Pollution scale

Even ia 1960 a catalytic route was considered the answer to the pollution problem and the by-product sulfate, but nearly ten years elapsed before a process was developed that could be used commercially. Some of the eadier attempts iacluded hydrolysis of acrylonitrile on a sulfonic acid ion-exchange resia (69). Manganese dioxide showed some catalytic activity (70), and copper ions present ia two different valence states were described as catalyticaHy active (71), but copper metal by itself was not active. A variety of catalysts, such as Umshibara or I Jllmann copper and nickel, were used for the hydrolysis of aromatic nitriles, but aUphatic nitriles did not react usiag these catalysts (72). Beginning ia 1971 a series of patents were issued to The Dow Chemical Company (73) describiag the use of copper metal catalysis. Full-scale production was achieved the same year. A solution of acrylonitrile ia water was passed over a fixed bed of copper catalyst at 85°C, which produced a solution of acrylamide ia water with very high conversions and selectivities to acrylamide. 

Historically, soda ash was produced by extracting the ashes of certain plants, such as Spanish barilla, and evaporating the resultant Hquor. The first large scale, commercial synthetic plant employed the LeBlanc (Nicolas LeBlanc (1742—1806)) process (5). In this process, salt (NaCl) reacts with sulfuric acid to produce sodium sulfate and hydrochloric acid. The sodium sulfate is then roasted with limestone and coal and the resulting sodium carbonate—calcium sulfide mixture (black ash) is leached with water to extract the sodium carbonate. The LeBlanc process was last used in 1916—1917 it was expensive and caused significant pollution. 

Zinc. The electrowinning of zinc on a commercial scale started in 1915. Most newer faciUties are electrolytic plants. The success of the process results from the abiUty to handle complex ores and to produce, after purification of the electrolyte, high purity zinc cathodes at an acceptable cost. Over the years, there have been only minor changes in the chemistry of the process to improve zinc recovery and solution purification. Improvements have been made in the areas of process instmmentation and control, automation, and prevention of water pollution. 

R. E. Smith, Opus An Integrated Simulation Modelfor Transport of Nonpoint-Source Pollutants at the Field Scale, Vol. I, Documentation, USDA ARS-98, U.S. Dept, of Agriculture, Washington, D.C., 1992. 

Air pollution (qv) problems are characteri2ed by their scale and the types of pollutants involved. Pollutants are classified as being either primary, that is emitted direcdy, or secondary, ie, formed in the atmosphere through chemical or physical processes. Examples of primary pollutants are carbon monoxide [630-08-0] (qv), CO, lead [7439-92-1] (qv), Pb, chlorofluorocarbons, and many toxic compounds. Notable secondary pollutants include o2one [10028-15-6] (qv), O, which is formed in the troposphere by reactions of nitrogen oxides (NO ) and reactive organic gases (ROG), and sulfuric and nitric acids. 

Because of the expanded scale and need to describe additional physical and chemical processes, the development of acid deposition and regional oxidant models has lagged behind that of urban-scale photochemical models. An additional step up in scale and complexity, the development of analytical models of pollutant dynamics in the stratosphere is also behind that of ground-level oxidant models, in part because of the central role of heterogeneous chemistry in the stratospheric ozone depletion problem. In general, atmospheric Hquid-phase chemistry and especially heterogeneous chemistry are less well understood than gas-phase reactions such as those that dorninate the formation of ozone in urban areas. Development of three-dimensional models that treat both the dynamics and chemistry of the stratosphere in detail is an ongoing research problem. 

Adsorption. Adsorption (qv) is an effective means of lowering the concentration of dissolved organics in effluent. Activated carbon is the most widely used and effective adsorbent for dyes (4) and, it has been extensively studied in the waste treatment of the different classes of dyes, ie, acid, direct, basic, reactive, disperse, etc (5—22). Commercial activated carbon can be prepared from lignite and bituminous coal, wood, pulp mill residue, coconut shell, and blood and have a surface area ranging from 500—1400 m /g (23). The feasibiUty of adsorption on carbon for the removal of dissolved organic pollutants has been demonstrated by adsorption isotherms (24) (see Carbon, activated carbon). Several pilot-plant and commercial-scale systems using activated carbon adsorption columns have been developed (25—27). 

