Environmental Pollution Control

(ET ZC362 – WILP Course)

BITS Pilani Lakshmi Sirisha

Department of Chemical Engineering
Hyderabad Campus
 Session 3
4th August, 2018
Topics to be covered:
Chapter 2 : Air pollution: Sources and effects
• Definition
• Scales/Units of classification ( Solve problem)
• Classification of air pollutants
• Properties of air pollutants
• Emission sources:
• Classification
• Emission sources- Global and in India

• Behavior and fate of air pollutants

• Effects of air pollution

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Definition, Units and Classification of

air pollutants
12/2/2018 ET ZC 362 Environmental Pollution Control 3
Air Pollution- Definition

Air pollution can be defined as the presence of toxic

chemicals or compounds (including those of biological
origin) in the air, at levels that pose a health risk to
mankind and undesirable effects to the environment.

A particular substance can be considered an air pollutant

only when it concentration is relatively high compared
with the background level and causes adverse effects.

Air pollutants can be gases ( SO2, NOx, HCs and CO),

particulate matter (smoke, dust, fumes, aerosols),
radioactive materials, etc.
https://www.environmentalpollutioncenters.org/air/

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Air Pollution-System

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Scales/Units of concentration

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Problem-1 (Solved TB)

CO is present in standard atmospheric air at a

concentration of 50 ppm. Compute values
for the CO concentration in the atmosphere.

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Classification of Air Pollutants

Primary pollutants: Air pollutants that are emitted directly

from a source.
Eg: Particulate matter (ash, smoke, fumes), gases
aromatic hydrocarbonds etc

Secondary pollutants: Not directly emitted as such, but

forms due to chemical interactions between primary
pollutants and atmospheric constituents.
Eg: Ground layer ozone, NO2 (formed as NO
combines with oxygen in the air), acid rain, etc.

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 BITS Pilani
Pilani|Dubai|Goa|Hyderabad

Properties of air pollutants and

emission sources
12/2/2018 ET ZC 362 Environmental Pollution Control 9
Particulate matter

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Other key pollutants

• Oxides of sulphur: Most important oxide emitted from pollution

sources is SO2. Forms weak sulphurous acid. Gets oxidised slowly to
form SO3. Both the gases get washed out from atmosphere by rain or
settle out as aerosols.

• Nitrogen oxides: N2O, NO and NO2 are formed in appreciable

quantities. N2O is released by biological activity of soil and is not
considered as air pollutant . NO is produced largely by fuel combustion.
NO gets oxidized to NO2 which initiates a series of photochemical
reactions and a major pollutant.

• Carbon monoxide: Single largest pollutant in urban areas. Smoke,

exhaust fumes formed by burning oil, coal etc. It is a dangerous
asphyxiant.

• Hydrocarbons: Can be saturated, unsaturated, cyclic, aromatic. These

are of concern as HCs undergo a series of photochemical reactions in
the presence of sunlight and NO2 forming photochemical oxidants such
as ozone(O3)

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Emission sources

Global emission:
• Global emission of particulate matter is 2365 million tonnes per yea,
out of which 1097 million tonnes/yr is due to natural emiision.
• For SO2, around 130 million tonnes/yr are due to combustion
activities (coal, petroleum) and smelting activities. An equal amount
is released due to natural processes (from biological decay of H2S
etc)
• Anthropogenic activities release around 48 million tonnes/ yr of
nitrogen oxides in to air, while natural emissions are much larger.
It is important to note that although pollutant emission from natural
resources is much greater than anthropogenic sources, the pollutants
get concentrated in specific locations due to human activities.

Eg: Urban areas have 50 to 100% higher concentrations of CO as

compared to global values.

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Emission sources

In India:
Burning of biofuels such as fuelwood, dry cattle dung etc
are the primary source of air pollutants in rural area. NO2,
SO2 and HCs are released due to burning of these
unprocessed fuels.

Combustion of fossil fuels, emissions from industries such

as paper and pulp, cement, fertilisers etc are primary
emission sources in urban areas. Vehicular pollution is the
major cause in metro cities.

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Emission sources

Major annual pollutants in Delhi

1991 2005
(In 103 tonnes) (In 103 tonnes)
CO 243 600
HCs 82 198
NOx 139 330
SO2 10 23
Suspended PM 19 44

Source : Text book

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Pilani|Dubai|Goa|Hyderabad

Behaviour & fate of pollutants and

effects of air pollution
12/2/2018 ET ZC 362 Environmental Pollution Control 15
Behaviour & fate of pollutants

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Wet precipitation

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Other scavenging processes

Dry deposition: Particles coalesce and settle based on their

terminal settling velocity
Interaction at the earth’s surface: Certain gases particularly
SO2 gets absorbed by ocean surface and adsorbed by upper
layers of soil or vegetation. Biological acgivity in soil is an
important sink for CO gas
Chemical reactions in the atmosphere: Formation of sulphuric
acid removes SO2. Neutralization of the acid and formation of
sulphates in presence of metal salts. Sulphates then are
removed from atmosphere by wet precipitation. Presence of
ozone, hydroxyl radicals, sunlight, other reactive species
causes oxidation of SO2 and NO which is otherwise a slow
process.
Photochemical smog

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Photochemical smog

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Photochemical smog

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Photochemical smog

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Photochemical smog

CO and SO2 also play a significant role by strongly

interacting with other species in smog and accelerating
oxidation processes.

Smog causes reduced visibility, respiratory distress,

damage to plants etc.

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Effects of air pollution

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Effects of air pollution
Solid particulate matter

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Effects of air pollution

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Effects of air pollution
Carbon-monoxide

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Effects of air pollution
NO2 and HCs

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Problem-2 (Unsolved TB)

A 1000 MW power plant of 35% thermal efficiency is

proposed. The plan burns 3% sulphur coal with a heating
value of 6000 kcal/kg and emits 64,000 m3/min. of flue
gas. What is the concentration of SO2 in the flue gas in
ppm? Assume that the density of SO2 is 1920 g/m3.

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 End

Any Questions?

mail to
sirisha@hyderabad.bits.pilani.ac.in

BITS Pilani, Hyderabad Campus