ENGI 9601: Environmental Pollution

and Mitigation

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 Introduction
• Types of Environmental Pollution
• Environmental System Management
• Materials and Energy Balances
• Environmental Legislations and Regulations
• Mitigation

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 Environment
• Environment: Air, water, land, natural resources, flora and
fauna, and human beings.

Atmosphere (Air)
Physical Hydrosphere (Water)
Lithosphere (Earth)

Environment

Producer
Biological Consumer
Decomposer

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Environment

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 Environmental Pollution
• Environmental pollution: The contamination or undesirable
alteration of the physical, chemical and biological quality of
environment.
• Types of Pollution:

(1) Air pollution (2) Land pollution (3) Water pollution.

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Air, Land, and Water Pollution

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 Top 10 Problems for the Next 50 Years
Professor R. E. Smalley,
Energy & Nanotechnology Conference, Rice University, May 3, 2003.

1. Energy
2. Water
3. Food
4. Environment
5. Poverty
6. Terrorism & war
7. Disease
8. Education
9. Democracy
10. Population

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 Top 3 Problems for the Next 50 Years

The water, energy and

food nexus:
The securities of these
three are closely linked
to one another, so that
the actions in any one
particular area often can
have effects in the other
areas

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Anthropogenic Environmental Pollution

Materials Materials Materials Materials

Life-
Energy Energy Energy Energy
Cycle
Stages

Raw
Chemical Product Use, Reuse,
Materials
Processing Manufacturing Disposal
Extraction
Pollution Pollution
Control Control
Wastes Wastes Wastes Wastes

Midpoints

global ozone smog acidifi- ecological Human health

warming depletion formation cation harm and ecosystem
damage
Endpoint

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 Evolution of Anthropogenic Environmental Pollution
Antibiotics

Plastic

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 Environmental Pollution Mitigation

Pollution Control Technologies

Soil/
Water Air Groundwater Waste

Drinking Waste Seawater Ground- Organic

Water Water (desalination) water waste

Physical Filtration Filtration Fixation

Adsorption CDI Adsorption

Chemical Chemical oxidation Disinfection Chemical

ISCO
oxidation

Biological Bio (An)aerobic (Phyto-)Bio- Anaerobic

-filtration bioprocess remediation digestion
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 Air
Composition of the
Atmosphere

Materials Energy Cause and Effect Chain

Products

Greenhouse
Chemical gas emissions Climate change; Human mortality
Processing CO2, CH4, N2O sea level change or life adjustments

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 Air Pollution
• Pollutants:
–Smoke from automobile exhaust and burning
–Particulate dust, e.g., asbestos, wood industries, construction
industries, etc.
–Gaseous emissions from industrial wastes
–Noise and vibration, e.g., factories

• Effects:
–health problems (respiratory problems)
–depletion of the ozone layers
–greenhouse effect Global warming Climate change
–acid rain and
–photochemical smog

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 Air Pollution
• Depletion of ozone layer:
–The ozone layer is 2 - 5 mm thick in the stratosphere under normal
temperature and pressure conditions; its thickness varies with the
season, hour of the day, and location.
– Ozone Depletion is when the total ozone layer thickness is < 2.2 mm

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 Air Pollution
• Depletion of ozone layer:
–Ozone layer protects the earth from potentially harmful UV radiation
from the sun.
–Ozone-depleting substances includes chlorine, fluorine, bromine,
carbon, and hydrogen in varying proportions (halocarbons).
–Chlorofluorocarbons from refrigeration, aerosol spray, carbon
tetrachloride, Halons from fire extinguishers, etc.
–These compounds do not break down in the lower atmosphere and
remain in the atmosphere from 20 to 120 years or more.
–An enormous depletion of the ozone layer (referred to as hole) was
experienced in the Arctic region.

Materials Energy Cause and Effect Chain

Products

Chemical Ozone depleting Ozone layer loss Human mortality

Processing substances increase in uv or life adjustments
CFCs, HCFCs ecosystem damage

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 Air Pollution
• Greenhouse effect (Global warming):
–The large amount of greenhouse gases released into the
atmosphere by man’s activities are more than what the plants
can absorb.
–Greenhouse gases:
Carbon from fossil fuels, deforestation, vehicles, forest fires.
Methane from agriculture, and natural decay of vegetation.
Nitrous Oxide from fossil fuels, vehicles,
Chlorofluorocarbons (refrigerants, aerosol spray).
–The unabsorbed gases create an envelope round the earth
which acts as an insulator preventing the infrared rays
reflecting from the earth surface. This cause the global
temperature to rise.
–Effects: Glacier shrinkage and sea level rise.

