Chapter 18

Air Pollution Homework

Summary

1. The layers of the atmosphere are the troposphere, stratosphere, mesosphere, and thermosphere.

2. Major classes of air pollutants include carbon, sulfur, and nitrogen oxides, volatile organic compounds, suspended particulate matter, photochemical oxidants, radioactive substances, and hazardous chemicals that can cause health problems. Primary sources of these pollutants include cars, industry, and natural phenomena such as volcanic eruptions.

3. The two types of smog are the photochemical and the industrial, or gray-air, smog.

4. Acid deposition includes wet deposition of acidic rain, snow, fog, and cloud vapor with pH less than 5.6, and dry deposition of acidic particles. Major sources of acid deposition are nitrogen oxides produced during fossil fuel combustion and sulfur oxides produced primarily from coal-fired power plants.

5. Harmful effects of air pollution include various respiratory diseases, premature deaths, damage to plants, and materials such as buildings, cars, statues, etc.

6. We can reduce air pollution by reducing emission through the use of low-sulfur coal, shifting to less polluting fuels (e.g., coal to natural gas), removal of pollutants after combustion or lower emissions through the use of mass transit or alternative transportation, improving fuel efficiency, and tax incentives.

Please read chapter 18 and answer the following questions in your APES noteook

  1. What is air pollution? Distinguish between primary pollutants and secondary pollutants and give an example of each. List the major outdoor air pollutants and their harmful effects. Describe the effects of lead as a pollutant and how we can reduce our exposure to this chemical. Describe a chemical method and a biological method for detecting air pollutants.
  1. Distinguish between industrial smog and photochemical smog in terms of their chemical composition and formation. List and briefly describe five natural factors that help to reduce outdoor air pollution and six natural factors that help to worsen it. What is a temperature inversion and how can it affect air pollution levels?
  1. What is acid deposition and how does it form? What are its major environmental impacts on vegetation, lakes, human-built structures, and human health. List three major ways to reduce acid deposition
  1. What is the major indoor air pollutant in many developing countries? What are the top four indoor air pollutants in the United States? Describe indoor air pollution by radon- 222 and what can be done about it.
  1. Describe air pollution laws in the United States. Summarize the positive effects of such laws and discuss how the laws can be improved. List the advantages and disadvantages of using an emissions trading program. Summarize the major ways to reduce emissions from power plants and motor vehicles. What are four ways to reduce indoor air pollution?
  1. Summarize the major ways to reduce emissions from power plants and motor vehicles. What are four ways to reduce indoor air pollution? Why is preventing air pollution more important than controlling it?

Data Analysis

Coal often contains sulfur (S) as an impurity that is released as gaseous SO2 during combustion and SO2 is one of six primary air pollutants monitored by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. The U.S. Clean Air Act limits sulfur emissions from large coal-fired boilers to 0.54 kilograms (1.2 pounds) of sulfur per million Btus of heat generated. (1 metric ton = 1,000 kilograms = 2,200 pounds = 1.1 ton; 1 kilogram = 2.20 pounds)

1. Given that coal used by electric power plants has a heating value of 27.5 million Btus per metric ton (25 million Btus per ton), determine the number of kilograms and pounds of coal needed to produce 1 million Btus of heat.

2. Assuming that all of the sulfur in the coal is released to the atmosphere during combustion, what maximum percent sulfur can the coal contain and still allow the utility to meet the standards of the Clean Air Act?

3.. About 10,000 Btus of heat input are required for an electric utility to produce 1 kilowatt-hour (kwh) of electrical energy. How many metric tons (and how many tons) of coal must be supplied each hour to provide the input heat requirements for a 1,000-megawatt (1 million-kilowatt, or 106-kilowatt) power plant?

4. Assuming that this power plant uses coal with 1.00% sulfur and operates at full capacity 24 hours per day, how many metric tons and tons of sulfur will be released into the atmosphere each year?