Air Pollution

Causes, Effects, and Solutions

 Our Atmospheric Composition
Composition of
dry atmosphere, by volume
ppmv: parts per million by volume
Gas Volume
Nitrogen (N2) 78.084% (780,840 ppmv)
Oxygen (O2) 20.946% (209,460 ppmv)
Argon (Ar) 0.9340% (9,340 ppmv)
Carbon dioxide (CO2) 375 ppmv
Neon (Ne) 18.18 ppmv
Helium (He) 5.24 ppmv
Methane (CH4) 1.745 ppmv
Krypton (Kr) 1.14 ppmv
Hydrogen (H2) 0.55 ppmv
Not included in above dry atmosphere:
Water vapor (highly variable) typically 1%
Chemical and Transport Processes Related to Atmospheric Composition.
These processes link the atmosphere with other components of the Earth system,
including the oceans, land, and terrestrial and marine plants and animals.
 Air Pollution
Air Pollution Control Act of 1955
1st federal air pollution law
1960s - Clean Air Act of 1963
– (Emissions standards set for stationary
sources such as power plants and steel mills)
1970 – The Clean Air Act (CAA) of 1970
– EPA was formed to enforce air pollution laws
(change in national policy from advisor to
enforcer) – Six major air pollutant types
1990 – The Clean Air Act of 1990
– Clean Air Act of 1970 is re-written and new
titles established
 Inversions
– Temperature inversions occur when a stable layer of
warm air overlays cooler air, reversing the normal
temperature decline with increasing height, and
preventing convection currents from dispersing
pollutants.
 Cold front slides under warm air mass.
 Cool air subsides down slope.
– Rapid nighttime cooling in a basin.
 Structure of the
Atmosphere
 The atmosphere is divided into five
layers. It is thickest near the surface and
thins out with height until it eventually
merges with space.

 1) The troposphere is the first layer

above the surface and contains half of
the Earth's atmosphere. Weather occurs
in this layer.

 2) Many jet aircrafts fly in the

stratosphere because it is very stable.
Also, the ozone layer absorbs harmful
rays from the Sun.

 3) Meteors or rock fragments burn up in

the mesosphere.
4) The thermosphere is a layer with
auroras. It is also where the space
shuttle orbits.

 5) The atmosphere merges into space in

the extremely thin exosphere. This is the
upper limit of our atmosphere.
 Six Common Air Pollutants
 Particulate Matter
 Carbon monoxide
 Nitrogen dioxide
 Lower Troposphere
OZONE producing
activities
 Sulfur dioxide
 Lead
 VOCs
 Particulate Matter (PM)
 It is known as “Particle Pollution” and can
range in sizes and effects on humans
 Particle sizes of 10 um (diameter) or smaller
poses a greater health risk
“Course particles” found near roadways and in
mining and concrete industries are from 2.5
– 10 um
“Fine particles” found in smoke and haze can
have diameters smaller than 2.5 um
 Size Distribution of Airborne PM
PM Origins
coagulation fine

