BANGLADESH UNIVERSITY OF ENGINEERING AND TECHNOLOGY, DHAKA

OFFICE OF THE MEMBER SECRETARY OF THE COMMITTEE FOR

ADVANCED STUDIES & RESEARCH, BUET, DHAKA.

Date: 18/07/2017

1. Name of the student :IMAM NAZMUS SALEHIN Status: Full Time

Student ID :1015042143 Session:October, 2015

2. Present Address :Room No.: 2311, SaheedSmrity Hall, BUET, Dhaka-1000, Bangladesh
Cell Phone :+8801737222276

3. Name of the Department :Civil Engineering, Programme:M.Sc. in Environmental Engineering

4. Name of the Supervisor :Dr. Tanvir Ahmed Designation:AssociateProfessor

Cell Phone :+8801733988581

5. Name of the Co-Supervisor (if any): Not Applicable Designation: __X___

6. Date of First Enrollment in the Program: October 2015

7. Tentative Title of the Thesis: APPLICATION OF DISPERSION MODELING TO ASSESS THE

AIR QUALITY OF DHAKA CITY

8. Background and Present State of the Problem

Dhaka, the capital of Bangladesh, is one of the world’s most polluted megacities when it comes to air
pollution.[1] Air quality during the dry season is a severe problem as brick kilns remain operational
during this period (October- April) [2]. Previous studies show that emission from brick kilns, vehicular
sources, re-suspended road dust etc. along with variation of meteorological parameters influences the air
quality of Dhaka city [3,4,5]. A number of approaches to model Dhaka city’s air environment has been
made. Afrin (2012) used ATMoS-4.0, a three-dimensional multi-layered Lagrangian Puff-transport
source-receptor model, to predict the ambient air pollutant concentrations of Dhaka city [4]. An
emissions inventory has been prepared for Dhaka city using the Norwegian Institute for Air Research
model AirQUIS[5]. EPA suggests using air dispersion modelling to predict realistic pollutant
concentrations which can take into account large amount of meteorological data, terrain conditions and
source input parameters (i.e., plume height, release temperature, flue gas velocity etc. and can bring
much more sophistication into the approach [6]. Ahmed and Hossain (2008) applied the Industrial
Source Complex (ISC3) model in a limited scale to predict the effect of brick kilns on the ambient SO 2,
CO and Total Suspended Particles (TSP) concentrations in Dhaka city [7]. However, the USEPA
recommended model, AERMOD (American Meteorological Society (AMS)/EPA Regulatory Model),
incorporates significant advancement in algorithm for features like plume rise, meteorological data
input, plume dispersion, surface characteristics, boundary layer parameters, plume interaction with
mixing height etc. replacing the previous feature algorithms of Industrial Source Complex (ISC3) and
can provide improved estimates of ambient pollutant concentrations [8]. In this study, an application of
AERMOD will be made to predict the ambient air pollutant concentrations of Dhaka city.

9. Specific Objectives and possible outcome

The specific objectives of the study are
 Assessment of air quality characteristics and update the major emission sources for Dhaka city;
 Estimation of contribution of major sources to ambient pollutant concentrations using a versatile
air quality model and identification of most vulnerable zones of the city with respect to air
pollution;
 Assessing how well the model predicts the measured ambient air quality concentrations from the
CAMS stations installed by the Department of Environment.
 Quantifying the effect of air pollution mitigation strategies (e.g. closure of traditional kilns,
conversion to improved kilns) on the ambient air quality of Dhaka city

The probable outcome of this research would be

 The development of a fully calibrated air dispersion model which can assess the effect present
polluting establishments on ambient concentrations on critical receptors and which can become
an appropriate impact prediction and policy analysis tool for air quality management.
10. Outline of the Methodology

An area of 50km x 30km covering the major geographic extent of greater Dhaka city will be chosen as
the modeling grid (see Figure 1).

Figure 1: Modeling grid extent with surrounding areas of Dhaka city.

For the purpose of predicting concentration of major air quality parameters (i.e. PM 10, PM2.5, SO2,
NO2etc.), the AERMOD modeling system, developed by Lakes Environmental Inc., will be used.
AERMOD is a near field (reliable prediction up to 50 km) dispersion modeling system with an up-to-
date characterization of the atmospheric boundary layer [9]
Various input data and their collection methods are provided below:

Processor Type of Required Data Collection/ Processing of Data

Name Data
AERMET Meteorolog  Hourly Surface Data Needed to be purchased from Lakes
Preprocessor ical Data- File environmental “MM5 AERMET- Ready” met
[10] Hourly  Upper Air Data data. Two files will be given.
 SAMSON file format- for Hourly Surface
Data File
 TD-6201 file format- for Upper Air Data
 GeoTIFF Land Use Will be processed from “Land Use Creator”
Map tool
Source Point Geo-positions Will be identified using Google Earth and
Pathway [11] Source cross checked with various literature
(Brick Kiln/ Emission rates (for Will be calculated from AP 42, EMEP/EEA or
industrial pollutants like PM2.5, other reliable literature
sources) PM10, SO2, CO etc.)
Stake height, flue gas Will be collected from renowned literature
temp., inner gas dia., exit
gas velocity
Line Source Emission rates Will be collected from EPA’s MOVES (MOtor
Vehicle Emission Simulator) or other sources
Vehicular “Activity Rate” Will be calculated from road wise AADT data
from established sources
Terrain SRTM1/SRTM3 Map Downloaded from SRTM1 (Global ~30m)-
Preprocessor Type Version 3
[12]

