NEW HORIZON COLLEGE OF ENGINEERING, BANGALORE

(Autonomous College affiliated to VTU, Accredited by NAAC with “A” grade, Accredited by NBA)

Department of Civil Engineering

ASSIGNMENT No. 02

Course name – Air Pollution Course code – CIV824

Semester: 8th Section: A

Name: OWAIS NAZIR

USN: 1NH17CV411

Date of announcement:19/04/2020 Date of submission: 22/04/2020

Faculty in charge

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Qno 1: Derive primary lapse rate ?
Answer : Lapse rate, rate of change in temperature observed while moving upward through the
Earth’s atmosphere. The lapse rate is considered positive when the temperature decreases with
elevation, zero when the temperature is constant with elevation, and negative when the
temperature increases with elevation (temperature inversion).

The lapse rate of non-rising air—commonly referred to as the normal, or environmental, lapse

rate—is highly variable, being affected by radiation, convection, and condensation; it averages
about 6.5 °C per kilometer (18.8 °F per mile) in the lower atmosphere (troposphere).

The adiabatic lapse rate involves temperature changes due to the rising or sinking of an air
parcel. Adiabatic lapse rates are usually differentiated as dry or moist.

Derivation:

Let us consider a vertically stratified atmosphere with density (ρ) and at rest, and consider in it a
small parcel contained between levels z and z + dz, as depicted in Figure. This parcel is subject
to pressure forces on all sides from neighboring air parcels and to its own weight mg. If the
cross-section of this parcel is A, its volume is Adz, its mass m = ρAdz and its weight

mg = ρgAdz.

At equilibrium, the upward force from the supporting pressure below is equal to the downward
pressure at the top plus the weight:

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Pbelow = Pabove + mg,
which yields:
p(z + dz) − p(z) = − ρgdz.
In differential form, we write:
dP
=−ρg ………………..(1)
dz
In fluid mechanics, this relation is called the hydrostatic balance.

Following the ideal gas law and first law of thermodynamics, we can write the equation for air
parcel as:

dQ =C p dT −VdP

Where,

dQ ¿ heat added to the parcel per unit mass (J/Kg)

C p = specific heat at constant pressure i.e., the amount of heat required to raise temperature of
1Kg of air by 10 C while holding the pressure constant (1005 J/ Kg0 C )

dT = incremental temperature change (K)

v = volume per unit mass

dP = incremental pressure change (Pa)

If the process is considered to be a case where there is no loss of heat across the boundary of the
parcel i.e. as if the parcel is covered with an insulation which doesn’t allow the heat to enter in or
exit from the parcel, then dQ = 0.

∴ C p dT =VdP

dt
…… (2)
dP

This condition is called adiabatic condition.

As we bring the new term, the rate of change of temperature with altitude,

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 dT dT dp
= ×
dz dp dz

V
¿ × (−gρ ) ….. using 1 and 2
Cp

−g
¿ ×Vρ
Cp

Considering unit volume per unit mass (Vρ =1)

dT −g
=
dz C p

Thus, the temperature decreases with altitude at a constant rate. This gradient
g
Ӷ=
Cp
is called by meteorologists the adiabatic lapse rate. Its value is (9.81 m/s2)/(1005 m2/s2 ・K) =
9.76 × 10−3 K/m, or about 1 degree for every 100 meters. This drop of temperature with height
explains why high mountains are permanently covered with snow and why air is so cold at the
altitude where jet planes fly. A lower temperature causes a lower humidity saturation level, and
this is why clouds, which consist in fine water droplets, occur at some altitude above the ground.

Qno 2 : Estimate wind rose diagram.

