CIVI 361

Introduction to Environmental
Engineering
Lecture Notes:
DR. RIHAM A.MOHSEN Chapter 2
Environmental
Measurements

Adapted from
James R. Mihelcic, Julie B. Zimmerman “Environmental Engineering:
Fundamentals, Sustainability, Design”, 2nd Edition.
 CHAPTER 2
ENVIRONMENTAL MEASUREMENTS

Outline

Mass Concentration Units

Volume/Volume and Mole/Mole Units

Partial-Pressure Units

Mole/Volume Units

Other Types of Units

❑ Mass Concentration Units
• Chemical concentration  important for pollutant fate, transport and treatment
• Expressed in different units

• Pico  10-12  abbreviated as p • Parts per million  ppm  10-6

• Nano  10-9  abbreviated as n • Parts per billion  ppb  10-9
• Micro  10-6  abbreviated as µ • Parts per trillion  ppt  10-12
• Milli  10-3  abbreviated as m
• Kilo  103  abbreviated as k
• Tonne  1000 kg
 ❑ Mass/Mass Units
• 1 mg of a solute in 1 kg of solvent 1 ppm
• ppm  Number of units of mass of chemical per million units of total mass

mi
ppm m = x106
mtotal

• mg/kg  ppm • µg/kg  ppb

Example: concentration in soil

A 1 kg sample of soil is analyzed for the chemical

solvent trichloroethylene (TCE). The analysis
indicates that the sample contains 5.0 mg of TCE. James R. Mihelcic, Julie B. Zimmerman, Environmental Engineering: Fundamentals, Sustainability, Design

What is the TCE concentration in ppmm and ppbm?

 ❑ Mass/Volume Units
• Air  mass per volume of air mg/m3, µg/m3
• Water  mass per volume of water mg/L, µg/L
1 mg/L = (˷) 1 ppm (in most dilute solution)

Example: concentration in water

One liter of water is analyzed and found to contain 5.0 mg of TCE. What is the TCE concentration in mg/L and ppmm?
❑ Volume/Volume and Mole/Mole Units
• Usually used for gas concentrations
Vi
ppmv = x106
Vtotal

Example: concentration in air

What is the carbon monoxide (CO) concentration expressed in µg/m3 of a 10 L gas mixture that contains 10-6 mole
of CO?

James R. Mihelcic, Julie B. Zimmerman, Environmental Engineering: Fundamentals, Sustainability, Design

Conversion between ppmv and µg/m3 Gas constant R  different units
Ideal Gas Law

Example: gas concentration in volume fraction

Temperature conversion
A gas mixture contains 0.001 mole of sulfur
dioxide (SO2) and 0.999 mole of air. What is the
SO2 concentration, expressed in units of ppmv?

Vi
ppm v = x106
Vtotal

RT
PV = nRT V=n
P
 For gases, volume ratios and
mole ratios are equivalent.

molesi
ppm v = x106
moles total

Conversion of gas concentration between

ppmv and µg/m3 Molecular weight of some compounds

1000P
• H2O  18 g/mol
µg
m3
= ppmv x MW x
RT
• CO2  44 g/mol
• SO2  64 g/mol
• CH4  16 g/mol
MW  molecular weight
• Air  § 29 g/mol
• CaCO3  100 g/mol
 Example: Conversion of gas concentration
between ppbV and g/m3

The concentration of SO2 is measured in air to be

100 ppbV. What is the concentration in units of
µg/m3 ? Assume the temperature is 28 C and
pressure is 1 atm.
Mass

Volume ratio for SO2

100 m3 SO2  moles  µg (mass)

❑ Partial Pressure Units

James R. Mihelcic, Julie B. Zimmerman, Environmental Engineering: Fundamentals, Sustainability, Design

• Dalton's Law  partial pressure

• The total pressure in a container is the sum of the pressure each gas would exert
if they were alone in the container.
• The total pressure is the sum of the partial pressures.

• PTotal = P1 + P2 + P3 + P4 + P5
...

John Dalton
Chemist & Physicist
Eaglesfield, Cumberland, England
September 6, 1766 – July 27, 1844
 nA mole of gas A
For a gas mixture containing nB mole of gas B
nC mole of gas C

with total volume = V

temperature = T

‫ܣ‬ ‫ܣ‬
‫ܣ‬ ‫݈ܽݐ‬
‫݋ݐ‬
‫݈ܽݐ‬
‫݋ݐ‬
The partial
‫ܤ‬ ‫ܤ‬
pressures ‫ܤ‬ ‫݈ܽݐ‬
‫݋ݐ‬
‫݈݈ܽݐ݋ݐ‬

‫ܥ‬ ‫ܥ‬
‫ܥ‬ ‫݈ܽݐ‬
‫݋ݐ‬
‫݈ܽݐ‬
‫݋ݐ‬

Example: Concentration as partial pressure

The concentration of gas phase PCBs in the air

above Lake Superior was measured to be 450
picograms per cubic meter (pg/m3). What is the
partial pressure (in atm) of PCBs? Assume the
temperature is 0 C and the atmospheric pressure
is 1 atm, and the average molecular weight of 1 mole of gas at 0 C and 1 atm occupies 22.4 L
PCBs is 325.

