Air

Pollu)on
Environmental Engineering Analysis
and Design [EV205]

AIR POLLUTION
The Earth is surrounded by gases called air which forms the atmosphere.

The presence in the atmosphere of one or more contaminants or
combinaBons thereof in such quanBBes and of such duraBon as may be or
may tend to be injuries to human, plant or animal life, or property or
which unreasonably interferes with the comfortable enjoyment of life or
property or the conduct of business.

The atmospheric is divided into several layers:
Troposphere, Stratosphere, Mesosphere, Thermosphere:
The troposphere is the layer of greatest interest in polluBon control
because it is the layer where most living things exist

Importance the Study of Air PolluBon

The atmosphere is a complex dynamic natural system
essenBal to support life on the Earth.
The air interacts with water and land. Acid rain falling on the
ground is a result of air polluBon. Many pollutants such as
parBculate maLers, heavy metal, and ozone are able to
inuence water quality and ecosystem funcBons.
On the other hand, polluted rivers/lakes and sewage systems
can cause air polluBon in their surrounding areas.
Therefore, it is important for a water engineer to understand
the air and its related quality issues, and vice versa for an air
quality engineer to understand water polluBons.

Air Pollu)on
Air Pollutants

Air pollutants include a wide range of natural and arBcial

materials.
Air Pollutants can be Categorized based on:
i)

the Origin:
a) Primary pollutants: those that are emiLed directly to the
atmosphere and remain in that form in the atmosphere, e.g.
sulfur oxides (Sox), nitrogen oxides (NOx) and hydrocarbons (HC).
b) Secondary pollutants: formed in the atmosphere by certain
reacBons, namely, hydrolysis, photochemical reacBon, oxidaBon;
e.g. ozone (O3), peroxyacetyl nitrate (PAN).

 ii. Chemical Composi5on

a) Organic compounds: containing carbon,
hydrogen, and could also contain other elements,
such as oxygen, nitrogen, phosphorus and sulfur;
e.g. carboxylic acids, alcohols, ethers, amines,
organic sulfur compounds
b) Inorganic materials: e.g. carbon monoxide,
carbon dioxide, carbonates, sulfur oxides,
nitrogen oxides, ozone, hydrogen uoride,
hydrogen chloride

 iii. State of Ma9er

have eect on the type & kind of pollutants emission. It
categorized in two types:
a) ParBculate pollutants: (will be discussed in details in the
next secBon)
b) Gaseous pollutants: formless, behave like air and do not
seLle out of the atmosphere, e.g. carbon oxides, sulfur
oxides, nitrogen oxides, hydrocarbons and oxidants.
There are dierent systems used in expressing the
concentraBon of gaseous pollutant. It is most common to
state it in volumetric parts per million (ppm):

When expressed in terms of mass:

Assuming that the pollutant behaves ideally at 1 atm, at 25C, and Mpol is the
molecular weight of the pollutant, the relaBonship between ppm and g/m3 is found
to be:

where mpol is the mass of the pollutant in micrograms, Vair is the volume of air, Vpol is
the volume of pollutant, and 24.5 the product of universal gas constant and
temperature of 278K (1 atm).
Example: The average daily concentraBon of sulfur dioxide SO2 is measuring to be
415 gm-3 at 25C and 1 atm pressure. What is the concentraBon of SO2 in ppm?
The mollecular weight of SO2 is 64.0 g/mole.

 Par)culates
i.

DescripBon for dispersed airborne solid and liquid parBcles larger

than single molecules but smaller than 500 m

ii. May be categorized based on their physical, chemical or biological
characterisBcs:

a) Physical Characteris5cs
1. Size
Most important property - ParBcles larger than 50 m can be seen
with naked eye, while those smaller than 0.005 m can only be
seen under an electron microscope
In the 0.01 to 100 m range, fall meLalurgical fumes, cement dust,
y ash, carbon black and sulphuric mist

2. Mode of forma5on

It can either be:
a) Dust (solid) : Small, solid parBcles produced during the breakup of larger
masses, or from processes or handling of materials like coal, cement or
grains. Can also be by-product of mechanical processes, for instance,
sawing a wood and sandblasBng. It doesnt diuse in air, but suspends
temporarily in air or other gases. They seLle under gravity and its sizes
ranges from 1.0 to 10000 m.

b) Smoke (solid) : Fine, solid parBcles produced when incomplete
combusBon of organic parBcles (e.g. coal, wood, tobacco) that consist of
a lot of carbon occurs. The parBcles have diameters that range from 0.5
m to 1.0 m.

c) Fume (solid): Fine, solid parBcles of, usually, metallic oxides formed by
condensaBon of vapors of solid materials. It can also be formed from
sublimaBon, disBllaBon, calcinaBon or molten metal processes. Their
diameters range from 0.03 m to 0.3 m.

d) Fly ash (solid): Finely divided, non-combusBble parBcles contained in ue
gases produced from combusBon of coal. It has the characterisBcs of all the
above category of parBculates; where its size range is that of dust, formed
from burning like smoke and composiBon of that of fume.

e) Mist (liquid): ParBcles or droplets formed by condensaBon of vapor,
dispersion of a liquid or the enactment of a chemical reacBon. Its diameter is
less than 10 m and when its concentraBon becomes high, the mist is called a
fog.

f) Spray (liquid): ParBcles formed by the atomisaBon or parent liquids (e.g.
pesBcides and herbicides). Their sizes range from 10 m to 100 m.

Reynolds Number

v is the maximum velocity of the object relaBve to the uid (SI units: m/s)
d is the diameter of objecBve,
is the dynamic viscosity of the uid (Pas or Ns/m2 or kg/(ms))
(nu) is the kinemaBc viscosity ( = ) (m2/s)
is the density of the uid (kg/m3).

Example 1: Determine the seLling rate of a fog cloud of 1 m

diameter and density 1000 kgm-3 in air at 25 C using Stokes law
equaBon. Given that the density of air is 1.2 kgm-3 and its
dynamic viscosity at 25 C is 1.5 x 10-5 kgm-1s-1,is Stokes law
applicable?

Example 2:

Calculate the seLling rate of a dust cloud of density 1500 kgm-3
produced by a sandblasBng operaBon if the parBcle has the
diameter of 17 m in air at 27 C using Stokes law equaBon.
Given that the density of air is 1.2 kgm-3 and its dynamic
viscosity at 27 C is 1.85 x 10-5 kgm-1s-1; is Stokes law applicable?
What is the residence Bme of the parBcle at 1000 m elevaBon?

4. Op)cal quali)es

- One of the most obvious eect of air polluBon is reducBon in visibility due to
the scaLering of light by the parBcles
- Visibility is factored by the shape, surface characterisBcs, size distribuBon of
the parBcles - Severe reducBon in visibility interferes with safe operaBon of
aircrao and automobiles