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17
 Greenhouse Effect
(Global warming)

Materials Energy Cause and Effect Chain

Products

Greenhouse
Chemical gas emissions Climate change; Human mortality
Processing CO2, CH4, N2O sea level change or life adjustments

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 Air Pollution
• Acid rain:
–Acid rain is rain that absorbs gases such as sulphur, lead
and nitrogen compound in the atmosphere as a result of
burning and industrial activities.
–The acidified rain leads to soil acidity which retards
crops growth, wastage of forest and damage to the
fabrics of building.
–Acid water can cause leaching of aluminum which destroys
aquatic life.

Materials Energy Cause and Effect Chain

Products

Chemical SO2 and NOx Acidification rxns. Human/ecological

Processing emission to air & acid deposition damage from H+
and heavy metals

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 Air Pollution
• Smog:
–The term "smog" was first used in London during the early 1900's
to describe the combination of smoke and fog.
–“Smog" is a mixture of pollutants but is primarily made up of
ground-level ozone.
–Ozone can be beneficial or harmful depending on its location.
–The ozone located high above the Earth in the stratosphere
protects human health and the environment, but ground- level
ozone is responsible for the choking, coughing, and stinging eyes
associated with smog.
–Sources of smog-forming pollutants: automobile exhausts, power
plants, factories, and many consumer products (paints, hair spray,
charcoal starter fluid, solvents, and plastic popcorn packaging).
–In urban areas, at least half of the smog precursors come from
cars, buses, trucks, and boats.

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 Land Pollution
• Sources:
–Land is contaminated by chemicals allowed to drain into the
ground, or waste disposed of by indiscriminate burying.
–Other sources of contamination are acid rain,
agrochemicals, refuse, dung and oil spillage.
• Effects:
–Health hazards
–Stunted growth in vegetation
–Loss of topsoil, reduced land use
–Public nuisance, etc.

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 Land Pollution
• Form of Waste:
–Gaseous waste, e.g., waste gas from stack, acid fumes, etc.
–Liquid waste, e.g., industrial effluent, acid waste, waste oil
etc.
–Solid waste, e.g., refuse, cans, plastic, broken glasses,
bottles etc.

• Waste Classification: Domestic or municipal, Industrial,

Hazardous

• Waste Disposal:
–Ocean dumping
–Re-injection
–Bio-treatment
–Thermal treatment- incineration
–Encapsulation (compress into solid)
–Landfill 22
 Water Pollution
(Groundwater, Surface water, Marine)
• Sources:
–Hazardous pollutants from commercial and industrial sources
commonly pollute water, e.g., sewage and discharge from
sewage treatment work, oil spillage and industrial wastes.
– >80% of marine pollution is caused by land-based activities
that cause oil spills, fertilizers and toxic chemical runoff and
the discharge of untreated sewage.
–The amount of waste that mining corporations dump into
oceans, rivers, and lakes worldwide each year is >180 million
tons.

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 Water Pollution
• Effects:
–Contamination of surface water/groundwater
–Destruction of aquatic life
–Silting of water bodies
–Interference with the riparian (river bank) environment, etc.
• Every year >3.4 million people die as a result of water-related
diseases (illnesses caused by organisms that thrive in water
sources contaminated by raw sewage).

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 Environmental System Management
• System Approach:
–To look at all interrelated parts and their effects on one
another.
–To simplify the system to a tractable size that behaves
similar to the real system (the simplified model).

• Environmental Systems:
–Water resources management system
–Air resources management system
–Solid waste management system
–Single-medium pollution problems: Environmental problems
confined to one system (air, water or soil).
–Multimedia pollution problems: Environmental problems
crossing the boundaries from one system to another. (e.g.,
acid rain)
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 Water Resources Management System
• Two sub-systems:
Water supply subsystem Wastewater disposal subsystem

Source of Wastewater

On-site Processing

Wastewater Collection

Transmission and Pumping

Treatment

Disposal or Reuse

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Air Resource Management System

Air Quality Goals Laws

Evaluation by
Benefits Society

Effects
Air Quality
Ultimate Monitoring
Fate
Air Quality
Air Quality Monitoring
System Design

Atmospheric Diffusion Model

and Chemical Reactions Verification

Source Computed
Emissions Inventory Pollution
Solid Waste
Controls Measurements Meteorological
Liquid Waste Measurements

Products Sources
Regulations

Enforcement

Urban
Planning

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Solid Waste Management System
Waste Generation

Storage

Collection

Transfer and Processing and

Transport Recovery

Disposal

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 Introduction
• Types of Environmental Pollution
• Environmental System Management
• Materials and Energy Balances
• Environmental Legislations and Regulations
• Mitigation

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 Materials and Energy Balances
• Materials and energy balances: Key tools for
quantitative understanding of the behavior of
environmental systems.

