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EnE 250 Air Quality Management and Pollution Control Lecture 02 Air Pollution Sources & Impacts
EnE 250 Air Quality Management and Pollution Control Lecture 02 Air Pollution Sources & Impacts
EnE 250 Air Quality Management and Pollution Control Lecture 02 Air Pollution Sources & Impacts
Lecture 2
Analiza P. Rollon
Department of Chemical Engineering
College of Engineering
University of the Philippines
Atmospheric pollution
Introduction
• The impacts of
combinations of
atmospheric pollutants
Summary
Introduction
Major atmospheric
pollutants
• SO2
• Oxides of nitrogen
• Hydrocarbons
• Oxides of carbon
• Halogenated hydrocarbons
• Suspended particulates (aerosols) in
the troposphere
Sulfur dioxide (SO2)
Concentrations at the
troposphere:
• areas far from
industries: < 1 ppb
• highly polluted areas: 2
ppm
• urban and industrial
countries: 0.1 - 0.5 ppm
• rural areas of northern
hemisphere: 30 ppb
Sulfur dioxide
Source: comes largely from burning of fossil fuels
Sulfur dioxide
Global estimate of sulfur emissions for the year 2020!
Natural Sources of SOx, etc.
• Volcanoes: SO2, H2S, COx, particles,
H2O, CO2, HCl…
The sulfur cycle
Oxides of nitrogen
• High emissions of CO
Predicted levels
Residence times and spatial variability
Primary source of tropospheric OH [Levy, 1971]
O3 + h O2 + O* 290 nm <<330 nm
O* + M O + M M (“third body”) = O2 or N2
O+ O2 + M O3 + M
O* + H2O OH + OH
~1%
(~99%)
2 OH
(~1%)
Solar radiation
(290<<330 nm)
Sinks of OH
Lifetime of OH ~ 1 second!
Suspended Particulates
Size:
Aggregates of 0.002 µm in diam. (larger than a single
molecule) to 500 µm; of interest is the size range 0.01 - 100
Settling properties:
suspended: < 1 µm - 20 µm
settleable or dustfall: > 10 µm
Mode of formation:
Dust, smoke, fumes, fly ash, mist, spray
Suspended Particulates
Mode of formation:
• Smog
• Acid rain
• Greenhouse effect and climate changes
• Stratospheric ozone depletion
Formation of smog (smoke + fog: London type of smog)
Smoke remains due to lack of air movement initiated by night-time radiative cooling of the
air near the Earth’s surface. (Temperature inversion, cold dense air lay below warm air).
Night-time cooling decreases the moisture carrying capacity of the air allowing fog to form
around suspended smoke particles.
/Temperature
Death rates and atmospheric pollution
(London smog of 1952)
1. SO2 slows down the rate at which hairs within the lungs beat.
This beating action removes the contaminant from the upper
lungs. When impaired, irritants (ex. particulates) have greater
access to the respiratory tract.
2. The soot particles within the smoke offer surfaces upon which
SO2 may be oxidized to H2SO4 (a powerful irritant)
Formation of smog:
Smoke remains due to lack of air movement initiated by night-time
radiative cooling of the air near the Earth’s surface.
(Temperature inversion, cold dense air lay below warm air).
Night-time cooling decreases the moisture carrying capacity of the
air allowing fog to form around suspended smoke particles.
Photochemical Smog
Some of the HNO3 formed are lost via dry or wet deposition.
Levels:
O3: 100-500 ppb in smog (< 50 ppb in remote areas,
ground)
PANs: 20-70 ppb in smog (< 0.015 ppb in remote areas)
Acid Rain
On vegetation:
- acidic pH decreases productivity
- acidic deposition on leaves of plants can cause damage
On soil:
- leaching of essential elements (Ex. Mg)
- increasing solubility and level of phytotoxic elements (Ex. Al)
Possible consequences:
- significant rise in sea level
- increased evaporation further atmospheric warming
Observed recent trends in global mean surface
temperatures
Trends in the atmospheric
concentrations of the main
greenhouse gases
Radiative forcing:
observed and predicted
Trends in global
temperature
Temperature change in relation to the concentration of
atmospheric carbon
Sea level rise
Changing distributions of trees with global warming
Stratospheric Ozone Depletion
Ozone is found at trace levels
(8 - 10 ppm) in the stratosphere.
