET

This document summarizes key concepts in air quality modeling: 1) Air quality models use mathematical techniques to simulate how air pollutants disperse and react in the atmosphere. They are used for emission control legislation, evaluating control strategies, source location planning, and source-receptor analysis. 2) Models consider processes like advection, diffusion, deposition, chemical reactions, and emissions. Important processes depend on pollutant transport scales from near-field to global. 3) Approaches include deterministic models based on process descriptions and statistical models using data correlations. Model types are dispersion, photochemical, and receptor models. 4) Gaussian plume equations describe pollutant dispersion from point sources. Parameters include

Uploaded by

Ahmad Anas Nagoor Gunny
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© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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LECTURE 10:

AIR QUALITY
MODELING
CE 433

Excerpts from Lecture notes of Professor M. Ashraf Ali, BUET.


Air Quality Modeling
• Air quality models use mathematical and numerical techniques
to simulate the physical and chemical processes that affect air
pollutants as they disperse and react in the atmosphere.
• Purposes
• Establishing emission control legislation, i.e. determining the maximum
allowable emission rates that will meet fixed air quality standards
• Evaluating proposed emission control techniques and strategies i.e.
evaluating the impacts of future control
• Selecting locations of future sources of pollutants (e.g. industries), in
order to minimize their environmental impacts
• Planning the control of air pollution episodes, ie. Defining immediate
intervention strategies.
• Assessing responsibility for existing air pollution levels, ie, evaluating
present source-receptor relationships.
Factors to be considered in modeling
• In air pollution dispersion modeling, 5 major physical
processes are simulated:
i) Pollutant advection
ii) Diffusion
iii) Deposition
iv) Chemical reaction (ie, transformation)
v) Emission
Factors to be considered in modeling
• Important process to be simulated depend on transport seales
of air pollution phenomena. Transport phenomena can be
classified as follows:
i) Near-field phenomena (<1 km from source), e.g. downwash
effect of plume caused by building aerodynamics.
ii) Short-range transport (<10 km from source), e.g. area in
which maximum ground level impact of primary pollutants is
generally felt.
iii) Intermediate range (between 10 and 100 km), e.g. area in
which chemical reactions become important.
iv) Long-range (or regional) transport (>100 km) e.g. area in
which large-scale meteorological effects and deposition and
transformation rates play key roles.
v) Global effect, ie, phenomena affecting entire earth
atmosphere such as CO2 accumulation.
Mathematical Modeling Approaches
• Deterministic Model
• Based on fundamental mathematical description of atmospheric
processes, in which effects (ie, air pollution) are generated by
causes (ie, emission).
• Ex. Diffusion models (e.g. Gaussian Plume model)
• Statistical Model
• Based upon semi-empirical statistical relationship among available
data and measurements.
• Ex. Forecast of the concentration in the next few hours as a
statistical function of : (i) current measurements, and
(ii) Past correlation between there measurements and concentration
trends
Types of Air Quality Models
• i) Dispersion/Diffusion Modeling: uses mathematical
formulations to characterize atmospheric processes that
disperse a pollutant emitted by a source.
• ii) Photochemical Modeling: Long-range air quality models
that simulate the changes of pollutant concentrations in
the atmosphere due to the chemical and physical
processes in the atmosphere.
• Iii) Receptor Modeling: Mathematical or statistical
procedure for identifying and quantifying the source of air
pollutants at a receptor location.
• Example:- Chemical Mass Balance Method
Diffusion/Dispersion Models
• Behavior of gases and particles in turbulent flow (in the
atmosphere) is referred to as atmospheric diffusion.
• Goal of diffusion models is to describe mathematically the
spatial and temporal distribution of contaminants released
into atmosphere.
• Two idealized source types:
• i) Instantaneous point source (Puff)
• ii) Continuous Point Source (Plume)
• Other source types: Line source, Area source
Atmospheric Diffusion Theories
Goal: To be able to describe mathematically the spatial and temporal distribution of
contaminants released into the atmosphere
Point Source Gaussian Plume
Model
Assumptions:
- Pollutant material takes on
Gaussian distribution in both y
and z directions
- Steady-state condition
- Ideal gas
- Uniform continuous emission
rate
- No diffusion in x-direction
- Homogenous, horizontal wind
field. Wind speed constant
- Flat terrain
Gaussian Plume Equations
• The basic Gaussian model applies to a single “point
source” (e.g. a smokestack), but it can be modified to
account for “line source” (e.g. emission from motor
vehicles along a highway) or “area source”.
• (1) Point Source:
Gaussian Plume Equations
• (a) No ground reflection (particles, nitric acid vapor)

• (b) Ground Reflection (CO, SO2, NO2)


Gaussian Plume Equations
• (c) Ground Reflection and Temperature Inversion
• Where,
C = Pollutant concentration (g/m3, μg/m3)
Q = Uniform continuous emission rate (g/s, μg/s)
u = mean wind speed at plume height (m/s)
σy = cross-wind dispersion parameter (m)
σz = vertical dispersion parameter (m)
x, y, z = location of receptor
H = effective stack height , m
( = stack ht + plume rise = hs + Δh)
Simplifications of Gaussian Plume
Equation under various conditions
• (1) Concentration at ground level (z = 0) (with ground reflection): c (x,
y, 0)