coarse mechanical processes

ultrafine
# • wind blown dust
• road sand
• brake wear
0.02 2.5 10
• leaf debris
0.1
size
(diameter in m)
accumulation processes
• coagulation
condensation processes • condensation on existing particles
• atmospheric reactions √ combustion and atmospheric reactions
• combustion
*Particulate Matter < 10 m (PM10)
< 2.5 m (PM2.5)
 PM Health Effects
Particle pollution - especially fine particles - contains
microscopic solids or liquid droplets that are so
small that they can get deep into the lungs and
cause serious health problems. Numerous
scientific studies have linked particle pollution
exposure to a variety of problems, including:
 increased respiratory symptoms, such as irritation of the
airways, coughing, or difficulty breathing, for example;
 decreased lung function;
 aggravated asthma;
 development of chronic bronchitis;
 irregular heartbeat;
 nonfatal heart attacks; and
 premature death in people with heart or lung disease.
 Carbon monoxide (CO)
 CO is a colorless-odorless gas produced by
the incomplete combustion of fossil fuels
 Motor vehicle exhaust contributes to 56% of
the CO produced in the U.S.
 Over 20% comes from other engines, boats
and equipment not on-road.
 It have adverse health affects
 Could be worse in the colder months due to
more dense air masses
CO Pollution
 CO Health Effects
 Cardiovascular Effects – People with heart
disease can feel effects from exposure to
CO (chest pains and trouble breathing)
 Central Nervous System – People who are
exposed to high levels of CO can
experience poor vision, reduced dexterity,
and tiredness.
 High levels of CO are fatal
 Nitrogen oxide (NOx)
 Generic term for multiple combinations of
nitrogen and oxygen
 Like CO, colorless and odorless
 NO2 can be seen as a brown-red gas
 Is mostly produced after combustion of fossil
fuels at high temperatures
 Sources include motor vehicles, electric
utilities, industry, and commercial and
residential fossil fuel usages.
 NOx is Alarming
 A key ingredient in the formation of ground
level Ozone
 Contributes to the formation of acid rain
 Can contribute to nutrient load that affects
water quality
 Contributes to atmospheric particles
 Reacts to form toxic chemicals
 Contributes to Global Warming (traps long
wave radiation on Earth) which becomes
Thermal Radiation.
Nitrogen Oxides

N2O NO NO2
Nitrous Oxide Nitric Oxide Nitrogen Oxide
Dinitrogen Oxide Nitrogen Monoxide
Nitrogen
Oxidation
Number
+1 +2 +4
   
:N=O:   
:O-N=O
Lewis
Structure :N=N=O:  of electrons
Odd number of electrons Odd number 
Colorless, non-toxic, Toxic, reddish-brown,
Colorless, odorless, non-
Properties non-flammable gas with
flammable, toxic gas
non-flammable gas
slight odor. with strong odor
Decomposition of Majority from natural
nitrogen containing sources, twenty percent Secondary pollutant
Sources compounds in soil and from the oxidation of from nitric oxide
lightning. nitrogen in automobiles.
Los Angeles California: the smog is the brown layer in the
picture
Source: http://www.city-data.com/picfilesv/picv8898.php
New York city picture: This 1963 photo shows a massive smog episode in
New York City. (Photo: AP/Wide World Photo, EPA Journal Jan/Feb 1990.
 NOx Health Effects
 NOx and VOC’s reacted with sunlight (UV)
to form ground level Ozone
 Acid rain lowers pH on terrestrial and water
bodies and affects many species
 Reacts with ammonia to form nitric acid
which can cause respiratory distress and
damage to lung tissue
 Can react with Ozone to produce mutagenic
compounds. Examples of these chemicals
include the nitrate radical, nitroarenes, and
nitrosamines
 Photochemical Smog
rown Air Smog
F
Photochemica
l
Reaction
Photoche
mical
oxidents
 Smog Disasters
 Meuse Valley, Belgium, 1930
 Donora, Pennsylvania, 1948
 Poza Rica, Mexico, 1950
 London, England, 1952
 London 1956, 56, 62
 New York, New York, 1953,
1962-1963, 1966
6000 people ill, 63 deaths
in a few days
6000 people ill, 20 deaths
in three days
22 dead & 320 hospitalized
in 25 minutes
4,000 dead in three days
2500 deaths attributed to coal
smoke (smog)
In 1962, increased to 269
due to photochemical smog
 OZONE
 It is not usually emitted directly into the air, but at
ground level is created by a chemical reaction
between oxides of nitrogen (NOx) and volatile
organic compounds (VOC) in the presence of
sunlight.
 Motor vehicle exhaust and industrial emissions,
gasoline vapors, and chemical solvents as well as
natural sources emit NOx and VOC
 Sunlight and hot weather cause ground-level
ozone to form in harmful concentrations in the air.
 Studies show that Ozone can be carried away
from cities into rural areas  
Good Good