• Mass balances: For modelling the production, transport and

fate of pollutants in the environment. Examples: prediction of
rainfall runoff, oxygen balance in streams, audits of hazardous
waste production, etc.

• Energy balances: For modelling the production, transport

and fate of energy in the environment. Examples: prediction
of temperature rise in a stream from the discharge of cooling
water from a power plant, temperature rise due to global
warming.

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 Materials and Energy Balances
• Conservation of matter and energy:
– Law of conservation of matter (matter can neither be
created nor destroyed).
• The mathematical representation of accounting a system
is called a materials balance or mass balance.
– Law of conservation of energy (energy cannot be
created or destroyed)
• The mathematical representation of accounting the
system used to trace energy is called energy balance.
– Law of conservation of matter and energy (total amount of
energy and matter is constant)
– Exchange between mass and energy is not an issue in
environmental applications. Thus two separate balances
for mass and energy.
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 Materials Balances
• For an environmental process,
Accumulation= input – output ± Reaction
(decay or production)
• Where accumulation, input and output refer to the mass quantities
accumulating in the system or flowing into or out of the system.
• System may be a pond, river or a pollution control device.
• Time is a factor to establish the degree of severity of the problem or in
designing a solution.

Mass rate of accumulation = mass rate of input - mass rate of output

Non-reactive system
Reactive system 32
 Materials Balances
• Flow chart:
– Flow chart of the process or a conceptual diagram of the
environmental system is used to solve the problem.
– All of the known inputs, outputs, and accumulation are
converted to the same mass units and marked on the
diagram to define the problem.

• Control volume (CV):

– The system boundaries (an imaginary blocks around the
process) to solve the problem.

• Efficiency:
– The effectiveness of an environmental process in removing
a contaminant can be determined using the mass balance
technique.

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 Materials Balances
• Efficiency:
– The mass of contaminant per unit time is called mass flow
rate (e.g., kg/min).
– The mass balance equation in concentration and flow rate
terms for conservative (unreactive) material,
𝑑𝑀
= 𝐶𝑖𝑛𝑄 𝑖𝑛 − 𝐶 𝑜𝑢𝑡 𝑄 𝑜𝑢𝑡
𝑑𝑡

𝑑M
Where = rate of accumulation of contaminant in the process
𝑑𝑡
𝐶𝑖𝑛, 𝐶𝑜𝑢𝑡 = concentrations of contaminant into and out of the
process
𝑄𝑖𝑛, 𝑄𝑜𝑢𝑡 = flow rates into and out of the process

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 Materials Balances
• Efficiency:
– The ratio of mass accumulated in the process to the
incoming mass is a measure of how effective the
process is in removing the contaminant.
 = 𝑚𝑎𝑠𝑠 𝑖𝑛−𝑚𝑎𝑠𝑠 𝑜𝑢𝑡 (100%)
𝑚𝑎𝑠𝑠 𝑖𝑛

• If the flow rate in and flow rate out are the same,
𝑐𝑜𝑛𝑐𝑒𝑛𝑡𝑟𝑎𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑛 𝑖𝑛 − 𝑐𝑜𝑛𝑐𝑒𝑛𝑡𝑟𝑎𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑛 𝑜𝑢𝑡
= (100%)
𝑐𝑜𝑛𝑐𝑛𝑒𝑡𝑟𝑎𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑛 𝑖𝑛

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 Example Problem: Mass Balances
Problem: Suppose you were filling a bathtub and forgot
to put the plug in. The full bathtub volume was 0.35 m3 and
the tap was flowing at 1.32 L/min and the drain was
running at 0.32 L/min. If you shut off the water when the
tub was full and the house was not flooded, how much
water was wasted? Assume the density of water is 1000
kg/m3.

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 Energy Balances
First Law of Thermodynamics: Energy cannot be created or
destroyed.
Energy: Capacity to do useful work (work is done by a force
acting on a body through a distance)
Power: The rate of doing work or the rate of expanding energy.

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 Energy Balances
• The first law of thermodynamics:
𝑄𝐻 = 𝑈2 − 𝑈1 + 𝑊
Where 𝑄𝐻 = heat absorbed
𝑈1, 𝑈2 = internal energy (or thermal energy) of the
system in states 1 and 2
𝑊 = work

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 Energy Balances
• Enthalpy: is a thermodynamic property of a material that
depends on temperature, pressure, and the composition of
the material.
• Energy balance equation:
Net change in energy = energy of mass entering system -
energy of mass leaving system ± energy flow into or out of
system
• The energy flow into or out of the system could be by
conduction, convection or radiation.