The wind rose is the time honored method of graphically presenting the wind conditions,
direction and speed, over a period of time at a specific location. To create a wind rose, average
wind direction and wind speed values are logged at a site, at short intervals, over a period of
time, e.g. 1 week, 1 month, or longer. The collected wind data is then sorted by wind direction so
that the percentage of time that the wind was blowing from each direction can be determined.
Typically the wind direction data is sorted into twelve equal arc segments, 30° each segment, in
preparation for plotting a circular graph in which the radius of each of the twelve segments
represents the percentage of time that the wind blew from each of the twelve 30° direction
segments. Wind speed data can be superimposed on each direction segment to indicate, for
example, the average wind speed when the wind was blowing from that segment's direction and

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the maximum wind speed during the logging period. A good example of a wind rose application

is shown at the following

The information provided by the wind rose can be applied to many and varied situations. Sailors
use wind rose information taken from the "Pilot Charts" by the U.S. Naval Oceanographic Office
to get average winds for each ocean for each month of the year to help the create optimal sailing
routes between ports. Architects do, or should, use wind rose information for the siting of
buildings and stadiums. If wind rose data had been collected and used prior to the construction of
San Francisco's famous windy Candlestick Park, the stadium could have been placed a few
hundred yards to the north where it would have been protected from the prevailing westerly
wind. Windpower "farms" do extensive wind rose type studies prior to erecting their wind
turbines. Thus the wind rose is a simple information display technique that has a multitude of
uses.

Qno 3: Examine Fabric Filter Control method.

Fabric filters used for controlling particulate matter (Figure 21-4) operate like a vacuum cleaner.
Dirty gas is blown or sucked through a fabric filter bag, which collects the dust. The dust is
removed periodically when the bag is shaken. Fabric filters can be very efficient collectors for
even sub-micron-sized particles and are widely used in industrial applications.

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 FIGURE 21-4. Industrial fabric filter apparatus

[Courtesy the American Lung Association.]

The basic mechanism of dust removal in fabric filters is thought to be similar to that of sand
filters in water quality management, as discussed in Chapter 6. Dust particles adhere to the
fabric because of surface force that results in entrapment. They are brought into contact with
the fabric by impingement or Brownian diffusion. The removal mechanism cannot be simple
sieving, since fabric filters commonly have an air-space-to-fiber ratio of 1 to 1.
Very hazardous or toxic particulate matter of a diameter less than 1 μm sometimes must be
controlled to better than 99.9%. A single stage of High Efficiency Particle Attenuation
(HEPA) micropore or glass frit filters, through which the precleaned gas is forced or sucked
by vacuum, can achieve this level of control, and four to six HEPA filter stages in series can
achieve 99.9999% control. HEPA filters are commonly used to control emission
of radioactive particles, for example.
Fabric filters make use of the “physical barrier” mechanism and are aided by a degree of
adsorption. Fabric woven from a wide variety of materials collects particulates from a gas
that is forced through it. As a coating of filtered-out particles builds up on the surface of the
filter fabric, this layer becomes an additional filter, usually more effective than the fabric
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 alone. This process is referred to as developing the filter (as shown in Figure 8-4).
Eventually, the layer becomes so thick that the filter as a whole is too restrictive to pass the
desired flow rate of gas undergoing treatment. At this point the filter must be taken off line
and either cleaned or disposed of and replaced.

Figure 8-4. The process of “developing the filter.”

Fabric filters can be obtained in many different configurations. Figure 8-5 shows a “bag
house,” which is a type of fabric filter that is used for a large number of industrial
applications.

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Qno 4: Investigate wet scrubber working principal method.
Wet scrubbers, used for removal of gases and other chemicals, as well as particulates, are the
most common type of air pollution control in use by industries. They are also the most extensive,
in terms of complexity of equipment, moving parts, requirement for controls, and operation and
maintenance requirements. Wet scrubbers can be designed for a single target pollutant—for
instance, particulates—but while in operation they will remove, to some degree, any other
pollutant that will react with, or dissolve in, the scrubber fluid. As well, wet scrubbers can be
designed for multipurpose removal. For instance, a scrubber can be designed to remove
both particulate matter and sulfuric acid fumes by using a caustic solution as the scrubbing fluid
in a system also configured to remove particulates.
Wet scrubbers that are intended for different target pollutants have several design and
construction features in common. Figure 8-6 presents a schematic drawing of a basic wet

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“scrubbing tower,” which has physical features that are common to wet scrubbers used for many
different target pollutants.