Ozone is “Bad” Here

 Ozone

There are two forms of Ozone. The Ozone

that limits UV rays from reaching the Earth is
in the Stratosphere (10 – 30 miles above the
Earth’s surface. The “Bad” Ozone is in the
lower Troposphere.
 OZONE Health Effects
 Can irritate respiratory passageways
 Can cause wheezing, coughing, and
breathing difficulties
 Permanent exposure can cause lung
damage
 Chronic exposure can also cause asthma,
reduces lung capacity, and bronchitis
 Plants too can become more susceptible to
diseases
 Can reduce crop forest yields
 Ozone

Ground-level Ozone can be measured

using remote monitoring devices

Crops affected by
ground-level ozone

Source: Forsyth County Environmental Affairs Department, 537 N. Spruce Street,

Winston-Salem, NC 27101-1362.
 Sulfur dioxide (SOx)
 These gases dissolve easily in water.
 Common in raw materials like coal, ore, and
crude oil
 Processing and burning of raw materials
emits SOx
 Over 65% of SO2 released to the air, or
more than 13 million tons per year, comes
from electric utilities, especially those that
burn coal. 
 Large ships and locomotives emit SOx too
 SOx emission

Source: http://www.epa.gov/air/urbanair/so2/what1.html
 SOx Concerns
 SO2 and the pollutants formed from SO2,
such as sulfate particles, can be transported
over long distances and deposited far from
the point of origin.  This means that
problems with SO2 are not confined to areas
where it is emitted.
 SO2contributes to the formation of acid rain,
which:
-damages trees, crops, historic buildings,
and monuments; and
-makes soils, lakes, and streams acidic.
A steel factory in Homestead, Pennsylvania, 1907, pictured on a stereopticon card.
Library of Congress, Prints and Photographs Division,
Detroit Publishing Company Collection.
 SOx Health Effects
 Respiratory Effects from Gaseous SO2
Peak levels of SO2 in the air can cause temporary
breathing difficulty for people with asthma who are
active outdoors.  Longer-term exposures to high
levels of SO2 gas and particles cause respiratory
illness and aggravate existing heart disease.

Respiratory Effects from Sulfate Particles

SO2 reacts with other chemicals in the air to form
tiny sulfate particles.  When these are breathed,
they gather in the lungs and are associated with
increased respiratory symptoms and disease,
difficulty in breathing, and premature death.
Normal Lung Aveoli (Left) versus Emphysema (Right)
 SOx Environmental Impacts
 Acid Rain
SO2  and nitrogen oxides react with other
substances in the air to form acids, which fall to
earth as rain, fog, snow, or dry particles. 

 Plant and Water Damage

Acid rain damages forests and crops, changes the
makeup of soil, and makes lakes and streams
acidic and unsuitable for fish.  Exposure over a
long time changes the natural variety of plants and
animals in an ecosystem.

 Aesthetic Damage
SO2 accelerates the decay of building materials
and paints, including irreplaceable monuments,
statues, and sculptures.
 Lead

 The major sources of lead emissions have

historically been motor vehicles (such as
cars and trucks) and industrial sources.
 These emissions have been phased out in
the U.S., but NOT globally
 The major sources TODAY are smelters,
waste incinerators, utilities and lead-acid
battery manufacturers.
 Notice the
change in lead
emission sources
since the
banning of lead
fuel use in the
early 1980’s in
the U.S.

Source:
http://www.epa.gov/air/urbanair/lead/what.h
tml
 Lead Concerns
 Particularly affects young children and
infants
 Is still found at high levels in urban and
industrial areas
 Deposits on soil and water and harms
animals and fish
 In 1999, ten areas of the country did not
meet the national health-based air quality
standards for lead.
 Lead Health Effects
 Damages organs - Lead causes damage to
the kidneys, liver, brain and nerves, and
other organs.  Exposure to lead may also
lead to osteoporosis (brittle bone disease)
and reproductive disorders. 
 Affects the brain and nerves - Excessive
exposure to lead causes seizures, mental
retardation, behavioral disorders, memory
problems, and mood changes. Low levels of
lead damage the brain and nerves in fetuses
and young children, resulting in learning
deficits and lowered IQ
 Lead Environmental Effects
 Affects animals and plants - Wild and domestic
animals can ingest lead while grazing.  They
experience the same kind of effects as people who
are exposed to lead.  Low concentrations of lead
can slow down vegetation growth near industrial
facilities. 
 Affects fish - Lead can enter water systems
through runoff and from sewage and industrial
waste streams. Elevated levels of lead in the water
can cause reproductive damage in some aquatic
life and cause blood and neurological changes in
fish and other animals that live there.
Air pollution types linked to fossil fuels
Sulfur Dioxide SO2
Particulate Matter
Carbon Monoxide (CO)
Nitrogen Dioxide NO2
Ozone O3
Hydrocarbons
Benzene
1,3-Butadiene
Toxic Organic Micropollutants
Lead
Acid Rain
 Types of analytical instruments

