Air quality and air pollution control are tasks of international concern as, for one, air pollutants do not refrain from crossing borders and, for another, industrial plants and motor vehicles which emit air pollutants are in widespread use today. In a number of the world's expanding cities smog situations are a frequent occurrence due to the number and emission-intensity of air pollution sources. Polluted air causes annoy ances and can, when it occurs in high concentrations in these cities, constitute a seri ous health hazard. How important clean air is to life becomes apparent when consid ering the fact that humans can do without food for up to 40 days, without air, how ever, only a few minutes. The first step towards improving the air quality situation is the awareness that a sound environment is as much to be aspired for as the development of new tech nologies improving the standard of living. Technical progress should be judged es pecially by how environmentally benign, clean and noiseless its products are. Of these elements, clean air is of special concern to me. I hope that this book will awaken more interest in this matter and that it will lead to new impulses. Due to the increasing complexity of today's machinery and industrial processes science and technology can no longer do without highly specialized design engineers and opera tors. Environmental processes, however, are highly interdependent and interlinked.

Klappentext

This book explains the origin of pollutants and their dispersion and transformation in the atmosphere, describes their effects on human beings, animals, plants, and materials, and presents techniques for emissions reduction from a variety of sources. Measuring techniques are emphasized because of their importance for the detection of pollutants and for monitoring the performance of emission control equipment. The closing chapter discusses international regulations for air quality control. For all those interested in environmental protection this book is a highly readable introduction to the field of air pollution and air quality control. It serves as a useful textbook for teachers and students and as a reference for practice-oriented work in industry, consultancies and environmental agencies.

Inhalt
1 General Overview.- 1.1 Clean Air and Air Pollution.- 1.2 Historical Overview.- 1.3 Explanation of Terms.- 1.4. Bibliography.- 2 Origin and Sources of Air Pollution.- 2.1 Emission of Pollutants Caused by Combustion Processes.- 2.2 Sources of Air Pollutants.- 2.3 Bibliography.- 3 Air Pollutants in the Atmosphere.- 3.1 Meteorological Influences on the Dispersion of Air Pollutants.- 3.2 Chemical Transformations of Pollutants in the Atmosphere.- 3.3 Distribution and Temporal Development of Air Pollutants in Unpolluted and Polluted Areas.- 3.4 Models of Pollutant Dispersion.- 3.5 Bibliography.- 4 Effects of Air Pollution.- 4.1 General Considerations.- 4.2 Climatic Changes Caused by Atmospheric Trace Substances.- 4.3 Effects on Materials.- 4.4 Effects on Vegetation.- 4.5 Impact on Human Health.- 4.6 Ambient Air Guidelines and Standards.- 4.7 Bibliography.- 5 Measuring Techniques for Recording Air Pollutants.- 5.1 General Criteria.- 5.2 Measuring Methods for Gaseous Pollutants.- 5.3 Measuring Methods for Particulate Matter.- 5.4 Setting up of Measuring Equipment, Sampling Techniques and their Influences on the Accuracy of the Measurements.- 5.5 Calibration for Pollutant Measurements.- 5.6 Accuracy of Measuring Methods and Measuring Instruments.- 5.7 Bibliography.- 6 Evaluation of Air Pollution Measurements.- 6.1 Determination of Pollutant Emissions.- 6.2 Evaluation and Graphic Representation of Air Quality Measurements...- 6.3 Bibliography.- 7 Emission Control Technologies.- 7.1 General Considerations.- 7.2 Processes for the Removal of Particulate Matter from Exhaust Gases....- 7.3 Nitrogen Oxide Reduction in Combustion Processes.- 7.4 Flue Gas Desulfurization.- 7.5 Diagram of the Flue Gas Purification Units of a Power Plant.- 7.6 Present Situation of Flue Gas Purification inWest German Power Plants.- 7.7 Removal of Organic Substances from Flue Gases.- 7.8 Bibliography.- 8 Air Pollution Control Conventions, Laws and Regulations.- 8.1 International Conventions.- 8.2 EU Directives.- 8.3 National Laws and Regulations.- 8.4 Vehicle Exhaust Emissions.- 8.5 Bibliography.