Lecture - 5 - Environmental Studies (BITS-F 225) Smita Raghuvanshi Associate Professor, Department of Chemical Engineering August 28, 2020

Lecture –5_Environmental Studies (BITS- F 225)
Smita Raghuvanshi
Associate Professor, Department of Chemical
Engineering
BITS Pilani
Pilani Campus August 28, 2020
Recap – Air pollution – Criteria pollutants
Pollutants Properties Pollution significance

CO Colourless, odourless gas Formed during incomplete combustion
of hydrocarbons, causes green house
effect & climatic changes
NOx Brown orange gas Significant component of
photochemical smog & acid rain
deposition
Ozone Highly reactive Secondary pollutant, produced during
formation of photochemical smog ;
damages flora & fauna
SOx Colourless, choking gas, Principal component of acid deposition,
soluble in water to form damages human, flora, fauna &
sulphurous acid, H2SO3 materials
PM-10 Particulate matter- black Coal burning power station, traffic
smoke domestic coals, incineration
lead Heavy metal Principal sources lead pollution,
damages flora & fauna when in excess
This takes us to the next part of Air
pollution Meteorology
Air pollution Meteorology
• When a gaseous or PM, be it from vehicle exhaust, industrial
source, stack is released, its fate is almost impossible to
predict
• This is because complex factors which decide its pathways…
• Factors include:
• Meteorological
• Source
• Process
BITS Pilani, Pilani Campus

Air pollution Meterology
Meteorological factors include:
• Wind speed & direction

• Temp & humidity
• Turbulence
• Atmospheric stability

Air pollution emission are of interest at three scales:

• Micro scale - of the order of 1 km (eg: chimney
plumes)
• Mesoscale – of the order of 100 kms (eg: mountain
valley winds)
• Macroscale - of the order of km (highs/ lows over
oceans or continents)
These scales are all time related & since wind speeds are
around 5 m/s, micro scale meteorological effects occur at
durations of minutes to hours, meso scale from hours to
days & macro scale at days to weeks
Eg: Chernobyl nuclear disaster
Eg: Chernobyl nuclear disaster: plume on a

microscale very seriously affected local region within
hours of emission, while other highlands were
affected four days later.

• Air pollutants emitted from anthropogenic sources must first

be transported and diluted in the atmosphere before these
undergo various physical and photochemical transformations
and ultimately reach their receptors
• Otherwise, the pollutant concentrations reach dangerous

levels near the source of emission
• Hence, it is important to understand the natural processes

that are responsible for their dispersion

• Effective dispersion of pollutants in the atmosphere depends
primarily on the
– degree of stability of atmosphere and
– on its turbulent structure
• Certain terms which explains this:

1. Lapse Rate (Γ) :

• Lapse Rate is the rate at which temperature changes with
height in the atmosphere
• Lapse rate tells how much temperature decreases; as we move
up in the atmosphere
• Higher in the atmosphere; colder the temperature will be

2. Ambient or environmental Lapse Rate:

• A balloon equipped with thermometer; when released, will
move upwards, through atmosphere & record temp of ambient
air. This temp gradient is known as “ambient/ environmental
lapse rate”
• It varies from day to day; day to night, season to season
• Most of time, ambient lapse rate decreases with altitude; but
there can be occasion when reverse occurs

3. Adiabatic Lapse Rate:

• Is the rate of change of temperature with height as a parcel of
dry air rises or sinks without exchange of heat with the
surroundings (adiabatic heat exchange)

1. The reference lapse rate by which “ambient lapse rate/

environmental lapse rate” is compared is called as “dry
adiabatic lapse rate – DALR”
2. Under adiabatic conditions ( without heat addition/ or loss of
heat); a rising warm parcel of air behaves like a rising balloon’
• Air within parcel expands; on meeting air of lower density

• It will expand until; its own density is equal to density of
surrounding air
• Dry air expanding adiabatically; cools at a rate of 9.8 deg C/km
or 1 deg C/ 100m
Question comes – why are we discussing environmental

lapse rate???

