GROUP DISCUSSION

AEROSOL

SUBMITTED BY : SANJEEV CHAHAR CLASS : PGDBET ROLL NO : 115328

Introduction
Take a deep breath. Even if the air looks clear, its nearly certain that youll inhale tens of millions of solid particles and liquid droplets. These ubiquitous specks of matter are known as aerosols, and they can be found in the air over oceans, deserts, mountains, forests, ice, and every ecosystem in between. They drift in Earths atmosphere from the stratosphere to the surface and range in size from a few nanometersless than the width of the smallest virusesto several several tens of micrometersabout the diameter of human hair. Despite their small size, they have major impacts on our climate and our health. Aerosols are defined as a suspension of particles and droplets in the size range between 0,001 m and 100 m in a surrounding gas phase. The total mass of particles and droplets is indicated as particulate matter (PM). Since fine particles smaller than 10 m are only partly precipitated in the nose, they can be inhaled and transported to the human lungs. Different specialists describe the particles based on shape, size, and chemical composition. Toxicologists refer to aerosols as ultrafine, fine, or coarse matter. Regulatory agencies, as well as meteorologists, typically call them particulate matterPM2.5 or PM10, depending on their size. In some fields of engineering, theyre called nanoparticles. The media often uses everyday terms that hint at aerosol sources, such as smoke, ash, and soot.

Aerosol Types and Origin

The bulk of aerosolsabout 90 percent by masshave natural origins. Volcanoes, for example, eject huge columns of ash into the air, as well as sulfur dioxide and other gases, yielding sulfates. Forest fires send partially burned organic carbon aloft. Certain plants produce gases that react with other substances in the air to yield aerosols, such as the smoke in the Great Smoky Mountains of the United States. Likewise in the ocean, some types of microalgae produce a sulfurous gas called dimethylsulfide that can be converted into sulfates in the atmosphere. Sea salt and dust are two of the most abundant aerosols, as sandstorms whip small pieces of mineral dust from deserts into the atmosphere and wind-driven spray from ocean waves flings sea salt aloft. Both tend to be larger particles than their human-made counterparts.

As volcanoes erupt, they blast huge clouds into the atmosphere. These clouds are made up of particles and gases, including sulfur dioxide (SO2). Millions of tons of sulfur dioxide gas from a major volcanic eruption can reach the stratosphere. There, with the help of water vapor (H2O), the sulfur dioxide converts to tiny persistent sulfuric acid (H2SO4) aerosols. These aerosols reflect energy coming from the sun, thereby preventing the sun's rays from heating Earth's surface. Volcanic eruptions are thought to be responsible for the global cooling that has been observed for a few years after a major eruption. The amount and global extent of the cooling depend on the force of the eruption and, possibly, on its location relative to prevailing wind patterns.

Natural and anthropogenic sources

Formation of aerosol
Atmospheric aerosols originate from the condensation of gases and from the action of the wind on the Earth's surface. Fine aerosol particles (less than 1 mm in radius) originate almost exclusively from condensation of precursor gases. A key precursor gas is sulfuric acid (H2SO4), which is produced in the atmosphere by oxidation of sulfur dioxide (SO2) emitted from fossil fuel combustion, volcanoes, and other sources. H2SO4 has a low vapor pressure over H2SO4-H2O solutions and condenses under all atmospheric conditions to form aqueous sulfate particles. The composition of these sulfate particles can then be modified by condensation of other gases with low vapor pressure including NH3, HNO3, and organic compounds. Organic carbon represents a major fraction of the fine aerosol and is contributed mainly by condensation of large hydrocarbons of biogenic and anthropogenic origin. Another important component of the fine aerosol is soot produced by condensation of gases during combustion. Soot as commonly defined includes both elemental carbon and black organic aggregates. Mechanical action of the wind on the Earth's surface emits sea salt, soil dust, and vegetation debris into the atmosphere. These aerosols consist mainly of coarse particles 1-10 mm in radius. Particles finer than 1 mm are difficult to generate mechanically

because they have large area-to-volume ratios and hence their surface tension per unit aerosol volume is high. Particles coarser than 10 mm are not easily lifted by the wind and have short atmospheric lifetimes because of their large sedimentation velocities.

Characteristics of atmospheric aerosols

A. Size Number Distribution If your concern is the mass of some pollutant that is being transported through the air for biogeochemical cycles, then you want to know the mean diameter of the particles with the mass or volume. In other words, "What size particles carry the most mass? If your concern loss of visibility then you want to know the diameter of the particles that have the largest cross section or surface area. In other words, "What size particles cover the largest surface area?" If your concern is cloud formation or microphysics then you want to know the range of diameters with the largest number of particles. In other words, "What is the size of the most abundant particles?" If your concern is human health then you need to know about both the mass and number of the particles, because only a certain size particle can enter the lungs

B. Chemical Composition

The bimodal nature of the size-number distribution of atmospheric particles suggests at least two distinct mechanisms of formation, and the chemical composition of the particles reflects their origins. Fine particles have a diameter smaller than about 2.5 mm, and are produced by the condensation of vapors, accumulation, and coagulation. They have a chemical composition that reflects the condensable trace gases in the atmosphere: SO2, NH3, HNO3, VOCs, and H2O. The chemical composition is water with SO4-2, NO3-, NH 4+, Pb, Cl-, Br-, C(soot), and organic matter; where biomass burning is prevalent, K+. Coarse Particles have a diameter greater than about 2.5 mm, are produced by mechanical weathering of surface materials. Their lifetimes, controlled by fallout and washout, are generally short. The composition of particles in this size range reflects that of the earth's surface - silicate (SiO2), iron and aluminum oxides, CaCO3 and MgCO3; over the oceans , NaCl.

