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Air quality models
Air quality models use
mathematical and numerical
techniques to simulate the physical
and chemical processes that affect
air pollutants as they disperse and
react in the atmosphere.
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Purposes
• Establishing emission control legislation, i.e. determining the maximum allowable
emission rates that will meet fixed air quality standards
• Evaluating proposed emission control techniques and strategies i.e. evaluating
the impacts of future control
• Selecting locations of future sources of pollutants (e.g. industries), in order to
minimize their environmental impacts
• Planning the control of air pollution episodes, ie. Defining immediate intervention
strategies.
• Assessing responsibility for existing air pollution levels, ie, evaluating present
source-receptor relationships. By Hariom Sir
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Factors to be considered
in modeling
In air pollution dispersion modeling, 5
major physical processes are
simulated:
i) Pollutant advection
ii) Diffusion
iii) Deposition
iv) Chemical reaction (ie,
transformation)
v) Emission
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Types of Air Quality Models
i) Dispersion/Diffusion Modeling: uses mathematical formulations to
characterize atmospheric processes that disperse a pollutant emitted
by a source.
ii) Photochemical Modeling: Long-range air quality models that
simulate the changes of pollutant concentrations in the atmosphere
due to the chemical and physical processes in the atmosphere.
iii) Receptor Modeling: Mathematical or statistical procedure for
identifying and quantifying the source of air pollutants at a receptor
location. • Example:- Chemical Mass Balance Method
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Point Source Gaussian Plume Model
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Parameters
affecting Wind Direction:
concentration of • Total concentration of air pollutant is
Air Pollutant from inversely proportional to the
Point Source increase of wind angle direction with
respect to receptor. (studied by
experiments).
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Wind Speed
• Wind speed generally increases with the height.
• For buoyant sources, plume rise is affected by wind speed; the
stronger the wind, the lower the plume rise.
• Wind speed dilutes continuously the released pollutants at the point
of emission. Whether a source is at the surface or elevated, this
dilution takes place in the direction of plume transport.
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Turbulence
• Turbulence is another factor which affects the wind direction and
hence the concentration of air pollutant.
• It is highly irregular motion of the wind.
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Assumptions:
• Plume spread results primarily by Molecular Diffusion.
• Time required for the pollutant to travel to the receptor is neglected; Steady state
is assumed
• Normal distribution of horizontal and vertical pollutant concentrations in the
plume.
• There is No diffusion in x direction.
• Uniform continuous emission rate.
• Wind speed is constant.
• Terrain is flat.
• Pollutant dispersion follows Normal Statical Distribution.
• Shape of plume is conical.
• Pollutant are non reactive By Hariom Sir
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At any point P there is a contribution
to the concentration C(x,y,z)
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If only concentrations at ground level are required (for example in
assessing the exposure of crops or humans to the pollutant) then we
can simplify the equation by setting z=0. This gives
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It should be
noted that the
maximum
concentration
occurs when
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If only concentrations
at ground level on the
centre-line of the
plume (along the x-axis
direction) are required
then the equation is
simplified further since
both z=0 and y=0. This
gives
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σz / σx
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If the calculated value of σz exceed 5000 m, σz is set to 5000 m.
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σz
(a,b)
By Hariom Sir *If the calculated value of σz exceed 5000 m, σz is set to 5000 m.
8079032499 ** σz = 5000
σz
(a,b)
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σz
(a,b)
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ϴ
(c,d)
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Limitations
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By Hariom Sir
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