Week 3 Flashcards
What are air pollutants ?
Substances which adversely impact environment by harming physiology of plants, animals, and ecosystems
What are greenhouse gases?
Gases which absorb radiation and interfere with radiation balance - climate impacted
What are natural pollutants?
Ones which come from nature
What are anthropogenic pollutants?
Ones which are manmade
What are emissions units? What is the emissions rate units? What needs to happen to emissions for them to be concentrations? How are they normalised?
Units : kg
Rate : kg/s
Need to disperse in atmosphere
By distance (kg/km) or by energy (kg/kWh)
What are concentration units? How does concentration occur? How are air quality regulations set? What is the mixing ratio units?
ug/m3
Result of emissions and atmosphere pollutants mixing
Regulations set by average concentrations
Mixing ratio in ppm
What is the mass concentration?
Mass of pollutant per m3 of air
What is the mixing ratio?
Moles of pollutant per moles of air (can be volume instead)
Common units are ppm or %
What are primary pollutants?
Pollutants emitted from source (NOx or particulates)
What are secondary pollutants?
Formed when primary pollutants react in atmosphere
- NO2 from NO and O
- Ozone from hydrocarbons and NOx combining
What are transport sources of particulates ? What are climate and health impacts?
Transport source - incomplete combustion making soot (made of black carbon (<100nm diam), organic carbon from lubrication oils/unburned carbon from fuel, and sulphuric acid as SO2 oxidised to SO4- and taken up by water)
Brake wear releasing metal compounds
Tyre/road wear
Climate impacts : less visibility
Health impacts: increased risk of heart disease or lung cancer
What are the sizes of particulates in micrometers ? What’s notable about PM 2.5?
<=10um (coarse), <=2.5 (fine) greatest impact on airways, <=0.1 (ultra fine) - greatest damage on alveolar region of lungs, deeply embedded
PM 2.5 exposure correlated to mortality and morbidity
What are nitrogen oxides made of?
Nitric oxide (NO)
Nitrogen dioxide (NO2) - has strongest impacts
How is NOx reported on mass scale?
All NO mass assumed to be in terms of NO2
Mass NOx - mass NO2 + mass NO*(molecular weight(NO2)/molecular weight(NO))
MW NO2- 46g/mol
MW NO- 30g/mol
How are NO and NO2 made?
Thermal mechanism
Oxygen dissociates (O2-> O+O)
At high temperatures N2 and O react (N2+O -> NO+N)
N+O2-> NO+O
2NO + O2-> 2NO2