Modes of aerosol
1. 2. 3.

Aitken mode Ranges from 0.01-0.1 m diameter Accumulation mode 0.1-1 m Coarse mode >1 m

4. Nucleation mode- <0.01 um

Sinks of aerosol
Once aerosol is suspended in the atmosphere, it is altered, removed or destroyed. It cannot stay in the atmosphere indefinitely, and average lifetimes are of the order of a few days to a week. Clearly the lifetime of any particular particle depends on its size and location. Larger aerosol settle out of the atmosphere very quickly under gravity, and some surfaces are more efficient at capturing aerosol than others. We will first examine some removal pathways before looking at how aerosol may be expected to change during the course of its atmospheric residence.

Wet deposition
Wet deposition is the name given to deposition pathways involving water. They include rainout, washout, sweepout and occult deposition. Brief qualitative explanations of these will be given, as the primary focus of the work referred to in this report is dry deposition.

Rainout
Rainout describes the removal of a cloud condensation nucleus. As described in section 3, aerosol act as nuclei for the condensation of cloud

droplets. In clouds producing rain, some of these drops grow to such a large size that they fall (gravitationally settle) to the surface as rain drops. The aerosol (condensation nuclei) deposited in this way are said to have been rained out.

Washout
Washout describes the removal of aerosol by cloud droplets. If an aerosol is incorporated into an already existing cloud drop, and that drop grows large enough to fall as rain, the particle is said to have been washed out. Note that the difference between washout and rainout is the required preexistence of a collecting drop for washout.

Sweepout
Another fairly closely related wet deposition process is sweepout. Aerosol remaining below the cloudbase of a raining cloud can impact into falling raindrops. If the impact leads to incorporation of the aerosol into the drop, the aerosol is deposited with the raindrop, the condensation nucleus, and any other washed or swept out particles. Although the final fate of rained, washed and swept out particles is the same, the three processes are distinct because the efficiency of each, and the size and amount of aerosol swept out by each process is calculated differently. The distinction is therefore mainly useful in modelling work where the total deposition due to all three processes is of interest.

Occult Deposition
Occult deposition is a slightly more complicated concept than the other three wet processes examined. Impaction efficiency is the likelihood that a particle will strike a surface feature encountered in a flow, rather than be deflected around the object. It is a strong function of size, with larger

aerosol being more likely to impact on a surface feature than smaller particles.

Aerosol can be incorporated into droplets in clouds making contact with the surface of the ground (e.g. fog, orographic clouds). The impaction efficiency of droplets is higher than that of the aerosol they nucleate on. This produces an enhanced probability of impaction for such aerosol incorporated into drops. Sticking efficiency is the probability that an impacted object will not bounce off and be instantly resuspended. Providing the sticking efficiency of cloud drops is not significantly lower than that of the nucleating aerosol, (it is not) clouds contacting the ground can give rise to an enhanced deposition rate for small aerosol.

Dry Deposition
Dry deposition pathways are the group of deposition mechanisms that transport pollutants (in this case particles) directly to the surface without the aid of precipitation. Through the boundary layer there are two dry deposition mechanisms. Each will be described briefly here.

Gravitational Settling
This process is possibly the simplest of all the deposition processes to describe. It simply means a particle falling under gravity. Very large particles fall, reaching a terminal velocity, which can be found by equating the force due to gravity by the drag force (from Stokes law) and solving for velocity. It falls through the boundary layer at this rate until it strikes the surface.

Turbulent Deposition
Turbulence is the most effective dry vertical transport mechanism in the boundary layer

Environmental effects of aerosol

Form haze that reduces visibility

Climate effects
Absorb and scatter solar radiation and outgoing IR radiation. Act as CCN, affecting cloud formation and properties. LARGEST sources of uncertainty in assessments of anthropogenic climate change. Uncertain whether aerosol increase cause a net increase or decrease in average global temperature.

Health and other effects

A erosol, their sources and effects on clim ate

P roperties Reflect sunlight

N et effect Cool the earth

Aerosol type D esert dust, sulfate sm og

M ain Source

dry lake beds industry

Absorb sunlight
Cloud Condensation N uclei

H eat the earth & atmosphere reduce cloudiness

brighter clouds less precipitation

B lack carbon biom ass burning dirty engines

sulfate sm og sm oke fires industry