EV20001: ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCE

Spring Semester, AY 2019/2020

Tutorial #4: Understanding Air Pollution

Name: __________________________________________ Roll No: ________________

1. A coal burning power plant consumes 10,000 tons of coal per day. The coal
contains 2% sulfur by weight. If the sulfur oxides released during a certain day
are confined to a volume of 1011 cubic meters, calculate the concentration of SO2
(in µg/m3) in the air surrounding the power plant. To comply with acid rain
control requirements, the plant is considering switching to a low-sulfur coal.
How low does the sulfur content in the coal have to be so that the power plant
can meet the National Ambient Air Quality Standards (NAAQS) (i.e., 365
µg/m3), if all other conditions are the same?

SOLUTION

Since the power plant consumes 10,000 tons of coal per day, the total mass of
sulfur (msulfur) entering the plant

msulfur = 0.02  10000tons = 200tons

Then, the total mass of SO2 emitted

200 tons S 64 ton SO2 400 ton SO2

mSO2 = × =
day 32 ton S day

If the volume over which the gas is dispersed is 1011 cm3, then

400 ton SO2 1 day 1012 μg

Concentration of SO2 = × 11 3 × = 4000 μg / m 3
day 10 m 1 ton

To comply with National Ambient Air Quality Standards (NAAQS), the

maximum permissible SO2 emission level

365 μg 1011 m3 1 ton 36.5 ton SO2

3
× × 12 =
m 1 day 10 μg day
For a daily consumption of 10000 tons of coal per day, the sulfur content in the
coal should be

36.5 ton SO2 32 ton S 1 day

× × = 0.0018 ton S / ton of coal = 0.18%
day 64 ton SO2 10000 ton coal
2. Consider a 250 MW power plant burning natural gas (idealized as pure
methane, CH4) with air at the stoichiometric quantity. The net power plant
efficiency is 33% and the fuel heating value is 55,800 kJ/kg. The plant is
designed to meet a NOX emission limit of 86 ng/J expressed as equivalent NO2.
(a) How much fuel energy must be supplied to this plant when it is running at
full capacity? (b) Based on the designated NOX emission rate, how much NOX is
emitted per day if the plant runs at full capacity? (c) Determine the percentage
reduction in NOX emissions needed to meet a new local regulation requiring the
plant to emit no more than 75 ppm NOX by volume. The relevant chemical
reaction is: CH4 + 2(O2 + 3.76N2) → CO2 + 2H2O + 7.5N2.

SOLUTION

(a) The overall plant efficiency (η) is

Eelect
η=
Ein

1000 kW 24 h 3600s
250 MW × × ×
Eelect 1 MW 1 day 1h
 Ein = =
η 0.33

kW - s 1 kJ kJ
= 6.54 × 1010 × = 6.54 × 1010
day 1 kW - s day

(b) NOX emitted per day

 ng   10 kJ   1000 J   1 kg 
=  86  ×  6.54 × 10 ×  × 
 J   day   1 kJ   1012 ng 

kg
= 5630
day

(c) The relevant chemical reaction is

CH4 + 2(O2 + 3.76N2 ) → CO2 + 2H2O + 7.5N2

Moles of flue gas produced per mole of fuel burned = 1 + 2 + 7.5

= 10.52 mols/mol CH4
 kJ
6.54 × 1010
day kg
Mass of fuel burned = = 1.17 × 106
kJ day
55800
kg

Moles of NOX produced per mole of fuel burned =

kg NOX
5.63 × 103
day
mol NOX
46
kg mol NOX
= 1.67 × 10 −3
kg CH4 mol CH4
1.17 × 106
day
mol CH4
16
kg

The amount of NOX is very small relative to the total flue gas. Thus, its
approximate concentration (in ppm) is

mol NOX
1.67 × 10 −3
mol CH4
× 106 = 159 ppm
mol fluegas
10.52
mol CH4

159 ppm − 75 ppm

 Percentage reduction needed = × 100% = 53%
159 ppm