Pollutants power plant smokestacks

In addition to being the site of most food production, soil is the receptor of large quantities of pollutants, such as particulate matter from power plant smokestacks. Fertilizers, pesticides, and some other materials applied to soil often contribute to water and air pollution. Therefore, soil is a key component of environmental chemical cycles. 

Point Source a source of pollution that is well defined, such as the smokestack of a coal-fired power plant or smelter. 

The pollution rising trom Ihe smokestacks ol this power plant can cause acid rain. (Photo Researchers Inc.)... 

Acid rain has been reduced with the introduction of technologies that remove the sulfur from the smokestack gases of coal-burning power plants. However, sulfur is present in other fossil fuels, and is introduced into the atmosphere by the exhausts from cars, trucks, and buses. Acid rain is still part of the overall problem of air pollution. 

The problem of treating atmospheric pollution is still in its infancy. As late as the 60s, the atmosphere was still considered a limitless sump in which noxious fumes created by the combustion of fuels would be diluted to harmless proportions. Consequently, when large power plants first were found to contaminate the immediate surroundings, the designers solved the problem by building very tall smokestacks. This solved the local problem, but, as the information in this conference will show, the noxious products were not diluted to harmless proportions. 

The ftxed sources of air pollution are mainly the smokestacks of industrial facilities and power plants. 

Nitrous oxides are formed naturally by decomposition of nitrogen compounds in the soil. N2O is also a man-made chemical used as a propellant for food spray cans and as an anesthetic. It can also be a by-product of pollution control devices installed on smokestacks at power plants. In any case, man-made nitrous oxides formed in the lower part of the atmosphere diffuse to the upper atmosphere where they contribute to ozone depletion. Knowledge of the rate of reaction (6.64) would help us model how long nitrous oxide survives in the atmosphere. 

The Clean Air Act of the 1960s mandated the reduction of local levels of air pollutants from power plants and factories. In response, taller smokestacks were installed. Winds blew the pollutants away from their sources, which did help solve the problem of local pollution. Spewing the exhaust higher into the atmosphere, though, just moved the air pollutants to distant localities downwind from their sources. Overall, taller smoke stacks really were not a solution. 

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