AIR QUALITY and AIR QUALITY CONTROL

GROUP No. 6

Air Quality

The atmosphere is a vital component of human environment. It transmits and alters the solar energy that controls our climate. It acts as a shield, protecting us from damaging meteoritic impacts and from penetrating radiation. It supports the flight of birds and insects and transports seeds and spores. Its gases provide the raw materials for life itself: w/o them we could not exist.

Atmosphere

Atmosphere

Atmosphere is a thin layer of gasses that envelopes the earth. Weather elements are rain, snow, heat, wind, thunder and fog. Our integrated experience of weather is the climate; the characteristic annual cycle of weather. Climate is the long term trend of temperature and precipitation (rain, snow). Weather is the day to day variation in temperature and precipitation. Pure Air is a mixture of gases, w/c contains 78% N2, 20.1% O2, 0.9% Ar, 0.03% CO2, 0.002% Neon, and 0.0005% Helium.

Climate VS Weather

Systematic view of the components of the earths global weather and climate system which involves mutual interactions between components of the atmosphere, hydrosphere, lithosphere and biosphere.

Climate VS Weather

Weather is defined as the state of the atmosphere at a given time and place, with respect to variables such as temperature, moisture, wind speed and direction, and barometric pressure. Climate is defined as the expected frequency of specific states of the atmosphere, ocean, and land including variables such as temperature (land, ocean, and atmosphere), salinity (oceans), soil moisture (land), wind speed and direction (atmosphere), current strength and direction (oceans), etc. Climate encompasses the weather over different periods of time and also relates to mutual interactions between the components of the earth system (e.g., atmospheric composition, volcanic eruptions, changes in the earths orbit around the sun, changes in the energy from the sun itself, etc.).

Atmosphere

If air moves relative to the ground, we feel of see its wind, just in m0tion by a series of forces: > Pressure Gradient Force tending to impel air motion from areas of high to areas to low pressure. > Gravitation, w/c tends to accelerate the air downward at a rate of 9.8 m/s2. > Friction acting opposite to the wind direction and proportional roughly to the square of the wind speed. > The Coriolis force caused by the rotation of the earth often called the deflecting force of the earth rotation. It acts at right angles to the wind direction and is proportional to the wind speed.

Kinds of Wind

Global Wind caused by the differential warming and cooling of the earth as it rotates under the sun.

Local Wind caused by the differential temperature between land and water masses.

Layers of Atmosphere

Troposphere ranges from 5km at the poles and about 18km at the equator where the temperature decreases with altitude. Tropopause is the boundary between stratosphere and troposphere. Stratosphere is a layer of air where the temperature profile is inverted and has high ozone concentration that absorbs the suns shortwave ultraviolet radiation. Mesosphere extend from the stratosphere at 50 55km to another temperature minimum to 85km, the mesopause. The mesosphere is windy and turbulent region, but there is actually little water vapor for cloud. Thermosphere is above the mesopause where temperature measures indefinitely upward, it is the hot upper atmosphere.

Layers of Atmosphere

Ozone Layer

Ozone Layer
The ozone layer extends from the top of stratosphere into the thermosphere. The Earths atmosphere is composed of Nitrogen 78.1%, Oxygen 20.9%, Argon 0.9%, Carbon Dioxide 0.033%, Other, including Ne, He, Methane 0.003% water vapor 0.0001%. Although Carbon Dioxide, water vapor and other gases are tiny component of the atmosphere, they have a huge impact on our weather, our climate, and our well being. Nitrogen is largely part of the atmosphere. Most solar radiation that passes through atmosphere is unaffected by the presence of any of these gases. Its when the radiation hits the Earths surface that things start to heat up. Solar radiation pretty much bounces off white clouds and white glaciers and snow cover. This is called reflectance. Solar radiation that is reflected from clouds, snow, and ice, is lost back to space without appreciably heating up anything on the Earths surface. LAPSE RATE is the change in temperature at the height of free atmosphere.

POLLUTANTS

POLLUTANTS
Pollutants are those materials (gases, liquid, or solid) that when added to pure air will cause adverse effects. CLASSIFICATION of AIR Pollutants

Primary Pollutants are pollutants emitted as such to the atmosphere. Secondary Pollutants are pollutants actually produced in the atmosphere by chemical reactions.

MAJOR AIR POLLUTANTS

a. b.

Particulates Gaseous Pollutants

MAJOR AIR POLLUTANTS

1.

PARTICULATES DUST is defined as solid particles that are entrained by process gases directly from the material being handled or processed such as coal, ash and cement. FUME is a solid particle frequently a metallic oxide formed by the condensation of vapors by sublimation, distillation, calcinations, or chemical reaction process.