Partial pressure = 3.1 × 10-14 atm

❑ Mole/Volume Units
• Used for concentrations of compounds in water
• Molarity  the number of moles of compound per
liter of solution  M = mole/L
• 1 M = 1000 mM = 106 µM

Example: concentration as molarity

The concentration of TCE is 5 ppm. Convert this to units of molarity. The molecular weight of TCE is 131.5 g/mole.

5 ppm = 5 mg/L

= 0.038 mM = 38 µM
❑ Other Types of Units
•Equivalent weight of a compound
= Weight/Z
 For acids: Z is equal to the moles of H+ obtainable
from 1 mol of acid
H2SO4, Z=2,  98/2=49 g/eqv
 For bases, Z is equal to the number of moles of H+
with which 1 mole of the base reacts
Ca(OH)2, Z=2  74/2=37 g/eqv

 For salts: Z is the oxidation or valence state of the

ions
CaCl2, Z = 2  111/2 = 55.5 g/eqv
Al2(SO4)3, Z = 6 (2 Al+3)  342/6 = 57 g/eqv
 ❑ Concentration as a common constituent
 Nitrogen compounds:
NH4+, NO2-, NO3-  mg N/L

Phosphorous
H3PO4, H2PO4-, HPO42-, PO43-
 mg P/L

Example: nitrogen concentration as a common constituent

A water contains two nitrogen species. The

concentration of NH3 is 30 mg/L and the
concentration of NO 3- is 5 mg/L. What is the total
nitrogen concentration in units of mg N/L?
❑ Hardness
Due to the presence of polyvalent metallic ions
such as Ca+2, Mg+2.
• Require more soap before lather can be produced
Unit Operations and Processes in Environmental
Engineering, Tom D. Reynolds, Paul Richards, 2nd ed.

• Produce in boiler, hot water pipes, heaters

Ca+2 + 2HCO3 - CaCO3 + CO2 + H2O

Example: Water hardness

Water has the following chemical composition:

Hardness  equivalent CaCO3 [Ca2+] = 15 mg/L; [Mg2+] = 10 mg/L; [SO42-] = 30
mg/L. What is the hardness in units of mg/L as
Ca+2 CaCO3?

CaCO3
Mg+2

Total hardness = 38 + 42 = 80 mg/L as CaCO3

❑ Concentrations of CO2 and other GHGs
• Various GHGs  CO2, CH4, NOx, …
• Global warming potential (GWP)
 compare the emission of different GHGs to a common
constituent
• CO2 equivalents
• Carbon (C) equivalents

James R. Mihelcic, Julie B. Zimmerman, Environmental Engineering: Fundamentals, Sustainability, Design

James R. Mihelcic, Julie B. Zimmerman, Environmental Engineering: Fundamentals, Sustainability, Design

Example: Greenhouse gas concentration

The US greenhouse gas emissions reported in the year 2010 were 5706.4 teragrams (Tg) CO2e of CO2, 666.5 Tg CO2e
of methane (CH4), and 306.2 Tg CO2e of N2O. How many gigagrams (Gg) of CH4 and N2O were emitted in 2010?
1000 gigagrams = 1 teragram
giga  109
tera  1012

For methane:

2.67 × 104 Gg methane

For N2O:

1.03 × 103 Gg N2O

 ❑ Carbon Footprint
 Total greenhouse gas emissions (reported in carbon equivalents) that are associated with a product, service, company,
or other entity such as a household or water treatment plant.

• Direct emissions  from sources owned or

controlled by the reporting entity
• Indirect emissions  a consequence of activities of
the reporting entity, but they occur at other sources

James R. Mihelcic, Julie B. Zimmerman, Environmental Engineering: Fundamentals, Sustainability, Design

❑ Particle Concentrations in Air and Water 100 (volatile suspended solids) VSS
TDS
2 4.2
Air  total suspended particulate (TSP) in units of g/m3 or µg/m3
94% Water
6 70 %
VOLATILE

Water
• Total solids  TS (103 C) TOTAL
6% Solids
• Total suspended solids  TSS (filter, 103 C) SUSPENDED
SOLIDS 1.8
• Total dissolved solids  TDS (filtrate, 103 C) TS
• Volatile suspended solids  VSS (filter, 550 C) 30 %
• Fixed suspended solids  FSS (filter, 550 C) ASH

TS = TSS + TDS (fixed suspended solids) FSS

TSS = VSS + FSS

James R. Mihelcic, Julie B. Zimmerman, Environmental Engineering: Fundamentals, Sustainability, Design

Example: Concentrations of solids in a water sample

A lab provides the following analysis obtained from a 50 mL sample of wastewater: total solids = 200 mg/L, total suspended solids
= 160 mg/L, fixed suspended solids = 40 mg/L, volatile suspended solids = 120 mg/L.
1. What is the concentration of total dissolved solids?
2. Suppose this sample was filtered through a filter and the filter was dried at 550 C. What would be the weight of solids (in mg)
remaining on the filter after drying?

(1) TS = TSS + TDS

TDS= TS-TSS = 200-160=40 mg/L

40 mg solids remaining on filter (550 C)

(2) FSS = =
L L

x
= X = 2 mg
50 mL
• Representation by Effect