CVEN 301 Introduction to Environmental Engineering
Fall 2007
Lecture 16
Air Pollution (3)
Atmospheric Dispersion Modeling (2)
Dr. Qi Ying
Department of Civil Engineering
Plume Rise
Plume Rise
A plume of hot gas emitted vertically
rises due to its
Momentum
Ts”~Ta
Buoyancy
Ts’>T V Δh
V0
Ts>>T
Loses momentum due to entrainment Gradually loses buoyancy and bends over
Parameters affect plume rise
Plume rise depends on both plume
and ambient parameters
Plume and stack parameters
Exit velocity
Stack diameter
Gas temperature
Gas molecular weight
Ambient air parameters
Stability
Wind speed
Temperature
Holland’s Simple Equation
Includes stack and plume parameters
Does not take atmospheric stability into
consideration
vd 2 Ts Ta
h s s 1.5 2.68 10 p
a d s
u Ts
vs = stack exit velocity (m/s)
ds = stack diameter (m)
u = wind velocity (m/s)
pa = atmospheric pressure
Ts = stack temperature (K)
Ta = ambient temperature
Holland’s Simple Equation
For large power plants, the heat
emission rate (QH) is usually reported
instead of stack temperature
vs d s QH
h 1.5 9.6
u u
vs = stack exit velocity (m/s)
ds = stack diameter (m)
u = wind velocity (m/s)
QH = heat emission rate (MW)
Briggs Plume Rise Equations
It is the current EPA recommend
method for plume rise calculation
It has better performance for
thermally dominated plume
(buoyancy >> momentum)
Plume rise can be estimated as a
function of downwind distance
Buoyancy factor (F):
Ts Ta
F gvs d s2
4T s
Stability parameter (s):
g
S 0.02 for stability class E
Ta
g
S 0.035 for stability class F
Ta
Δh
xf
http://www.air-dispersion.com/briggs.html
Example – Plume Rise
For Class D stability, calculate the
final plume rise using Briggs
equations from a power plant stack,
given the following information
vs = 20 m/s
ds = 5 m
U = 6 m/s
Ts = 400 K
Ta = 280 K
Example – Plume Rise
Calculate Buoyancy Factor
Ts Ta 400 280
F gvs d s2 9.81 20 5
2
525.5
4Ts 4 280
F>55, calculate downwind distance
where maximum plume rise happens
x f 119 F 0.4 119 525.50.4 1458m
Final plume1.6 rise
525.5 1
1/3
14582/3
h 1.6 F x f U
1/3 2/3
277 m
6
Wind Speed as a Function of
Height
The wind speed (u2) at stack height
(z2) can be estimated using surface
wind measurement(u1 @ z1):
p
z Dependence of p as a function of
u2 u1 2 stability and surface roughness
z1
Stability urban rural
A 0.15 0.07
B 0.15 0.07
C 0.2 0.1
D 0.25 0.15
E 0.3 0.35
F 0.3 0.35
Wind speed example
Calculation wind speed at 477m if the
wind speed at 10m above surface is 2
m/s. Assume neutral condition in
urban area.
U477=U10*(477/10)0.25
=2*2.62=5.3 m/s
Maximum Ground Surface
Concentration
The surface concentration can be
derived by setting z=0 in the
equation:
E y2 H2
C ( x, y, 0) exp exp
S y S zU 2S y 2
2 S 2 (H=h+Δh)
z
The maximum ground concentration
must occur at y=0
E H2
C ( x, 0, 0) exp 2
S y S zU 2S z
Maximum Ground
Concentration (Neutral)
E y2 H2
C ( x, y, 0) exp exp
S y S zU 2S y 2
2 S 2
z
Stack
H=25m
Stability class = D
E=1g/s
U=1m/s
Maximum Ground
Concentration (Unstable)
E y2 H2
C ( x, y, 0) exp exp
S y S zU 2S y 2
2 S 2
z
Stack
H=25m
Stability class = A
E=1g/s
U=1m/s
Summarize – Gaussian
Dispersion Problem
Determine stability class
Calculate plume rise
Calculate wind speed
Calculate Sy, Sz
Calculate pollutant concentration
Example
Determine the pollutant surface
concentration at 2 meter above surface,
400 meters directly downwind of the
stack. Assume stability class D, wind
speed 2m/s at effective stack height,
pollutant emission rate 1g/s and an
effective stack height of 20 m. Also
assume that the pollutant is perfectly
reflected when it hits the ground.