Using the above-mentioned information, AERMOD will be used to generate daily, monthly, and annual
concentrations of pollutants. The CAMS station data collected from the Department of Environment will
be used to verify the predicted concentration from the dispersion model.
11. References
[1] Gurjar, B.R., Butler, T.M., Lawrence, M.G., Lelieveld, J. (2008). Evaluation of emissions and air
quality in megacities. Atmos. Environ., 42,pp. 1593-1606.
[2] Randall, S., Sivertsen, B., Schneider, P., Dam, V.T., Nasiruddin, M., Biswas, W., Saroar, G., Rana,
M. (2011). Bangladesh Air Pollution Management Project (BAPMAN). Ambient Air Pollution
Screening Study in Dhaka: 31 January – 15 February 2011. Kjeller (NILU OR 28/2011).
[3] Islam, M.M., Afrin, S., Ahmed, T. and Ali, M.A., 2015. Meteorological and seasonal influences in
ambient air quality parameters of Dhaka city. Journal of Civil Engineering (IEB), 43(1), pp.67-77.
[4] Afrin, T., Ali, M.A., Rahman, S.M., and Wadud, Z. (2012). Development of a Grid-Based Emission
Inventory and a Source-Receptor Model for Dhaka City, The U.S. EPA's International Emissions
Inventory Conference Hyatt Regency in Tampa, Florida, USA.
[5]Randall, S., Sivertsen, B, Ahammad, S.S, and Cruz, N. (2014). Modeled Concentrations of Criteria
Air Pollutants in Dhaka and Chittagong, Bangladesh Air Pollution Studies (BAPS), Kjeller (NILU OR
46/2014)
[6] U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (2005). Revision to the Guideline on Air Quality Models:
Adoption of a Preferred General Purpose (Flat and Complex Terrain) Dispersion Model and Other
Revisions (Vol. 70, No. 216, pp. 68218-68261), Rules and Regulations, Federal Register, November 9.
[7] Ahmed, S., and Hossain, I. (2008), Applicability of air pollution modeling in a cluster of Brickfields
in Bangladesh, pp. 28-34, Chemical Engineering Research Bulletin 12.
[8] U.S. Environmental Protection Agency(2003). Comparison of regulatory design concentrations:
AERMOD vs ISCST3, CTDMPLUS, ISC-PRIME. Publication No. EPA-454/R-03-002. Office of Air
Quality Planning and Standards, Research Triangle Park, NC.
[9] U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (2017). Revisions to the Guideline on Air Quality Models:
Enhancements to the AERMOD Dispersion Modeling System and Incorporation of Approaches to
Address Ozone and Fine Particulate Matter (Vol. 82, No. 10, pp. 5182-5235), Rules and Regulations,
Federal Register, January 17.
[10] U.S. Environmental Protection Agency(2016). User’s Guide for the AERMOD Meteorological
Preprocessor (AERMET). Publication No. EPA–454/B–16–010. Office of Air Quality Planning and
Standards, Research Triangle Park, NC.
[11] U.S. Environmental Protection Agency(2016). User’s Guide for the AMS/EPA Regulatory Model
(AERMOD). Publication No. EPA–454/B–16–011. Office of Air Quality Planning and Standards,
Research Triangle Park, NC.
[12] U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, 2016. User’s Guide for the AERMOD Terrain Preprocessor
(AERMAP). Publication No. EPA–454/B–16–012. Office of Air Quality Planning and Standards,
Research Triangle Park, NC.
12. List of courses so far taken with course no, name of the courses, credit hours, Grade, Grade
Points and G.P.A. (To be verified and signed by the Tabulator)

Grad
Course Credi Grad e G.P.A
No. Course Name t e Point .
CE 6304 Theory of Sewage Treatment 3.00 A 3.50
CE 6310 Industrial Water and Waste Treatment 3.00 B+ 3.00
CE 6315 Water Supply Engineering and Design 3.00 A+ 4.00
3.4167
CE 6333 Air Pollution 3.00 A+ 4.00
CE 6319 Environmental Management 3.00 B+ 3.0
CE 6327 Aquatic Chemistry for Environmental Engineers 3.00 B+ 3.0

Signature of the Tabulator: _________________________

13. Cost Estimate: (Invoice/Quotation must be provided forEach and every item which cost Tk.
10,000/- and more)
a) Cost ofMeteorologicalData (to be purchased from www.weblakes.com):
‘MM5 AERMET Ready’ Type Met Data for 1 year 25,000 TK
b) Typing, drafting, binding and paper etc: 6,000Tk
Total cost: 31,000Tk
14. Approximate time (in hour) for BUET workshop facilities (if required): Not Applicable
15. Justification of having Co-Supervisor: Not Applicable
16. Doctoral Committee/BPGS/RAC reference:
Meeting no. _______________ Resolution No.______________ Date:____________
17. Time extension (if any) up to: Not Applicable
Approved by CASR Meeting No. __X___ Resolution No. __X___ Date:_____X_____
18. Appointment of Supervisor & Co-Supervisor Approved by CASR Meeting No. (For Ph.D.):-
NotApplicable; Resolution No. ___X___; Date:___X____
19. Appointment of Doctoral Committee Approved by CASR Meeting No. (For Ph.D.):- Not
Applicable; Resolution No. ___X____; Date:___X____.
20. Result of the Comprehensive Examination for Ph.D. (Photocopy of the result should be
enclosed) Date: Not Applicable
21. Number of Post-Graduate Student(s) working with the Supervisor at Present: 4 (four)

Names and signatures of the members of the

Doctoral Committee (if Applicable)

_______________
Signature of the Student

_________________
Signature of the Supervisor

___________________
Signature of the Head