Air Resource Management in the Chicago Metropolitan Area

This paper discusses the approach used by the City of Chicago to encourage the implementation of an air resource management program in the metropolitan area. It explores the many facets that were helpful in designing and implementing the City of Chicago’s Five-Year Air Resource Management Program and the progress to date. Also highlighted is the social geography of the metropolitan area and the relationship of population growth and rapid industrial expansion to the area’s air pollution problem. Existing control programs in the Chicago Metropolitan Area are reviewed and are used to document the various elements essential for the success of an air resource management program. These include the Chicago Program, the Cook County Program, the State of Illinois Program and the Interstate Program between Illinois and Indiana. The authors devote considerable discussion to the methodology used to develop an air resource management program, including selection of goals, design of organization, technical development, definition of sources and effects, systems approach, and long- and short-range objectives. The importance of a public information and education program and its relationship to various segments of community leadership are also covered in this paper     

Hazardous Air Pollutants from Mobile Sources in the Metropolitan Area of Mexico City

Abstract

Environmental agencies are currently in the process of implementing a new air management program, which includes the improvement of fuel quality. In this work, exhaust emissions data and estimated relative risk for various fuels testing in-use vehicles, equipped with three different exhaust emission control technologies, are presented. Aromatics, sulfur, and olefins contents; type of oxygenated compound; and Reid vapor pressure were varied. The aim also includes calculating the ozone (O₃)of forming potential and a relative cancer risk of emissions from current and formulated gasoline blends in Mexico. The proposed gasoline decreases carbon monoxide, total hydrocarbons (THC), and nitrogen oxides emissions by 18 and 14%, respectively, when compared with gasoline sold in the rest of the country and within ozone nonattainment metropolitan areas in Mexico, respectively.     

Evaluation of Canisters for Measuring Emissions of Volatile Organic Air Pollutants from Hazardous Waste Incineration

Regulation to control air emissions of toxic organic compounds require the collection and analysis of effluent gas from low level sources such as hazardous waste incinerators. The standard SW- 846 Method specifies the use of Tenax and Tenax/charcoal adsorbent traps for collection of volatile organics from incinerators. This study evaluates passivated stainless steel canisters as an alternative to adsorbent traps to eliminate some of the problems associated with adsorbent sampling. Initially the stability of 18 nonpolar, volatile organic compounds was determined in Summa-treated stainless steel canisters with greater than 100 ppmv HCI and saturated with water vapor. All 18 components were stable for a twoweek period; however, an Interference caused a 10-fold increase In the FID response of trlchloroethylene, toluene, and chlorobenzene. No Interference of the ECD response was found for any of the 11 compounds detected with the ECD including trlchloroethylene. A pilot scale incinerator was sampled using canisters, and the destruction efficiency of 1,1,1-trichloroethane was determined at a concentration of less than 0.5 ppbv while determining 1,1-dichloroethylene, the major product of Incomplete combustion, at a concentration of 8000 ppbv from the same sample.     

Simulating Urban-Scale Air Pollutants and Their Predicting Capabilities over the Seoul Metropolitan Area

Abstract

Urban-scale air pollutants for sulfur dioxide, nitrogen dioxide, particulate matter with aerodynamic diameter >10 μm, and ozone (O₃) were simulated over the Seoul metropolitan area, Korea, during the period of July 2-11, 2002, and their predicting capabilities were discussed. The Air Pollution Model (TAPM) and the highly disaggregated anthropogenic and the biogenic gridded emissions (1 km × 1 km) recently prepared by the Korean Ministry of Environment were applied. Wind fields with observational nudging in the prognostic meteorological model TAPM are optionally adopted to comparatively examine the meteorological impact on the prediction capabilities of urban-scale air pollutants. The result shows that the simulated concentrations of secondary air pollutant largely agree with observed levels with an index of agreement (IOA) of >0.6, whereas IOAs of ～0.4 are found for most primary pollutants in the major cities, reflecting the quality of emission data in the urban area. The observationally nudged wind fields with higher IOAs have little effect on the prediction for both primary and secondary air pollutants, implying that the detailed wind field does not consistently improve the urban air pollution model performance if emissions are not well specified. However, the robust highest concentrations are better described toward observations by imposing observational nudging, suggesting the importance of wind fields for the predictions of extreme concentrations such as robust highest concentrations, maximum levels, and >90th percentiles of concentrations for both primary and secondary urban-scale air pollutants.     

