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    2H2    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    2H
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 106 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