The document discusses how the stability of the atmosphere affects the dispersion of pollutants. It analyzes different atmospheric stability scenarios and how they influence pollutant dispersion, such as stable, unstable and neutral conditions. It also examines different plume behaviors like looping, coning, fanning and fumigation that can occur under varying stability and wind conditions.
The document discusses how the stability of the atmosphere affects the dispersion of pollutants. It analyzes different atmospheric stability scenarios and how they influence pollutant dispersion, such as stable, unstable and neutral conditions. It also examines different plume behaviors like looping, coning, fanning and fumigation that can occur under varying stability and wind conditions.
The document discusses how the stability of the atmosphere affects the dispersion of pollutants. It analyzes different atmospheric stability scenarios and how they influence pollutant dispersion, such as stable, unstable and neutral conditions. It also examines different plume behaviors like looping, coning, fanning and fumigation that can occur under varying stability and wind conditions.
The document discusses how the stability of the atmosphere affects the dispersion of pollutants. It analyzes different atmospheric stability scenarios and how they influence pollutant dispersion, such as stable, unstable and neutral conditions. It also examines different plume behaviors like looping, coning, fanning and fumigation that can occur under varying stability and wind conditions.
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Dispersion of pollutants
LAPSE RATE Stability and Lapse rate • Important characteristic of atmosphere is ability to resist vertical motion: stability • Affects ability to disperse pollutants • Comparison of Γ to actual environment lapse rate indicates stability of atmosphere • Degree of stability is a measure of the ability of the atmosphere to disperse pollutants • Determines if rising parcel of air will rise high enough Atmospheric Stability • Affects dispersion of pollutants • Temperature/elevation relationship principal determinant of atmospheric stability • Stable – Little vertical mixing – Pollutants emitted near surface tend to stay there • 4 common scenarios ATMOSPHERIC STABILITY • The ability of the atmosphere to disperse the pollutants emitted in to it depends to a large extent on the degree of stability. A comparison of the adiabatic lapse rate with the environmental lapse rate gives an idea of stability of the atmosphere. • When the environmental lapse rate (-dT/dz.) Env is greater than the dry adiabatic lapse rate,Γthe atmosphere is said to be super adiabatic. • Since vertical motion is enhanced by buoyancy, such an atmosphere is called unstable. In the unstable atmosphere the air from different altitudes mixes thoroughly. • This is very desirable from the point of view of preventing pollution, since the effluents will be rapidly dispersed through out atmosphere ATMOSPHERIC STABILITY • When the environmental lapse rate is less than the dry adiabatic lapse rate, the lapse rate is said to be sub adiabatic. • Under stable condition their is very little vertical mixing and pollutants can only disperse very slowly. • As result, their levels can build up very rapidly in the environment. • When the ambient lapse rate and the dry adiabatic lapse rate are exactly the same, the atmosphere has neutral stability DLR and WLR • Dry air cools at about 10 C/km (the 'dry adiabatic lapse rate'), while moist air usually cools at less than 6 C/km ('moist adiabatic lapse rate'). DLR and WLR In this first example we assume the environmental lapse rate is 4o C/km. This is the left column of figures in the figure above. The next two columns show the temperature inside rising parcels of unsaturated (green) and saturated (orange) air (they cool at 10o C/km and 6o C/km, respectively).
The parcel curves (green and red) lie to the left of and below the purple, environment, curve. Rising parcels of unsaturated or saturated air will both end up colder and denser than the surrounding environmental air. The atmosphere is absolutely stable in this situation. DLR and WLR
• Now, because the atmosphere is cooling so
quickly with increasing altitude, lifted parcels of both unsaturated and saturated air end up warmer and less dense than the surrounding air. • Both the orange and green curve lie above and to the right of the purple curve on the graph. When released these parcels will continue to rise on their own. The atmosphere is absolutely unstable in this case. ATMOSPHERIC STABILITY ATMOSPHERIC STABILITY ATMOSPHERIC STABILITY INVERSION
• Usually, within the lower atmosphere (the
troposphere) the air near the surface of the Earth is warmer than the air above it, largely because the atmosphere is heated from below as solar radiation warms the Earth's surface, which in turn then warms the layer of the atmosphere directly above it • an inversion is a deviation from the normal change of an atmospheric property with altitude. RADIATION INVERSION • The surface of the earth cools down at night by radiating energy toward space.
• As the ground cools, the temperature of the air in
contact with the ground also drops.
• Temperature of this air just above the ground becomes
colder than the air above it, creating an inversion.
• As the evening progresses, the inversion extends to a
higher and higher elevation, reaching perhaps a few hundred meters before the morning sun warms the ground again, breaking up the inversion Inversion • Subsidence Inversion? Classification of plume behavior
Looping: it occurs under super adiabatic conditions with light to moderate wind speeds on a hot summer after noon when large scale thermal eddies are present.
The eddies carry portion of a plume to the ground level for
short time periods, causing momentary high surface concentration of pollutants near the stack.
Thus the plume moves about vertically and the exhaust gases disperse rapidly Classification of plume behavior
Coning: It occurs under cloudy skies both during day and night. The plume shape is vertically symmetrical about the plume line and the major part of the pollutant concentration is carried down -wind fairly far before reaching the ground level Classification of plume behavior
Fanning: occurs when the plume is dispersed in the presence of very light winds as a result of strong atmospheric inversions.
The stable lapse rate suppresses the vertical mixing, but
not the horizontal mixing entirely
For high stacks, fanning is considered a favorable
meteorological condition because the plume does not contribute to ground pollution Classification of plume behavior
Fumigation: A stable layer of air lies a short distance above the release point of the plume and the unstable air layer lies below the plume .
This unstable layer of air causes the pollutant to mix down -wind toward the ground in large lumps, but fortunately this condition is usually of short duration lasting for about 30 minutes .
Fumigation is favored by clear skies and light winds, and
it is more common in the summer seasons
Most dangerous plume: contaminants are all coming down to
ground level. Classification of plume behavior
Lofting : The condition for lofting plume are the inverse of those for fumigation , the pollutants are dispersed vigorously on the up ward direction and a barrier to the movement of the pollutants towards the ground Trapping ????