Some Heavy-Metal Pollutants in the Air of Naples

ABSTRACT

In this paper, assumptions regarding future land use as a key uncertainty is considered and its impact on risk analysis for contaminated sites is assessed. Risks are assessed for two land use scenarios (current-use industrial and future-use residential) using probabilistic models that incorporate uncertainty and variability in the exposure parameters. Residual risks are calculated for both industrial and residential cleanup standards. A Superfund site in northern California is considered.

In general, for the unremediated case, the future-use residential scenarios produce larger risks (1 to 3 orders of magnitude) than current- (continued) use industrial scenarios. For the Superfund site studied, the residual risks calculated for the remedy selected was not sufficiently protective of future-use residents in that it did not meet .S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) risk goals, but was protective of current-use workers, even though the cleanup criteria were based on residential use. Alternative risk management practices, such as deed restrictions, can be used in such cases.     

Gaseous Sulfur Pollutants from Urban and Natural Sources

Major aspects of the circulation through the atmospheric environment of sulfur pollutants have been estimated, including source magnitudes, residual atmospheric concentrations, and scavenging processes. The compounds considered include SO₂ and H₂S, as well as sulfates. One-third of the sulfur reaching the atmosphere comes from pollutant sources, mainly as SO₂. Within the atmosphere there is a net transfer of sulfur from land to ocean areas. Pollutant sources annually amount to 73 × 10⁶ tons as sulfur while natural sources amount to 142 × 10⁶ tons, mainly as H₂S and sulfate sea spray. More than two thirds of the natural and pollutant sulfur emissions occur in the northern hemisphere. When only pollutant emissions are considered, 93 per cent occur in the northern hemisphere.     

Outdoor-Indoor Levels of Six Air Pollutants

Comparisons were made of the levels of six air pollutants—total oxidant, per-oxyacetyl nitrate (PAN), nitric oxide, nitrogen dioxide, carbon monoxide, and particulate matter—outside and inside 11 buildings in the South Coast Basin of California during summer and fall.

Total oxidant levels inside depend upon how much outside air is being brought in and the residence time in the structure. With rapid intake and circulation, levels inside may be two-thirds those outside. With little intake and slow circulation, amounts inside decay to near zero. PAN is more persistent in buildings because it is more stable than ozone but also decays to low levels over an extended period. Oxides of nitrogen and CO are much more stable than oxidant or PAN and when carried into buildings remain until diluted or exhausted.

Particulate matter levels indoors depend largely upon velocity of air movement. Indoor areas where foot traffic was light or which had low ventilation rates had reduced amounts of particulate. Electrostatic precipitators were much more effective than coarse primary filters used in many buildings for removing particulate matter.     

Mesoscale Air Pollution Transport in the Chicago Lake Breeze

A two-day field program in Chicago studied mesoscale pollution transport during typical lake breezes. Streamlines calculated from serial pibal data suggest that a nearly closed circulation cell traps pollutants emitted near a shore line. Optically tracked tetroons confirm the helical trajectory of air within the lake breeze regime. Pollutants released within the inflow layer move inland, rise in a narrow zone of updrafts (100 cm/sec) at the lake breeze front, advect lakeward in the return flow layer aloft, and then subside back down into the inflow layer. Pollution then fumigates back to the surface as the air returns inland a second time causing concentrations higher than would otherwise be expected. Spectral aerosol measurements (0.5-3.0 and 7.0-9.0 micrometer size ranges) made by an instrumented aircraft reveal a marked particle size sorting.     

Evaluation of risks from urban air pollutants in the southeast Chicago area

Region V of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has conducted a comprehensive study of cancer risks from urban exposure to air pollutants in the Southeast Chicago area. This study estimated emissions of a list of 30 air carcinogens from a broad range of nontraditional, as well as traditional, source types. Using dispersion modeling and applying the appropriate unit risk factors and population data, this study estimated the risks at each receptor location and the total number of cancer cases attributable to air pollution in the area. This analysis estimated that current concentrations would cause 77 cases of cancer over the next 70 years, an average risk of 2.0 X 10(-4). Contributions from different source types and different pollutants were estimated. The total contribution from nontraditional source types was less than 0.3 percent. Although these estimates are highly uncertain, the study does suggest the nature and general magnitude of cancer risks from air pollution in the urban area studied.     

