Air Quality Engineering

Module Notes
Faculty Member (Members):
Postgraduate, Spring Semester
Module Type: Specialization Courses
Teaching Language: English/Greek
Course Code: GCHM_C651
ECTS Credits: 8
Module Availability on Erasmus Students: No
Module Details

Learning of how to apply the principles of chemical engineering (classical and chemical thermodynamics, chemical kinetics, fluid mechanics, mass and heat transfer) to improve air quality.

Students in the end of the class should be able to:

  • Use mass balances for the study of air pollution in any scale (from local to global)
  • Calculate and use the average lifetime and average transport time of every air pollutant to estimate the scale of influence of its sources
  • Use the basic principles of ozone formation chemistry and the corresponding tools (ozone isopleths, reactivities of volatile organic compounds) to design strategies for the reduction of ozone levels
  • Calculate the effect of clouds in the distribution of pollutants between the gas and aqueous phase and their role in the production of secondary pollutants
  • Calculate the distribution of the various inorganic components of atmospheric aerosols between the gas and particulate phases
  • Quantify the production rates of secondary organic particulate matter and the distribution of the corresponding semi-volatile components between the gas and particulate phases
  • Calculate the rates of wet deposition of pollutants and the effect of rain on the lifetime of gaseous and particulate pollutants
  • Estimate the influence of changes in emissions rates of pollutants in one area on the concentrations of primary and secondary pollutants of another area

Students should be able in the end of the semester to:

  • Use mass balances for the study of air pollution in all scales (from local to global).
  • Estimate and use the mean lifetime and the mean transport time of each pollutant to estimate the range of influence of its sources.
  • Use the basic principles of ozone chemistry and the corresponding tools (ozone isopleths diagram, incremental reactivities of volatile organic compounds) to design control strategies for the reduction of ozone levels.
  • Estimate the effect of clouds in the partitioning of pollutants between the gas and aqueous phases and in the production of secondary pollutants.
  • Estimate the distribution of inorganic components of particulate matter between the gas and particle phases.
  • Estimate the production rates of secondary organic particulate matter and the distribution of the corresponding compounds between the gas and particulate phases.
  • Estimate the rates of wet deposition and the effect of rain on the lifetime of gaseous and particulate pollutants.
  • Estimate the effect of changes of emissions on the concentrations of pollutants in a specific area.

1. Seinfeld J. H. and Pandis S. N., Atmospheric Chemistry: Air Pollution to Global Change, 2nd edition, John Wiley and Sons, New York, 2006.
2. Finlayson-Pitts B. J. and J. N. Pitts, Chemistry of the Upper and Lower Atmosphere, Academic Press, 1999.
3. Jacobson M. Z., Fundamentals of Atmospheric Modeling, Cambridge University Press, 1999.
Introductory
4. Jacobson M. Z., Atmospheric Pollution: History, Science, and Regulation, Cambridge University Press, 2002.
5. Turco R. P., Earth under Siege: From Air Pollution to Global Change, Oxford University Press, 1997.
6. Briblecombe P., Air Composition & Chemistry, Cambridge University Press, 1996.
7. Jacob D. J., Introduction to Atmospheric Chemistry, Princeton Press, 1999.
Technology
8. Cooper C. D. and F. C. Alley, Έλεγχος Αέριας Ρύπανσης, Εκδόσεις Τζιόλα, 2004.
9. Flagan R. C. and J. H. Seinfeld, Fundamentals of Air Pollution Engineering, Prentice, 1998.
10. Heinsohn R. J. and R. L. Kabel, Sources and Control of Air Pollution, Prentice Hall, 1999.

The final grade is 30% of the grade of homeworks, 20% of the midterm exam, and 50% of the grade of the final exam.