2.

3.

MIST is an entrained liquid particle formed by the condensation of vapor and perhaps by chemical reaction.
SMOKE is made up of entrained solid particles formed as a result of incomplete combustion of carbonaceous material.

4.

5.

SPRAY is a liquid particle formed by the atomization of parent liquid.

MAJOR AIR POLLUTANTS

1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9. 10. 11. 12.

GASEOUS POLLUTANTS

SULFUR DIOXIDE is a colorless gas, intense choking odor, highly soluble in water to form sulfurous acid. SULFUR TRIOXIDE is highly corrosive soluble in water to form sulfuric acid. HYDROGEN SULFIDE is a highly poisonous gas with rotten egg odor at low concentrations, odorless at high concentration. NITROUS OXIDE is a colorless gas, used as carrier gas in aerosol bottles. NITRIC OXIDE is a colorless gas produced during high temperature, high pressure, and combustion Oxidize to Nitrogen dioxide. NITROGEN DIOXIDE is a brown to orange gas w/c is a major component in the formation of photochemical smog. CARBON MONOXIDE is a colorless, odorless, poisonous gas that is a product of incomplete combustion. CARBON DIOXIDE us a colorless, odorless, formed during complete combustion. OZONE is a highly reactive gas that is produced mainly during the formation of photochemical smog HYDROCARBONS emitted from automobiles and industries, others are formed in the atmosphere. METHANE is a colorless, odorless, flammable gaseous hydrocarbon w/c a product of decomposition of organic matter. CHLOROFUOROCARBONS is a highly stable compound that is being used in spray cans as aerosol propellants

SOURCES OF AIR POLLUTION

Natural Processes PARTICULATES include pollen grains, fungus spores, salt spray, smoke particles and dusts GASEOUS POLLUTANTS from natural sources include carbon monoxide as breakdown product in the degradation of hemoglobin, hydrocarbons in the form if terpenes from pine trees, hydrogen sulfide resulting from the breakdown of cysterine and other sulfur containing amino acids by bacterial action, nitrogen oxides and methane. People made source of pollutants classified as:

Stationary combustion, Transportation, Industrial processes and Solid waste disposal

EFFECTS OF AIR POLLUTION

People relating AIR POLLUTION to HEALTH Existence of threshold, Total body burden of the pollutants, time versus dosage problem, and synergism (synergistic effects of various combination of pollutants)

DISEASES caused by AIR POLLUTANTS Lung cancer, asthma and emphysema

HEALTH EFFECTS of AIR POLLUTION
a.

Particulate, Effects on breathing and respiratory systems, aggravation of existing respiratory and cardiovascular disease, alteration of the bodys defense systems against foreign materials, damage to lung tissue, carcinogenesis and premature mortality. Carbon monoxide, The health threat of CO is greatest to those w/ cardiovascular disease because it includes oxygen delivery to organs and tissues. At elevated concentration CO impairs visual perception, manual dexterity and mental ability.

b.

3. Sulfur dioxide, Effects on breathing, respiratory illness, breakdown of Lung diseases, aggravation of existing respiratory and cardiovascular disease and death. 4. Nitrogen dioxides, Irritate the Lungs, causes bronchitis and pneumonia, lowers resistance to respiratory infections, and plays a major role in tropospheric ozone formation. 5. Ozone, Reduces lung function, usually w/ association w/ coughing, sneezing, chest pain, and pulmonary congestion. High concentrations of ozone are frequently associated w/ eye irritation, although this may not be caused to ozone itself. 6. High Lead exposures, Can cause seizures, mental retardation, and behavioral disorder.

EFFECTS OF AIR POLLUTANTS ON THE ENVIRONMENT

ACID RAIN
One way in w/c sulfur dioxide is removed from the atmosphere is the formation of acid rain. Normal uncontaminated rain has pH of 5.6 but acid rain can be as low as pH 2 even below. Acid Rain encompasses both wet and dry acidic deposition that occurs near and downwind of areas where major emissions of sulfur dioxide and nitrogen oxides results from burning fossil fuels. The most important effect of acid rain is the decline of fish population, w/c is specially damaging to sport fishing. Other aquatic effects of acid rain include those on human who eat fish having increased concentration of metal in their flesh. Acid rain poses an insidious and potentially devastating threat to our forest; it has been shown that seedlings can be damaged by moderately acidic rain (pH4.6)

PHOTOCHEMICAL SMOG
The formation of photochemical smog is a dynamic process. Note that as the morning rush hour begins the NO levels increase, followed quickly by NO2. As the latter reacts w/ sunlight, Ozone and other oxidants are produced. The hydrocarbon level similarly increases at the beginning of the day and then drops off in the evening. Particularly baffling was the formation of high ozone levels, w/c for every mole of NO2 reacting to make a atomic oxygen and hence, ozone, on mole of NO2 is created from reaction w/ ozone.