Figure 8-6. Schematic of a basic wet scrubber.

As diagrammed in Figure 8-6, the components of a basic scrubber include a vessel, some type of
packing (of which there are many different types), a fan or blower, a reservoir for the scrubber
fluid, and a pump for the fluid. There are many options for additional features, and many
optional configurations for the system as a whole.
The design of wet scrubbers or any air pollution control device depends on the industrial process
conditions and the nature of the air pollutants involved. Inlet gas characteristics and dust
properties (if particles are present) are of primary importance. Scrubbers can be designed to

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collect particulate matter and/or gaseous pollutants. The versatility of wet scrubbers allow them
to be built in numerous configurations, all designed to provide good contact between the liquid
and polluted gas stream.

Wet scrubbers remove dust particles by capturing them in liquid droplets. The droplets are then
collected, the liquid dissolving or absorbing the pollutant gases. Any droplets that are in the
scrubber inlet gas must be separated from the outlet gas stream by means of another device
referred to as a mist eliminator or entrainment separator (these terms are interchangeable). Also,
the resultant scrubbing liquid must be treated prior to any ultimate discharge or being reused in
the plant.

A wet scrubber's ability to collect small particles is often directly proportional to the power input
into the scrubber. Low energy devices such as spray towers are used to collect particles larger
than 5 micrometers. To obtain high efficiency removal of 1 micrometer (or less) particles
generally requires high-energy devices such as venturi scrubbers or augmented devices such as
condensation scrubbers. Additionally, a properly designed and operated entrainment separator or
mist eliminator is important to achieve high removal efficiencies. The greater the number of
liquid droplets that are not captured by the mist eliminator, the higher the potential emission
levels.

Wet scrubbers that remove gaseous pollutants are referred to as absorbers. Good gas-to-liquid
contact is essential to obtain high removal efficiencies in absorbers. Various wet-scrubber
designs are used to remove gaseous pollutants, with the packed tower and the plate tower being
the most common.

If the gas stream contains both particulate matter and gases, wet scrubbers are generally the only
single air pollution control device that can remove both pollutants. Wet scrubbers can achieve
high removal efficiencies for either particles or gases and, in some instances, can achieve a high
removal efficiency for both pollutants in the same system. However, in many cases, the best
operating conditions for particles collection are the poorest for gas removal.

In general, obtaining high simultaneous gas and particulate removal efficiencies requires that one
of them be easily collected (i.e., that the gases are very soluble in the liquid or that the particles
are large and readily captured), or by the use of a scrubbing reagent such as lime or sodium
hydroxide.

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Qno 5: Justify the wet scrubber advantage and disadvantage.


Relative advantages and disadvantages of wet scrubbers compared to other control devices

Advantages Disadvantages

 Small space requirements: Scrubbers

reduce the temperature and volume of
the unsaturated exhaust stream.
Therefore, vessel sizes, including fans  Corrosion problems: Water and dissolved
and ducts downstream, are smaller than pollutants can form highly corrosive acid
those of other control devices. Smaller solutions. Proper construction materials are
sizes result in lower capital costs and very important. Also, wet-dry interface
more flexibility in site location of the areas can result in corrosion.
scrubber.  High power requirements: High collection
 No secondary dust sources: Once efficiencies for particulate matter are
particulate matter is collected, it cannot attainable only at high pressure drops,
escape from hoppers or during transport. resulting in high operating costs.
 Handles high-temperature, high-  Water pollution problems: Settling ponds or
humidity gas streams: No temperature sludge clarifiers may be needed to
limits or condensation problems can meet wastewater regulations.
occur as in baghouses or ESPs.  Difficult product recovery: Dewatering and
 Minimal fire and explosion hazards: drying of scrubber sludge make recovery of
Various dry dusts are flammable. Using any dust for reuse very expensive and
water eliminates the possibility of difficult.
explosions.
 Ability to collect both gases and
particulate matter.

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