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 Energy Balances

• Second Law of Thermodynamics: Energy flows from a

region of higher concentration to one of lesser concentration,
not the reverse, and that the quality degrades as it is
transformed
• Degradation of energy as it is transformed means that the
enthalpy is wasted in the transformation (unavailable
energy).

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 Mitigation
Mitigation is the reduction of something harmful or the reduction of
its harmful effects. It may refer to measures taken to reduce the harmful
effects of hazards that remain in potential, or to manage harmful
incidents that have already occurred. It is a stage or component
of emergency management and of risk management.

• Mitigation measures:
– To prevent, reduce or control adverse environmental
effects.
– Include restitution for any damage to the environment
caused by those effects through replacement, restoration,
compensation or any other means.
– Provide the basis for the development of environmental
management plans and monitoring programs, required to
meet environmental approval and permitting requirements
and conditions.
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 Mitigation
• Example: Property Development Project
• Acts, laws, rules and guidelines applicable for the projects:
– Environmental protection act
– National environmental standards
– Codes and guidelines for monitoring and analysis of environmental
parameters
– Planning policy guidance
• Impacts during construction phase:
• Land:
– Change in existing profile and drainage pattern
– Loss of agricultural land
– Generation of solid waste
• Water:
– Water pollution due to sediment load
– Sources of water will be affected
• Air
– Dust, noise and gaseous pollution from construction equipment
– Dust pollution due to excavation, etc. 42
 Mitigation
• Example: Property Development Project
• Mitigation measures during construction phase:
• Land:
– Proper drainage facilities will be provided along the roads
– Green area plantation
– Cutting earth materials shall be used as filling
materials
– Debris and surplus excavated materials will be
disposed of in pre-defined areas
– Etc.

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 Mitigation
• Example: Property Development Project
• Mitigation measures during construction phase:
• Water:
– Construction activities/erosion will be limited to
possible smallest area
– Control of quality of construction wastewater within the
construction site through suitable drainage system with traps
for arresting the sediment load
– Implementation of suitable disposal methods
of sediment/debris
– Formation of stagnant water pools will be eliminated to
avoid soil erosion and breeding of mosquitoes.
– Etc.

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 Mitigation
• Example: Property Development Project
• Mitigation measures during construction phase:
• Air:
– Construction materials will be stored in covered stores
– Adequate dust suppression such as regular sprinkling of
water
– Regular inspection of haul roads and construction site to
ensure regular and timely removal of debris
– Low emission construction vehicles and generator sets
should be used
– Construction machinery should be in good working
condition and engines turned off when not in use
– Etc.

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 Mitigation
• Example: Property Development Project
• Mitigation measures during construction phase:
• Noise:
– Careful planning of operation of construction equipment
is required so that minimum disturbances are caused
– Provision of protective gear for construction personnel
exposed to high noise level
– Low noise construction equipment should be used
– Ensure that the equipment is properly maintained to keep
noise emission within the permissible limits.
– Construction machinery should be in good working
condition and engines turned off when not in use
– Etc.

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Environmental Legislations and Regulations

• Role of the Clean Air Act Amendments (1990):

• Selected elements of legislation
– Select attainment dates for criteria air pollutants
– Imposes new requirements for auto emissions and
establishes clean fuel program
– Identifies 189 hazardous air pollutants to be regulated
– Establishes SO2 allowances for acid rain control
– Establishes a national permit system
– Sets schedule for phase-out of ozone-depleting
compounds

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Environmental Legislations and Regulations
• Acid rain program:
– Sulfur dioxide (SO2) is the primary precursor of acid rain.
In US, 75% of SO2 emissions are generated by electric
utility power plants that burn fossil fuels, especially high-
sulfur coal.
– Marketable Pollution Allowance system
([Link]
emissions-trading) was established under Title IV of the
U.S. Clean Air Act Amendments of 1990 intended to
reduce SO2 emissions by 10 million tons (approximately
50%) below 1980 levels by the year 2000.
– The program is successful in providing an effective and
efficient way to protect public health and the
environment.
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History of Acid Rain Program (US EPA)

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History of Acid Rain Program (US EPA)

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 References
• Davis, M. L. and Cornwell, D. A. 2011. Introduction to
Environmental Engineering, 5th Edition, McGraw-Hill.
• Eyu, D.G. and Aliu, A. O. 2013. Environmental pollution
and mitigation-an overview, Asian Research Publishing
Network (ARPN), vol. 8, no. 8, august 2013.
• [Link]
ents/Reports/deux_bras/chapter%[Link]
• US EPA website

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