 Personal Monitors
– Light weight monitors
– Can be conveniently carried or worn by a
person
 Portable monitors
– Can be moved during sampling
 Stationary monitors
– Have to be operated from a fixed location
 Sampling methods

Principles of Sampling Collectors

1. Air displacement

2. Condensation

3. Gas washing or absorption

4. Adsorption
 Gaseous air sampling

Grab sampling
Absorption in liquid
Adsorption on solids
Freeze-out sampling
Collection of Particulate pollutant
 Dust fall collector
 High-volume sampler
 Impingement
 ESP
High volume
sampler
 Analysis of Air pollutants
Sox Analyzer
 Colorimetric
 Flame Photometric
Nox analyzer
 Chemiluminescent
CO analyzer
 Nondispersive infrared
 Pollution control system:
Grouping according to the physical processes used to
separate pollutants from their carrier gas
Particle control system
- Settling chambers (gravity)
- Cyclones (inertial separation)
- Filtration (inertial separation and diffusion)
- Electrostatic precipitators (electrostatic forces)
- Wet scrubbers (inertial separation and diffusion)
Gas vapor control systems
- Wet scrubber (absorption)
- Activated charcoal (adsorption)
- Thermal destruction (chemical oxidation): direct flame or
catalytic
- Biological oxidation (biofiltration and bioscrubber)
- Advanced oxidation (chemical reactions initiated by ultraviolet
light (UV) augmented by ozone and hydrogen peroxide
 Effectiveness of Air Pollution
Control Devices
Incinerator
Settlingchamber
Scrubber

Adsorber Cyclone

Wetscrubber

Bagfilter

Electrostaticprecipitator

0.00001 0.0001 0.001 0.01 0.1 1 1 10 100 1000 10,000

Pollutantdiameter(m)
 Gravimetric settling devices: element devices that remove large
particles

Settling chambers and cyclones are often used upstream of high-efficiency devices to
remove large particles, allowing high-efficiency devices to remove the smaller particles
 Particulate Control: Cyclones
 can be used for 50-100 m size particles
 simple economical unit
 Cyclone dust collectors have been used
– no moving parts as a pre-filter before a cartridge or bag
– relies on inertial effects house collector, to weed out the larger,
more abrasive dust particles that can
easily damage standard media filters. 
 Particulate Control: Bag house Filter
 particle size smaller that 10m
 similar to conventional home
vacuum cleaner
 cannot be used for
 wet air systems
 corrosive gases
 gases above 260oC
 Bag house filter
 "Bag house" is an
example of surface
filtration
 "Filter" is a membrane
(sheet steel, cloth, wine
mesh, or filter paper) with
holes smaller than the
dimension of the
particles to be retained.
 It is not the cloth/fabric
that does the filtering, it
is usually the cake on the
filter that stops particles
from flowing through
Particle collectors using filters (bag house)

Mechanical shaking

Reverse-flow cleaning

Pulse-jet cleaning
Bag house Filter Bags

Cleaned gas

Dirty gas

Dust discharge
 Particulate Control:
Electrostatic Precipitator (ESP)
 high efficiency, dry collector of particulates
 high electrical direct current current potential
(30-75 kV)
 Electrostatic precipitators have
collection efficiency of 99%, but do not
work well for flyash with a high
electrical resistivity (as commonly
results from combustion of low-sulfur
coal). Flyash is a common emission
from the burning of fossil fuels
 Sensitivity and Use of ESPs