OZONE DEPLETION
Ozone is an eye irritant at usual urban levels, but urban ozone should not be confused with stratospheric ozone w/c occurs 7 to 10 miles above the earths surface. Stratospheric ozone acts as am ultraviolet radiation shield. CFC emitted mostly from refrigeration units and spray cans can apparently alter the shield and increase the risk of skin cancer as well as change global ecology in unpredictable ways, including contributing to global warming.

Two of the most important CFCs are trichlorofuoromethane, and dichlorofluoromethane, both of w/c are inert and nonwater soluble and therefore do not washout the atmosphere. They drift into upper atmosphere and are eventually destroyed by the short-wave solar radiation releasing chlorine w/c can react w/ ozone.

GLOBAL WARMING
The Earth acts as a reflector to the suns rays receiving the radiation from the sun and reflecting some of it into space (called albedo) and absorbing the rest only to reradiate this into space as heat. Unfortunately, some gases such as methane, carbon dioxide, and nitrous oxide adsorb radiation at wavelengths approximately the same as the heat radiation trying to find its way back to space. Because the radiation is adsorbed in the atmosphere by these gases, temperature of the atmosphere increases heating the earth. The system works exactly like a greenhouse in that light energy through the greenhouse glass, but the long wavelength, low frequency heat radiation is prevented from escaping. The gases that adsorb the heat energy radiation are properly referred as greenhouse gases since they in effect cause the Earth to heat up just like a greenhouse.

INDOOR AIR POLLUTANTS

ASBESTOS from fireproofing and vinyl floors CARBON MONOXIDE from smoking, space heaters and stoves FORMALDEHYDE from carpets, ceiling tiles and paneling PARTICULATES from smoking, fireplace and dusting NITROGEN OXIDES from kerosene stoves, gas stoves OZONE from photocopying machine RADON from natural emitted gas diffused from soil SULFUR DIOXIDE from kerosene heaters VOLATILE ORGANICS from smoking, paints, solvents, cooking

Health problems from contaminated INDOOR AIR: - Eye irritation, Headache, Nausea, Sneezing, Dermatitis, Heat burn, Drowsiness Chemical Pollutants: ASBESTOS, ETHYLENE GLYCOL, PHENOL, VINYL CHLORIDE, BENZENE, and METHANOL

AIR QUALITY CONTROL

The easiest way and also most economical solution to air pollution is to eliminate the source of the pollution. Air quality control is often achieved by some form of air treatment similar in concept to water treatment. TREATMENT OF EMISSIONS Selection of the correct treatment device requires matching characteristics of the pollutant w/ features of the control device. It is important to remember that the sizes of air pollutants range many orders of magnitude, and it is therefore not reasonable to expect one device to be effective and efficient for all pollutants. In addition, the types of chemicals in emission soften will dictate the use of some devices.

CONTROL OF PARTICULATES
1.

Settling Chambers the simplest device for controlling particulates consisting of nothing more than wide places in the exhaust flue where larger particles can settle out, usually w/ a baffle to slow the emission stream. Cyclone the most popular, economical and effective controlling particulates means of

2. 3.

Bag filters used for controlling particulates, operate like the common vacuum cleaner. Bag filters are widely used in many industrial applications, but are sensitive to high temperatures and humidity. Spray Tower or Scrubber is an effective method for removing large particulates, where high efficiency scrubbers promote the contact between air and water by violent action in a narrow throat section into w/c water is introduced. This method has two major drawbacks: (a) produce visible plume (b) the waste is now on liquid form. Electrostatic Precipitator widely used in power plants, mainly because power is available. The particulate matter is removed by first charging it by electros jumping from one high voltage electrode to the other migrating to the positively charged collecting electrode.

4.

5.

CONTROL OF GASEOUS POLLUTANTS

The control of gases involves the removal of the pollutant from the gaseous emissions, a chemical change in the pollutant, or a change producing the pollutant.
1.

Wet Scrubbers can remove gaseous pollutants by simply dissolving them in water; alternatively, a chemical may be injected into the scrubber water, w/c then reacts in the pollutants.

2.

Adsorption it is useful method when it is possible to bring the pollutant into contact w/ an efficient adsorbed like activated carbon.
Incineration or Flaring is used when an organic pollutant can be oxidized to carbon dioxide and water. A catalytic combustion is a variation of incineration whereby the temperature of the reaction is lowered by the use of catalyst that mediates the reaction.

3.