Example
Solution:
u=2m/s, H=20m, Stability Class=D
Position to calculation concentration
(400,0,2)
E y 2 z H
2
z H
2
C ( x, y , z ) exp 2 exp exp
2 S y S zU 2S y 2
2S z 2S z
2
E 0 2 2 H
2
2 H
2
C (400, 0, 2) exp 2 exp exp
2 S y S zU 2
2S z
2
2 S y 2S z
E 2H2 2 H 2
exp exp
2 S y S zU 2 S 2
2 S 2
z z
Example
Calculate Sy, Sz:
Sy = a*x0.894 Sz = c*xd + f
Stabilit x<1km x>1km
y a c d f c d f
D 68 33.2 0.725 -1.7 44.5 0.516 -13
E 50.5 22.8 0.678 -1.3 55.4 0.305 -34
F 34 14.35 0.74 -0.35 62.6 0.18 -48.6
Q x 400m 1km
S y 68 (400 /1000) 0.894 30m
S z 22.8 (400 /1000) 0.678 1.3 11m
Example
Calculate concentration
E 2H
2
2 H
2
C (400, 0, 2) exp exp
2 S y S zU 2S z 2 2S z 2
1 2 20 2
2 20
2
exp exp
2 30 11 2 2 112
2 112
8.56 106 g / m3 8.56 g / m3
Puff Release
Sometime we need to
determine pollutant
concentrations
downwind due to an
instantaneous release
The plume is advected
downwind as a “puff”
Puff concept
Mass=m Mass=m Mass=m
t1=U/x1 t2=U/x2 t3=U/x3
-Pollutant concentration decreases due to dispersion in all
directions.
-The total mass in the puff remains unchanged.
Puff concentration
The concentration of pollutant (C) at
ground surface (x,y) at any given
time (t) can be calculated by
2
2 2
m 1 x Ut y H
C ( x, y, 0, t ) exp
2 Sx
2( S x S y S z ) 1.5 Sy S z
Sx, Sy Sz = dispersion parameters (m)
U = wind speed at plume release point (m/s)
t = time after plume release (s)
m = amount of pollutant released (kg)
H = height where the puff is released (m)
Dose
The amount of pollutant received during
pollutant exposure (grams.second/m3)
D ( x, y, z ) C ( x, y, z , t )dt
0
Sy and Sz are different from
At ground level plume dispersion equations
Coeffici Stabili
ent ty
Unstab a b
le
Neutra 0.14 0.92
2
H
2
m 1 y Sy l 0.06 0.92
D ( x, y, 0) exp
Stable 0.02
Unstab 0.89
S y S zU 2 Sy S z le
Neutra 0.53 0.73
Sz l 0.15 0.7
Stable 0.05 0.61
S y ax b S z ax b (x in meters)
Ground Level Dose
Neutral Condition
M=1kg
U=1m/s
H=2m
Highway Air Pollution
Emissions from highway account for
majority of the CO, NOx and VOC in
urban areas
Inappropriate arrangement of highways
lead to local “hotspot” in air quality
Gaussian dispersion model can be
applied to highway segments to predict
pollutant concentrations downwind
Finite Length Line Source
(FLLS)
A highway section with uniform
emission rate can be modeled as a
finite line source
y axis
y2
Plume from a differential length
U
Sy=f(x) x axis
Wind direction
y
dy y0
y0-y
Receptor at
(x,y0)
y1
Calculate FLLS concentration
y axis
y2
Steady State
U
q = Emission factor (kg/s.m) x axis
dy
y y0
Emission rate from a differential length
= q.dy (kg/s) y0-y
Receptor at
(x,y0)
Concentration at receptor due to y1
the differential emission
qdy y0 y 2
H2
dC ( x, y0 , 0) exp exp 2
US y S z 2 S 2
2S z
y
Integrate over the entire length:
y2
C ( x, y0 , 0) dC ( x, y0 , 0)
y1
