Pollutants, environmental modeling

Schnoor, J.L., Environmental Modeling—Fate and Transport of Pollutants in Water, Air, and Soil, John Wiley Sons, New York, 1996. 

Bergman and Meyer121 point out a particularly relevant problem with mathematical models. The relative reliability of mathematical models (compared with physical models based on empirical field or laboratory studies) decreases rapidly as the number of environmental pollutants being modeled increases (see Figure 20.8). Consequently, mathematical models tend to be less cost-effective for complex wastestreams than physical (empirical) models. 

Bonazountas, M. J. Fiksel (1982). ENVIRO Environmental Mathematical Pollutant Fate Modeling Handbook/Catalogue, EPA Contract No. 68-01-5146, Arthur D. Little, Inc., Cambridge, MA 02140. 

Ramaswami A, Milford JB, Small MJ (2005) Integrated environmental modeling. Pollutant transport, fate, and risk in the environment Wiley, New York... 

Andren, A. W., Doucette, W. J., Dickhut, R. M. (1987) Methods for estimating solubilities of hydrophobic organic compounds Environmental modeling efforts. In Sources and Fates of Aquatic Pollutants. Hites, R. A., Eisenreich, S. J., Eds., pp. 3-26, Advances in Chemistry Series 216, American Chemical Society, Washington, D.C. 

We have discussed NO, pollution from combustion previously, and we will consider pollution and environmental modeling later in Chapter 8. These are situations where we need chemical reactors to eliminate the pollutants we have made in other reactors. 

We will also see that residence time distribution notions lead to some interesting examples of pollution reactions, biological populations, and environmental modeling. 

Tratnyek, P. G., J. Hoigne, J. Zeyer, and R. P. Schwarzenbach, QSAR analysis of oxidation and reduction rates of environmental organic pollutants in model systems , The Science of the Total Environment, 109/110, 327-341 (1991). 

Diamond, M.L. (1995) Application of a mass balance model to assess in-place arsenic pollution. Environmental Science... 

Krapivin V.F. and Phillips G.W. (2001b). Application of a global model to the study of Arctic basin pollution Radionuclides, heavy metals and oil carbohydrates. Environmental Modelling and Software, 16, 1-17. 

USEPA (2005b) Human exposure modeling — Air Pollutants Exposure Model (APEX/TRIM. Expo inhalation) Washington, DC, United States Environmental Protection Agency (http //www.epa.gov/ttnmain1/fera/human apex.html). 

In atmospheric pollution the impact of point source (e.g., a chimney stock) or a continuous source in an area (e.g. industrial area or urban motorway) is usually modeled. Different models exist based on different mathematical assumptions. Many, such as AERMOD, CALPUFF, BLP, CALINE3, are developed or accepted for use by the US EPA and more information can be found at US EPA Web site [55]. The current technology allows environmental modeling based on physicomathematical processing of mass flux in the diffusion and dispersion of pollutants that can migrate from emission sources to the environment, both in the air near the ground and in the atmosphere, in general. 

Bonazountas M. 1988. Mathematical pollutant fate modeling of petroleum products in soil systems. In Calabrese EJ, Kostecki, eds. Soils contaminated by petroleum Environmental and public health effects. New York, NY John Wiley and Sons, 31-97. 

Ramaswami, A. Milford, J.B. Small, M.J. Integrated Environmental Modeling—Pollutant Transport, Fate, and Risk in the Environment John Wiley New York, 2005. 

Jones DH, Lewis DH, Eurell TE, et al. 1979. Alteration of the immune response of channel catfish (ictalurus punctatus) by polychlorinated biphenyls. In Symposium on pathobiology of environmental pollutants Animal models and wildlife as monitors. Washington, DC National Academy of Sciences, 385-386. 

Within an environmental compartment physical and chemical transformations ol specified chemical compounds such as pollutants or probe compounds or any other chemical species P, are generally controlled both by different environmental factors Ej, such as the activities of environmental reactants acting on them ( driving force ), and the compound-specific rate constant, kJ P, with which the specific chemical structures of P respond to such factors j (Smith et al., l t /7). Only a strict separation between the terms corresponding to environmental parameters and the chemical constants describing the chemical compound allows for easy generalization of the rate laws and for structuring of kinetic environmental models ... 

The behavior of MTBE through the different environmental compartments has been investigated using various modelling approaches. For example, the EU risk assessment used the simplest type of fugacity models (a Level 1 model) and concluded that from diffuse sources 93.9% of MTBE is in the air phase, 6.0% in the water phase, and 0.05% in the soil phase [2]. However, another study by Environment Canada for Southern Ontario [61] used the Level III model and predicted 56% of MTBE in the air, 42% in surface water, and 0.5% in soil and sediment. As can be observed, models developed so far differed in their predictions of relative MTBE concentrations for relevant environmental compartments and of seasonal concentration variations further, they have hardly considered the formation of transformation products [62]. Moreover, limitations in pollutant environmental data or key physicochemical parameters often make it difficult to validate model predictions. 

Sargsyan, V., Risk Assessment for Agricultural Pollutants (Armenia) Modeling and Optimal Control Assessment and Management of Environmental Risks, Kluewer, Amsterdam 2001. 

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