KNE470 Environmental Engineering

1. Explain what we mean by the global distillation of persistent organic pollutants (POPs). When POPs are released into warmer environment, they evaporate and are carried back by winds to cooler areas. In this cooler area, they will condense and descend back to Earth. These chemicals overwinter in soil, snow or water. As a result, the least volatile are deposited near their sources, those of relatively high volatility are distilled into Polar Regions, and those of intermediate volatility are deposited predominantly at mid-latitudes. The global distillation of POPs accounts for the transportation of toxic substances. These substances are transported through the air and water as dust. Because of air currents, plenty of toxic substances are released into the environment, this is a great source of POPs.

2. List five sources of atmospheric aerosols, and briefly discuss the composition of the aerosols emitted from each source. Sea water: including sea salt (which consists of mainly of sodium chloride NaCl), magnesium, sulfate, calcium, potassium, etc. is considered as the second-largest contributor in the atmospheric aerosols (primary aerosol sources). Typical composition of sea salt aerosol is 0.30NaCl+0.70H2O by volume Volcano eruption: is considered as one of the natural sources of atmospheric aerosols. Through the eruption of volcanoes, sulphur dioxide SO2 is formed and can be injected directly into the stratosphere. The mix of SO2 and aerosols with water vapor will create sulphuric acid H2SO4 aerosols Engine combustion processes: during the combustion processes, the reaction of nitrogen and oxygen gases occur to form NOx gases (NO or NO2) which can combine with water vapor to create HNO3 aerosols Organic emission: incomplete combustion of biomass can produce black carbon -> black carbon aerosols Mineral dust: originated from the suspension of minerals constituting the soil, being composed of various oxides and carbonates. Mainly consists of SiO2, Al2O3, FeO, Fe2O3, CaO, CaCO3 and MgCO3.

3. Discuss the following statement. The use of fossil fuels, particularly coal, petrol and diesel, for energy is a curse on the environment, with local and global scale impacts. Discuss the environmental issues associated with the use of these fossil fuels as our primary energy source. Fossil fuels mainly consist of carbon and hydrogen bonds. There are three main types of fossil fuels; oil (38%), coal (24%) and natural gas (23%) [1]. 1|Page

KNE470 Environmental Engineering

a. Greenhouse effects:
Burning of fossil fuels produces carbon dioxide CO2 which increases the greenhouse effect and therefore increase the temperature of the Earth. The increased temperature causes more water to evaporate from the oceans; this is an issue since water vapor is also a greenhouse gas. The other effect raised by greenhouse gases is that there would be less ice and snow. Consequences: Agriculture for long-term planning, crops can be changed since CO2 affect directly to plants. Live stock problems Forest burning Wild animals b. Acid rain Coal and petrol contain small amount of sulfur (about 0.5% to 3% by weight). During the combustion process, sulfur combines with oxygen to produce SO2 which contributes to acid rain H2SO4 or H2SO3.

c. Air pollution
The use of fossil fuels can produce plenty smoke which contribute to air pollution since during the combustion, some of carbon remains unburned and also some of material is incombustible => produce small particles which are visible.

REFERENCES [1] Environmental problems with coal, oil and gas, chapter 3 The nuclear energy option, web page www.phyast.pitt.edu

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