Dr.
Kamilia Ahmed Kamal
Email:kamilia_e@[Link]
Department of Chemical Engineering,
The Egyptian Academy for Engineering and
advanced Technology (EAE&AT)
Ozone Depletion
Ozone Depletion: What
Causes Depletion?
GM Chemist discovered
Chlorofluorocarbons in
1930 (CFCs) …also known
as freon:
• Very stable
• Nontoxic
• Noncorrosive
• Inexpensive
“Dream Chemical”
CFCs used for:
• Coolant in refrigerators
and air conditioners.
• Propellant in aerosol
sprays.
• Cleaner for electronics.
Bubbles in plastic foams.
• Insulations.
1) CFCs remain stable in
troposphere due to un
reactivity.
2) Over 11-20 years they
get lifted into stratosphere
by convection and drift.
3) Once in stratosphere they
break down by UV rays
releasing highly reactive
chlorine atoms (with
others) that in a chain
reaction break apart
ozone.
4) Each CFC molecule lasts in stratosphere for 65-385
years can convert 100,000 of O3 to O2 during that time.
Ozone Depleting Chemicals
▪ Chlorofluorocarbons(CFCs)
▪ Methyl bromide
▪ Carbon tetrachloride
▪ Methyl chloroform
▪ Hydrogen chloride
Loss of the Ozone Layer: Reasons for Concern
➢ Increased incidence and severity of sunburn.
➢ Increase in eye cataracts.
➢ Increased incidence of skin cancer.
➢ Immune system suppression Increase in acid
deposition.
➢ Lower crop yields and decline in productivity.
Portage Glacier
Colorado River
Why does the atmosphere trap heat?
The atmosphere is the air around
the surface of the earth. It is made
from a mixture of gases.
Some of the gases act like a
blanket, trapping heat. These gases
are called ‘greenhouse gases’.
This is known as the ‘Natural
Greenhouse Effect’. Without it,
the earth would be much colder.
So why is global warming happening?
Some things that people do are increasing the amounts of
the greenhouse gases in the atmosphere, so more heat is
trapped.
The heating of the earth through human activities is called
the ‘Enhanced Greenhouse Effect’ and this is causing
the earth to heat up, or global warming.
Global warming doesn’t just mean that the earth gets
hotter, it means that the whole climate is changing.
Which gases in the atmosphere trap heat?
Dirty Air Removal or Emission Control?
Let’s remember some conversion factors
Example 1
• The area of the Los Angeles basin is 4,083 square miles.
The heavily polluted air layer is assumed to be 2,000 ft
thick on average.
• One solution to Los Angeles’ problems would be to
pump this contaminated air away.
• Suppose that we wish to pump out the Los Angeles
basin every day and that the air must be pumped 50
miles to the desert near palm springs. Assume also that
the average velocity in the pipe is 40 ft/s. Estimate the
required pipe diameter.
Solution:
• The flow rate required is
• The required pipe diameter is
• This is about six times the height of the tallest man-
made structure, and far beyond our current structural
engineering capabilities.
• Therefore, we are unlikely to solve our air pollution
problems by pumping away the polluted air.
• Instead, we must deal with those problems by
reducing emissions.
• Engineers recognize that there is not “ one ” air
pollution problem but a group of related
problems.
• There are six major individual pollutants listed
in the next table (PM10, SO2, CO, NOx, VOC, Pb).
• Some of the pollutants come mostly from
transportation (motor vehicles) and others come
mostly from industrial sources.
• A significant progress in reducing emissions of lead
mostly by taking lead out of gasoline and modest
progress in reducing emissions of the other major
pollutants has been observed from 1970 to 1997.
• The air pollutant emissions situation can be roughly
approximated by:
(Air pollutant emissions)
=population.(economic activity per person)
.(pollutant emissions per unit of economic activity)
• CO and NO are primary pollutants, emitted mostly by
automobiles, their peak concentrations occur during the
MORNING commute period.
• NO3 and O3 are secondary pollutants formed in the
atmosphere by a complex set of reactions, summarized
as:
NO + HC + 2.5O2 + sunlight → NO3 + O3 (1)
• The peak concentration of NO2 occurs before the peak
for O3 because the reaction sequence, which is much
more complex than the simplification in Eq. (1), forms
NO2 first, then O3.
• The CO concentration peak does not decline as rapidly
as the NO peak because the CO concentration is reduced
only by atmospheric mixing and dilution whereas the NO
concentration is reduced by dilution and mixing and by
the chemical reaction in Eq. (1).
The AFTERNOON commute also produces increases in
NO and CO, but the measured concentrations are not as
large as the morning peaks because the average wind
speed is higher and the atmospheric mixing is stronger in
the afternoon than in the morning.
Note that:
▪ A concentration expressed in parts per million (ppm) is
almost always ppm by volume or by mol if it is
concentration in a gas, and ppm by mass or weight if it
is concentration in a liquid or solid.
▪ When standard conditions for a gas are referred to,
there seems to be only one choice for pressure, the
standard atmosphere (1 atm).
▪ Throughout this course, unless stated otherwise, air
and process gases are assumed to be at 1 standard
atmosphere and 20℃ (= 68oF).