Wind speed has velocity components in all directions so that there are vertical motions as well as horizontal ones. These random motions of widely different scales and periods are essentially responsible for the movement and diffusion of pollutants about the mean downwind path. These motions can be considered atmospheric turbulence. If the scale of a turbulent motion (i.e., the size of an eddy) is larger than the size of the pollutant plume in its vicinity, the eddy will move that portion of the plume. If an eddy is smaller than the plume, its effect will be to difhise or spread out the plume. This diffusion caused by eddy motion is widely variable in the atmosphere, blit even when the effect of this diffusion is least, it is in the vicinity of three orders of magnitude greater than diffusion by molecular action alone. 

The principal technological changes in the engineering control of air pollution were the perfection of the motor-driven fan, which allowed large-scale gas-treating systems to be built the invention of the electrostatic precipitator, which made particulate control in many processes feasible and the development of a chemical engineering capability for the design of process equipment, which made the control of gas and vapor effluents feasible. 

Problems of air pollution exist on all scales from extremely local to global. These are divided in this chapter into five different scales local, urban, regional, continental, and global. The local scale includes up to about 5 km. The urban scale extends to the order of 50 km. The regional scale is from 50 to 500 km. Continental scales are from 500 to several thousand km. Of course, the global scale extends worldwide. 

At least three types of problems contribute to air pollution problems on the regional scale. One is the carryover of urban oxidant problems to the regional scale. With the existence of major metropolitan areas in close proximity, the air from one metropolitan area, containing both secondary pollutants formed through reactions and primary pollutants, flows on to the adjacent metropolitan area. The pollutants from the second area are then added on top of the "background" from the first. 

In a relatively small continental area such as Europe, there is not much difference between what would be considered the regional scale and the continental scale. However, on most other continents there would be a difference between what is considered regional and what continental. Perhaps of greatest concern on the continental scale is that the air pollution policies of a nation are likely to create impacts on neighboring nations. Acid rain in Scandanavia has been considered to have had impacts from Great Britain and Western Europe. Japan has considered that part of their air pollution problem, especially in the western part of the country, has origins in China and Korea. Cooperation in the examination of the North American acid rain problem has existed for a long time between Canada and the United States. 

The other major aspect of air pollution reduction is the control of shortterm episodes on the urban scale. This aspect is called tactical because, prior to an episode, a scenario of tactical maneuvers must be developed... 

The harmful effects of air pollutants on human beings have been the major reason for efforts to understand and control their sources. During the past two decades, research on acidic deposition on water-based ecosystems has helped to reemphasize the importance of air pollutants in other receptors, such as soil-based ecosystems (1). When discussing the impact of air pollutants on ecosystems, the matter of scale becomes important. We will discuss three examples of elements which interact with air, water, and soil media on different geographic scales. These are the carbon cycle on a global scale, the sulfur cycle on a regional scale, and the fluoride cycle on a local scale. 

The second example of an air pollutant that affects the total body burden is carbon monoxide (CO). In addihon to CO in ambient air, there are other sources for inhalation. People who smoke have an elevated CO body burden compared to nonsmokers. Individuals indoors may be exposed to elevated levels of CO from incomplete combustion in heating or cooking stoves. CO gas enters the human body by inhalation and is absorbed directly into the bloodstream the total body burden resides in the circulatory system. The human body also produces CO by breakdown of hemoglobin. Hemoglobin breakdown gives every individual a baseline level of CO in the circulatory system. As the result of these factors, the body burden can fluctuate over a time scale of hours. 

Under low-dose conditions, forest ecosystems act as sinks for atmospheric pollutants and in some instances as sources. As indicated in Chapter 7, the atmosphere, lithosphere, and oceans are involved in cycling carbon, nitrogen, oxygen, sulfur, and other elements through each subsystem with different time scales. Under low-dose conditions, forest and other biomass systems have been utilizing chemical compounds present in the atmosphere and releasing others to the atmosphere for thousands of years. Industrialization has increased the concentrations of NO2, SO2, and CO2 in the "clean background" atmosphere, and certain types of interactions with forest systems can be defined. 

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