We are discussing environmental lapse rate; as this

corresponds to pollutant dispersion…

Atmospheric Stability
• Tendency of the atmosphere to resist or enhance vertical motion is
termed stability. It is related to both
➢wind speed and
➢change of air temperature with height (lapse rate)
• A comparison of the adiabatic lapse rate with the environmental
lapse rate gives an idea of the stability of the atmosphere
If an air parcel is displaced from its original height it can:

Return to its original height - Stable
Accelerate upward because it is buoyant - Unstable
Stay at the place to which it was displaced - Neutral
18
When the Γenv and the Γadia are exactly same, a rising parcel of air will have the same pressure,
temperature and density as those of the surroundings and would experience no buoyant
force
Such an atmosphere is said to be neutrally stable where a displaced mass of air neither tends
to return to its original position nor tends to continue its displacement
When the Γenv is less than the Γadia, a rising air parcel becomes cooler
and more dense than its surroundings and tends to fall back to its
original position
Such an atmosphere condition is called stable and the lapse rate is
said to be subadiabatic
Under stable conditions there is very little vertical mixing and
pollutants can only disperse very slowly
Under stable conditions there is very little vertical mixing and
pollutants can only disperse very slowly
When the Γenv is greater than the Γadia, the atmosphere is said to be
superadiabatic. Hence, a rising parcel of air, cooling at the adiabatic
rate, will be warmer and less dense than the surrounding
environment. As a result, it becomes more buoyant and tends to
continue its upward motion.
Since vertical motion is enhanced by buoyancy, such an atmosphere is
called unstable. In the unstable atmosphere the air from different
altitude mixes thoroughly.
Since vertical motion is enhanced by buoyancy, such an atmosphere is
called unstable. In the unstable atmosphere the air from different
altitude mixes thoroughly.
Inversion
The extreme case of a stable atmosphere, called an inversion, occurs
when temperature increases with altitude. Such a lapse rate is known
as negative lapse rate. Under these conditions, the atmosphere is
very stable and practically no mixing of pollutants takes place
Lapse rate and dispersion
• If the ambient temp profile is known (env lapse rate);

and is compared to adiabatic lapse rate; it is possible
to estimate the fate of an air pollutant emission
• Stack emissions produce plumes which vary with

atmospheric stability class
10/12/2020 28
BITS Pilani, Deemed to be University under Section 3 of UGC Act, 1956
Atmospheric dispersion
• Plume dispersion from a chimney stack is a

phenomena to discuss atmospheric dispersion; although
many areas of interest include -
• fugitive emissions from pipes and vents;
• vehicle exhaust emissions;
• plumes from fires or explosions and emissions from
dump sites
• In order to predict concentrations of pollutants remote

from the source; many techniques of air quality modeling
have evolved; these include
10/12/2020 29
modeling
• Mathematical simulation of the physics and
chemistry governing the transport, dispersion and
transformation of pollutants in the atmosphere
• Means of estimating downwind air pollution

concentrations, given information about the pollutant
emissions and nature of the atmosphere
10/12/2020 30
modeling procedure
• Stage – 1 – Data input
• Include – background concentration of pollutants;
meterological conditions; source data (site description;
emission rates);
• Stage – 2 – Data processing – data is entered in various
models
• Stage – 3 – Data output – prediction of ground level of
pollutants
• Stage – 4 – Data analysis – assessment of potential
environmental and health effects
10/12/2020 33
modeling
• Gaussian
• Numerical
• Statistical
• Empirical
• Physical
• Gaussian model -
• The emphasis is on Gaussian-plume type models for
continuous releases, which are at the core of most
regulatory models
• Gaussian models are the most widely used techniques
for estimating the impact of nonreactive pollutants
10/12/2020 34
Thank you Dear Students
10/12/2020 37

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Lecture –5_Environmental Studies (BITS- F 225)

Pollutants Properties Pollution significance

• This is because complex factors which decide its pathways…

BITS Pilani, Pilani Campus

• Wind speed & direction

BITS Pilani, Pilani Campus

Air pollution emission are of interest at three scales:

Eg: Chernobyl nuclear disaster: plume on a

BITS Pilani, Pilani Campus

• Air pollutants emitted from anthropogenic sources must first

• Otherwise, the pollutant concentrations reach dangerous

• Hence, it is important to understand the natural processes

BITS Pilani, Pilani Campus

• Certain terms which explains this:

BITS Pilani, Pilani Campus

1. Lapse Rate (Γ) :

BITS Pilani, Pilani Campus

2. Ambient or environmental Lapse Rate:

BITS Pilani, Pilani Campus

3. Adiabatic Lapse Rate:

BITS Pilani, Pilani Campus

1. The reference lapse rate by which “ambient lapse rate/

• Air within parcel expands; on meeting air of lower density

Question comes – why are we discussing environmental

BITS Pilani, Pilani Campus

We are discussing environmental lapse rate; as this

BITS Pilani, Pilani Campus

If an air parcel is displaced from its original height it can:

• If the ambient temp profile is known (env lapse rate);

• Stack emissions produce plumes which vary with

• Plume dispersion from a chimney stack is a

• In order to predict concentrations of pollutants remote

• Means of estimating downwind air pollution

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