CONTROL OF SULFUR OXIDES

The major source of sulfur oxides (SO) is coal fired power plants. The increasingly strict standards for SO control have prompted the development of a number of options and techniques for reducing emissions of sulfur oxides. Among these options are the ff.
1.

Change to flow sulfur fuel natural gas and oil are considerably lower in sulfur than coal, however uncertain and expensive supplies make this option risky.
Desulfurize the coal sulfur in coal is either organics or inorganic. The inorganic form iron pyrate (FeS2), w/c since it occurs in discrete particles can be removed by washing. The removal of the organic sulfur (generally 60% of the total) requires chemical reactions is most economically accomplished if the coal is gasified. (change into a gas resembling natural gas) Tall Stacks a shortsighted method of SO2 control where incredibly tall stacks are built and disperse the SO2. Flue gas Desulfurization the last option is to reduce the SO2 emitted by cleaning the gases coming from the combustion, the so called flue gas. The most widely used method of SO2 removal is to contact the sulfur w/ lime or limestone.

2.

3. 4.

DISPERSION OF AIR POLLUTANTS

Atmosphere conditions primarily determine the dispersion of air pollutants. If the conclusion are super adiabatic, a great deal of vertical air movement and turbulence are produced, and dispersion is enhanced. The super adiabatic prevailing lapse rate is by contrast a very stable system.

Dispersion is the process of spreading out the emission over a large area and thereby reducing the concentration of the specific pollutants. The dispersion is dependent on both the atmospheric stability and the distance over the source. The Effect of atmospheric instability can be as follows:
a.

A super adiabatic lapse rate produces atmospheric instability and a looping plume. An adiabatic lapse rate evens out the plume, producing a coming plume.

b.

If the plume is emitted into an inversion layer, a fanning plume will result; a highly descriptive name since from above it can be seen that the plume fans out horizontally w/o any vertical dispersion. d. A particularly nasty situation is the fumigation condition, when an inversion cap is placed on the plume, but a super adiabatic lapse rate under the inversion causes mixing and high ground level concentrations. CONTROL OF MOVING SOURCES Although many of the previously mentioned control techniques can apply to moving sources as well as to stationary ones, one very special moving source - the automobile deserves special attention. Although the automobile has many potential sources of pollution, there are only a few important points requiring control. 1. Evaporation of hydrocarbons (HCs) from the fuel tank. 2. Evaporation of hydrocarbon from the carburetor. 3. Emissions of unburned gasoline and partially oxidized HCs from the crankcase. 4. The NOXs HCs and CO from the exhaust.
c.

CONTROL OF MOVING SOURCES

The evaporative losses from the gas tanks have been reduced by the use of gas tank caps that prevent the vapor from escaping. Losses from carburetors have been reduced by use of activated carbon canisters that store the vapors emitted when the engine is turned off and the hot gasoline in the carburetor vaporizes. The third source of pollution, the crankcase vent, has been eliminated by closing off the vent to the atmosphere and recycling the blow by gas into the intake manifold. POSITIVE CARNKCASE VENTILATION (PCV) Valve is a small check valve that prevents the build up of pressure in the crankcase. Nitrogen oxides from automobile exhausts are controlled by recirculating exhaust gas, diluting the air to fuel mixture being burned in engine.

Emission control techniques (internal combustion automobile engine)

1. 2. 3.

Tuning the engine to burn efficiently a tune - up can have a significant effect on emission components. Installation of catalytic reactors catalytic converters oxidizes the CO and HCs to CO2 and H2O. Engine Modifications greatest advance in engine development so as to produce less emission.

One of the most destructive effects of automobile emission is the deterioration of building, statuary, and other materials.

RA 8749: The Philippine Clean Air Act of 1999

A comprehensive air quality management policy and program w/c aims to achieve and maintain healthy air for all Filipinos.

Guiding Principles

Protect and advance the right of the people to a balanced and healthful ecology in accord w/ the rhythm and harmony of nature Promote and protect the global environment while recognizing the primary responsibility of local government units to deal w/ environmental problems Recognize that the responsibility of cleaning the habitat and environment is primarily area based Recognize that polluters must pay Recognize that clean and healthy environment is for the good of all and should be concern of all

WORKING AGENCIES, DEPARTMENT AND ORGANIZTIONS

WHO World Health Organization NSCB National Statistical Coordination Board DENR Department of Environmental and Natural Resources DOTC Department of Transportation and Communication DOST Department of Science and Technology NRDF National Research and Development Program DTI Department of Trade and Industry DOE Department of Energy BPS Bureau of Product Standard PNS Philippine National Standard PAGASA Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical and Astronomical Service Administration

THE END