Measurement of Toxic and Related Air Pollutants

A joint conference for the fifth straight year cosponsored by the Air & Waste Management Association’s EM-3, EM-4, and ITF-2 technical committees, and the Atmospheric Research and Exposure Assessment Laboratory (AREAL) of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, was held in Raleigh, North Carolina, May 1–4, 1990. The technical program consisted of 187 presentations, held in 20 technical sessions, on recent advances in the measurement and monitoring of toxic and related pollutants found in ambient and source atmospheres. Covering a wide range of measurement topics and supported by 66 exhibitors of instrumentation and consulting services, the symposium was attended by more than 850 professionals from the United States and other countries. This overview highlights a selection of the technical presentations. A synopsis of the keynote address to the symposium is also included.     

Recording the Response of Plants to Various Air Pollutants

A discussion of the methods used to determine the most economic design of chimney for a new thermal power station or large industrial plant is presented, with the objective that ground level concentration of pollutants will be kept at a minimum. Attention is paid to the geography and climatology of the site, with special reference to the frequency and height of inversions and the prevailing wind direction and speed.

A method is illustrated in using a large thermal power station as an example. The maximum sulfur dioxide concentrations at ground level are computed for several chimney heights and gas exit velocities. The values of these sulfur dioxide concentrations, the capital cost of the chimney, the pumping costs, and the gas pressures within the chimney are considered in selecting a suitable chimney height and a gas exit velocity which will meet most economically the stated objective.

The paper deals primarily with chimneys for industrial or power boiler plant of maximum continuous rating greater than 450 million Btu/hr (about 450,000 lbs of steam/hr), or to chimneys serving furnaces burning fuel at a maximum rate greater than 50,000 lbs/hr of coal, or 80,000 lbs/hr of oil. For chimneys serving plant with smaller heat inputs, chimney selection by reference to Clean Air Act 1956, Memorandum on Chimney Heights is suggested.     

Air Quality Modeling of Interpollutant Trading for Ozone Precursors in an Urban Area

Abstract

Emission trading is a market‐based approach designed to improve the efficiency and economic viability of emission control programs; emission trading has typically been confined to trades among single pollutants. Interpollutant trading (IPT), as described in this work, allows for trades among emissions of different compounds that affect the same air quality end point, in this work, ambient ozone (O₃) concentrations. Because emissions of different compounds impact air quality end points differently, weighting factors or trading ratios (tons of emissions of nitrogen oxides (NO_x) equivalent to a ton of emissions of volatile organic compounds [VOCs]) must be developed to allow for IPT. In this work, IPT indices based on reductions in O₃ concentrations and based on reductions in population exposures to O₃ were developed and evaluated using a three‐dimensional gridded photochemical model for Austin, TX, a city currently on the cusp of nonattainment with the National Ambient Air Quality Standards for O₃ concentrations averaged over 8 hr. Emissions of VOC and NO_x from area and mobile sources in Austin are larger than emissions from point sources. The analysis indicated that mobile and area sources exhibited similar impacts. Trading ratios based on maximum O₃ concentration or population exposure were similar. In contrast, the trading ratios did exhibit significant (more than a factor of two) day‐to‐day variability. Analysis of the air quality modeling indicated that the daily variability in trading ratios could be attributed to daily variations in both emissions and meteorology.     

A Study of the Statistical Distribution of Chemical Pollutants in Air

The statistical distribution of air pollutants in Sofia has been investigated. It was established that the distribution is not normal. Application of logarithmic transformation brings the distributions closer to the log-normal, but does not completely normalize them. All of the distributions have considerable skewness and excess which remain after the logarithmic transformation.     

Optimization of Height of Release of Air Pollutants

A number of key projects in the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) particulate R&;D program having applicability to industry are presented. For electrostatic precipitators (ESP) there is presented the result of work on large diameter discharge electrodes which provide a decrease in penetration of up to a factor of 4 when compared to conventional small diameter electrodes. Also discussed is the multistage ESP which provides a collection efficiency that would require a collecting plate area 4 or 5 times larger with conventional ESP technology. The E-SOX technology makes use of the multistage concept to free up space in the ESP for SO₂ removals of up to 90%. Electrostatically augmented fabric filtration provides a reduction in pressure drop of about 5 0% as compared to conventional fabric filtration. Wind tunnel modeling of windbreaks for material storage piles indicates a potential for providing engineering design data that would allow significant emission reduction caused by wind erosion