Ozone production:
O2 + h ( 240 nm) 2O
O + O2 + M O3 + M
where M = 3rd body (ex. Solid
surface, molecule)
Ozone destruction:
O3 + h ( 325 nm) O2 + O
O + O3 2O2
or via catalytic reaction:
XO + O3 XO + O2
XO + O X + O2
Stratospheric Ozone Depletion
http://www.theozonehole.com/ozonedestruction.htm
Ozone Destruction:
Effect of Clouds
http://www.theozonehole.com/ozonedestruction.htm
Ozone Destruction:
Effect of Temperature
http://www.theozonehole.com/ozonedestruction.htm
Ozone Destruction:
Effect of Temperature
Stratospheric air temperatures in both polar regions reach
minimum values in the lower stratosphere in the winter
season.
Average minimum values over Antarctica are as low as –
90°C in July and August in a typical year.
Over the Arctic, average minimum values are near –80°C in
January and February.
Polar stratospheric clouds (PSCs) are formed when winter
minimum temperatures fall below the formation temperature
(about –78°C).
This occurs on average for 1 to 2 months over the Arctic and
5 to 6 months over Antarctica (see heavy red and blue lines -
- previous slide).
http://www.theozonehole.com/ozonedestruction.htm
Ozone Depletion: Effect of
Temperature
Reactions on PSCs cause the highly reactive chlorine gas
ClO to be formed, which increases the destruction of ozone.
The range of winter minimum temperatures found in the
Arctic is much greater than in the Antarctic.
In some years, PSC formation temperatures are not reached
in the Arctic, and significant ozone depletion does not occur.
In the Antarctic, PSCs are present for many months, and
severe ozone depletion now occurs in each winter season.
http://www.theozonehole.com/ozonedestruction.htm
Stratospheric Halogen Gases
Ozone is destroyed by reactions with chlorine, bromine, nitrogen, hydrogen, and oxygen gases.
Reactions with these gases typically occurs through catalytic processes. A catalytic reaction cycle is a
set of chemical reactions which result in the destruction of many ozone molecules while the molecule
that started the reaction is reformed to continue the process. Because of catalytic reactions, an
individual chlorine atom can on average destroy nearly a thousand ozone molecules before it is
converted into a form harmless to ozone.
http://www.theozonehole.com/ozonedestruction.htm
Ozone Destruction Process
http://www.theozonehole.com/ozonedestruction.htm
Ozone Destruction Process
http://www.theozonehole.com/ozonedestruction.htm
“Ozone Hole”
http://collidecolumn.files.wordpress.com/2012/09/antarctic-ozone-hole-over-the-years.jpg
Ozone Depletion
March 2011: Strongly reduced ozone values (left, dark blue) and
significantly increased concentration of chlorine monoxide (right, red) that is
directly involved in ozone degradation. Geophysical Research Letters,
volume 38, doi:10.1029/2011GL049784 (to be confirmed)
Ozone hole, Temperature,
CFCs
“According to IMK studies, occurrence of the Arctic ozone
hole was mainly due to the extraordinarily cold temperatures
in the ozone layer that is located at about 18 km height in the
stratosphere, i.e. the second layer of the earth’s atmosphere.
There, chlorine compounds originating from
chlorofluorocarbons (CFC, e.g. greenhouse gases and
refrigerants) and other pollutants are converted chemically at
temperatures below -78°C. These chemical conversion
products attack the ozone layer and destroy it partly. ”
“If the trend to colder temperatures in the stratosphere
observed in the past decades will continue, repeated
occurrence of an Arctic ozone hole has to be expected.”
IMK = Institute of Meteorology and Climate Research
Summary
• the atmospheric pollutants causing most concern: sulfur dioxide,
oxides of nitrogen and carbon, halogenated hydrocarbons
(particularly CFCs), suspended particulates and the secondary
pollutants