Scribd
Upload
26 views35 pages

Air Quality Measurement Techniques

This document discusses various methods for measuring air quality, including measuring emissions from stationary and mobile sources. It also describes measuring meteorological factors that influence pollutant transport and ambient air quality using different types of monitors. The document outlines active sampling methods using pumps and different devices like flasks, syringes and bags. It also discusses integrated and diffusive sampling techniques using liquid and solid sorbents like charcoal to collect gases and vapors over time. Particulate matter measurement and biomonitoring using organisms as bioindicators are also summarized.

Uploaded by

Rajith Akalanka Perera
Copyright
© All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
Available Formats
Download as PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
26 views35 pages

Air Quality Measurement Techniques

This document discusses various methods for measuring air quality, including measuring emissions from stationary and mobile sources. It also describes measuring meteorological factors that influence pollutant transport and ambient air quality using different types of monitors. The document outlines active sampling methods using pumps and different devices like flasks, syringes and bags. It also discusses integrated and diffusive sampling techniques using liquid and solid sorbents like charcoal to collect gases and vapors over time. Particulate matter measurement and biomonitoring using organisms as bioindicators are also summarized.

Uploaded by

Rajith Akalanka Perera
Copyright
© All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
Available Formats
Download as PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd

Measurement of Air Quality

Measurement of emissions
This is called stack sampling when a stationary
source is analyzed.

Samples are drawn out through a hole or vent in


the stack for on-the-spot analyses. Mobile
sources like automobiles are tested by sampling
exhaust emissions while the engine is running
and working against a load.
Meteorological measurements.
The measurement of meteorological factors
• wind speed
• wind direction
• lapse rates etc
- necessary to determine how pollutants
travel from source to recipient.
Measurement of ambient air quality
Ambient air quality is measured by a variety of
monitors.

Almost all evidence of the health effects of air


pollution is based on correlation of these
effects with measured ambient air quality.
Air Sampling
1. Grab sampling
An actual sample of air is taken in a flask,
bottle, bag or other suitable container

2. Continuous / Integrated sampling


gases or vapours are removed from the air
over a measured time-period and
concentrated by passage through a solid or
liquid sorbent.
During integrated sampling,
the gas or vapour is collected from air by

a) solution in a liquid,
b) reaction with a solution (or reagent therein), or
c) collection onto a solid sorbent
Active
ie with a sampling pump

Integrated
sampling

Diffusive or
Passive
Selection of sampling devices and
Analytical procedure

Literature MDHS
NIOSH
Manual of Analytical Methods
Grab samplers

Evacuated flasks
Hypodermic syringes

Syringes of 10 to 50 ml volume have been found


satisfactory for air sampling.
They are available in glass and disposable plastic.
Gas and vapour storage and decay curves for these
devices must be determined.
Advantages are their low cost, convenience, and
ease of use.
ACTIVE SAMPLERS
Liquid sorbents
Four basic types of sampler using liquid sorbents
for the collection of gases and vapours

1. Simple gas washing bottles


2. Spiral and helical sorbers
3. Fritted bubblers
4. Glass-bead columns
Packed glass-bead columns

used for special situations where a concentrated solution


is needed.
Glass pearl beads are wetted with the liquid sorbent and
provide a large surface area for the collection of a
sample.
The method is especially useful when the liquid
sorbent is very viscous
Cold traps

Cold traps are used for collecting materials in


liquid or solid form primarily for qualitative analysis.

Vapour is separated from air by passing it through a coil


immersed in a cooling system,
eg dry ice and acetone, liquid air, or liquid nitrogen.
Plastic sampling bags
Solid sorbents

Charcoal

Activated charcoal is an excellent sorbent for


most organic vapours. The relative ease with
which organic vapours can be extracted from
activated charcoal by
carbon disulfide and be analysed subsequently by
GC
DIFFUSIVE SAMPLERS

capable of taking samples of gas or vapour


pollutants from the atmosphere at a rate
controlled by a physical process such as
diffusion through a static air layer or
permeation through a membrane,
but which does not involve the active movement
of the air through the sampler.
MEASUREMENT OF PARTICULATE MATTER
Biomonitoring

“A method of observing the impact of


external factors on ecosystems and their
development over a long period, or of
ascertaining differences between one
location and another”

B. Markert, O. Wappelhorst, V. Weckert, U. Herpin, U. Siewers, K. Friese, G. Breulmann,


Journal of Radioanalytical and Nuclear Chemistry,1999,240,425-429
Bioindicators
“Organisms or communities of
organisms which react to
environmental factors by changing
their vital function and/or their
chemical composition thus permitting
to infer the state of their environment"
Ex. Lichens, mosses etc.

K. Andreas, G. Klumpp, European Network for the assessment of air quality by


the use of bioindicator plants, 2004,15-30

You might also like