• (2) Concentration at ground level (z = 0) on centerline (y=0) (with


ground reflection): c (x, 0, 0)

• (3) Concentration at ground level (z = 0, y = 0, h = 0)(with ground


reflection): c (x, 0, 0), h = 0
Determination/Estimation of Different
parameters of Gaussian Plume Equation
• (1) Q = emission rate
Usually expressed in g/s
• (2) H = Effective stack height = hs + Δh
= stack height + plume rise
Plume rise is caused primarily by buoyancy and
momentum of exhaust gas and stability of atmosphere.
Buoyancy results when exhaust gases are hotter than the
ambient and/or when the molecular weight of the exhaust is
lower than that of air.
Momentum is caused by the mass and velocity of the
gases as they leave the stack.
Problem 1: Estimation of Emission Rate
• A power plant consumes 250 tons of coal (containing 1%
sulfur) each day. Assuming 10% of this sulfur is emitted as
SO2, estimate the emission rate of SO2 (in g/sec) from the
power plant.
Determination/Estimation of Different
parameters of Gaussian Plume Equation
1.6F1/3 x 2/3
Dh = f

u
• Difficult to estimate xf. The following is sometimes used to
estimate xf:
xf = 120 F0.4 if F≥ 55 m4/s3
xf = 50 F5/8 if F<55 m4/s3

Ta
F = gr vs (1- )
2

Ts

Where, Ta = Ambient temperature


Ts = Exhaust temperature
Problem 2
• A power plant has a 100 m stack with an inside radius of
1m. The exhaust gases leave the stack with an exit
velocity of 10 m/s at a temp. of 220°C. Ambient temp is
6°C, winds at the effective stack height are estimated to
be 5 m/s, surface wind speed is 3 m/s, and it is a cloudy
summer day. Estimate the effective height of this stack.
Determination/Estimation of Different
parameters of Gaussian Plume Equation
u = mean wind speed at plume height
z p
u = u0 ( )
Where, z0
u (z) = wind speed at plume height, z
u0 = wind speed at instrument ht
z = plume ht (m)
z0 = instrument ht (m)
p = A factor which depends on stability
condition of atmosphere
Determination/Estimation of Different
Parameters of Gaussian Plume Equation
σy , σz = f (distance, stability conditions)

These are standard deviations. Can be obtained from plots of σy , σz


versus distance downwind for different stability conditions.
There are number of other approaches for estimating σy , σz .
• σy = a.x0.894
• σz = c.xd + f
Estimating peak downwind concentration
• Simplest way: use a spreadsheet program to calculate C
(x,0,0) as a function of x using,

• And find peak downwind concentration


• When a computer is not readily available, peak downwind
concentration can be estimated using the chart

Q Cu
cmax = ( )max
u Q
• If stability class and H are known, can estimate
• i) Distance to peak, ii) ( C ) , from chart
u
max
Q
• Then use equation to estimate Cmax
Special Considerations
• Building Wakes
- A plume may get sucked into the low-pressure wake
behind a building leading to a high level concentration
- The simple rule of thumb for avoiding this problem is to
make the stack ht at least 2.5 times the height of the
tallest nearby building
• Aerodynamic downwash
Aerodynamic downwash may significantly increase ground
level concentration.
It is a major problem for any facility located near a
mountain.
Problem 3
• Cars travelling at 55 mph speed at 75 m a part are
emitting 5 g/mile of carbon monoxide. The wind speed is
3.5 m/s perpendicular to the road. Estimate ground level
concentration of CO at a distance 300 m downwind.
Consider atmosphere to be adiabatic.
Line Source (eg, a Road)
• For simplicity, consider: i) infinite length source of ground
level, ii) Wind blowing perpendicular to the line
• Examples of Line Source :
• Motor Vehicles travelling along a straight section of a highway
• Agricultural burning along the edge of a field
• A line of industrial sources on the bank of a river
(a) No Ground Reflection
𝑄𝐿 (𝑧−𝐻)2
C(x, 0,0) = exp [- ]
√(2Π)𝑢σ𝑧 2σ𝑧 2
(b) With Ground Reflection
𝑄𝐿 (𝑧−𝐻)2 (𝑧+𝐻)2
C(x, z) = {exp [- ] +exp [- ]}
√(2Π)𝑢σ𝑧 2σ𝑧 2 2σ𝑧 2
Where, QL = Source emission rate per unit length of road (g/sec-m)
Problem 4
• A stack emitting 80 g/s of NO has an effective stack height
of 100 m. The wind speed is 4 m/s at 10 m, and it is a
clear summer day with the sun nearly overhead. Estimate
the ground level NO concentration:
• (a) directly downwind at a distance of 2 km
• (b) at a point downwind where NO is maximum
• (c) at a point located 2 km downwind and 0.1 km off the downwind
axis
Problem 5
• A 1000-MW coal fired power plant emits SO2 at the rate of
6.47 X108 µg/s. If the atmosphere is slightly unstable and
wind speed at the stack ht (=300m) is 4.9 m/s, estimate
the peak downwind concentration and the distance to
peak downwind concentration.
Problem 5
• Suppose a highway has 10 vehicles per second passing a
given spot, each emitting 3.4 g/mile of CO. If the wind is
perpendicular to the highway and blowing at 5 mph (2.2
m/s) on a heavy overcast day, estimate the ground level
CO concentration 200 m from the highway.

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