 ESPs is very sensitive to

- variations in the gas
volumetric flow rate
- the electric resistance of the
collected dust

 ESPs are commonly used to

clean large steady volumetric
flow rates of gases, such as in
- coal-fire electric utility
boilers
- lime kilns
- cement kilns
 Cleaned gas
Electrodes

Dust discharge
Dirty gas
Electrostatic Precipitator
 Electrostatic precipitators (EPS)
These are High-efficiency Particle Collectors that
Remove small Particles from An airstream
 Principle of Electrostatic Precipitators (ESPs)
 A ESP consists of
- dozens of large vertically mounted plates
- hundreds of vertically mounted small-diameter wires
1. High-voltage applied to the wire  produces a corona
that
generates electrons  these electrons transferred to
airborne particles
2. The electrically charged wire and plates also establish
an electric field.
3. This electric field causes the charged particles (1) to
migrate laterally and attach themselves to the plates.
4. The plates are rapped mechanically  to let large
fragments of the deposited dust to slack off and fall to
hoppers below
Comparison of Air Pollution
Control Devices

A Setling Chamber
B Simple Cyclone
C High efficiency cyclone
D Electrostatic Precipitator
E Spray Tower Wet Scrubber
F Venturi Scrubber
G Bag Filter
 Gas Removal
 Wet Scrubbers
– transfer pollutants from air to water phase
– further treatment may be necessary
– pollutants must be highly soluble in water
– for less soluble materials, a chemical may be
injected in the water
 flue gas desulphurization
– SO2 in the flue gas may be removed by reacting it with a
solution of lime or lime stone in water
S O 2 + C aO C a S O 3 S O 2 + C aC O 3 C aS O 4 + C O 2
 Wet Scrubbers
 The purge stream, which
contains the particulate and
sulfur oxides removed from
the flue gas, may either be
treated in the refinery's
existing wastewater treatment
system or may be treated in a
dedicated PTU (Purge
Treatment Unit).
 Cleaned gas Dirty gas

Clean
water

Wet
gas

Dirty water
Wet Scrubber - Remove 98% of SO2 and particulate matter
Wet Scrubber

The packing
Creates a
Large surface
Area ---------------
Bubble cap scrubbers

A Bubblecap
Scrubber: Using
Numerous trays
Through which
The gas is bubbled
To achieve the
Gas-liquid
Interaction to
Remove particle
And gaseous
pollutants
 Gas Removal
 Adsorption Systems
– consist of a bed of adsorbing material
 activated carbon
– adsorbing material is housed within a pressure
vessel through which the contaminated air
passes
– pollutants are transferred from air to adsorber
 Gas Removal
 Incineration or flaring
– used to oxidize:
 carbon monoxide
 organic air pollutants
 organics containing chlorine, sulfur, and nitrogen
to carbon dioxide and water
– direct flame combustion and catalytic
combustion
Adsorption
Carbon Adsorption System
 Combustion
 Combustion application include:
 destruction of odors
 destruction of toxic substances
 reactive materials
 prevention of explosion hazards
 reduction of pollutants in the oxidized forms
 Three T’s of combustion
 Temperature (375 - 825 degree C)
 Time (residence time: 0.2 - 0.5 sec)
 Turbulence (gas velocity : 4.5 – 7.5 m/sec)
 Methods of combustion
 Direct combustion( flaring)
steam injection type flare is used
 Thermal incineration ( after-burning or
flame combustion)
thermal incinerator is used
 Catalytic oxidation
catalytic combustion unit is used
 Indoor Pollutants
 Homes can have indoor pollutants
- VOC’s (emitted from dishwashers)
- Radon gas is found in some homes
from natural and human-caused
emissions underground
-Solvents (common) from paints, etc…
-Poorly maintained heating systems
-Over-insulated homes can cause
pollutants to be held indoors