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Advances in Analytical and Numerical Dispersion Modeling of Pollutants Releasing from an Area-source

Nimmatoori, Praneeth
http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=toledo1404321818

Abstract Details

2014, Doctor of Philosophy, University of Toledo, Civil Engineering.
The air quality near agricultural activities such as tilling, plowing, harvesting, and manure application is of main concern because they release fine particulate matter into the atmosphere. These releases are modeled as area-sources in the air quality modeling research. None of the currently available dispersion models relate and incorporate physical characteristics and meteorological conditions for modeling the dispersion and deposition of particulates emitting from such area-sources. This knowledge gap was addressed by developing the advanced analytical and numerical methods for modeling the dispersion of particulate matter. The development, application, and evaluation of new dispersion modeling methods are discussed in detail in this dissertation. In the analytical modeling, a ground-level area source analytical dispersion model known as particulate matter deposition – PMD was developed for predicting the concentrations of different particle sizes. Both the particle dynamics (particle physical characteristics) and meteorological conditions which have significant effect on the dispersion of particulates were related and incorporated in the PMD model using the formulations of particle gravitational settling and dry deposition velocities. The modeled particle size concentrations of the PMD model were evaluated statistically after applying it to particulates released from a biosolid applied agricultural field. The evaluation of the PMD model using the statistical criteria concluded effective and successful inclusion of dry deposition theory for modeling particulate matter concentrations. A comprehensive review of analytical area-source dispersion models, which do not account for dry deposition and treat pollutants as gases, was conducted and determined three models – the Shear, the Parker, and the Smith. A statistical evaluation of these dispersion models was conducted after applying them to two different field data sets and the statistical results concluded that the Shear model performed the best out of the three dispersion models. The algorithms of each dispersion model were analyzed and it was determined that the best performance of the Shear model was due to incorporation of a variation of wind speed and vertical eddy diffusivity (atmospheric turbulence) with the height above ground surface. A new methodology was developed using computational fluid dynamics (CFD) – FLUENT for the numerical dispersion modeling of particulate matter emitting from an area-source (biosolids applied agricultural field). The discrete phase model (Lagrangian –Eulerian approach) was used in combination with each of the four turbulence models: Standard ke (ke), Realizable ke (Rke), Standard k¿ (k¿), and Shear-stress transport k-¿ (SST) to predict particulate matter size concentrations for distances downwind of the agricultural field. In this modeling approach, particulates were simulated as discrete phase and air as continuous phase. The discrete phase model accounted for the effects of atmospheric turbulence and drag force which is dependent on particle physical characteristics (diameter, density, and velocity), gravitational velocity, and air viscosity for predicting the trajectories of particles. The modeled particulate matter concentrations were compared statistically with their corresponding field study observations to evaluate the performance of proposed CFD model using the four turbulence models. The statistical analysis concluded that among four turbulence models, the discrete phase model when used with Rke performed the best in predicting particulate matter concentrations for low (u < 2 m/s) and medium (2 < u < 5 m/s) wind speeds. For high (u > 5 m/s) wind speeds, Rke, k¿, and SST showed similar performances. The discrete phase model using Rke performed very well and modeled the best concentrations for the particle sizes (µm) 0.23, 0.3, 0.4, 0.5, 0.65, 0.8, 1, 1.6, 2, 3, 4, and 5. For particle sizes 7.5 and 10, the performances of Rke, ke, k¿, and SST were similar.
Ashok Kumar (Advisor)
Brian W Randolph (Committee Member)
Farhang Akbar-Khanzadeh (Committee Member)
Dong-Shik Kim (Committee Member)
Liangbo Hu (Committee Member)
141 p.
Atmospheric Sciences; Civil Engineering; Engineering; Environmental Engineering; Environmental Science

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Citations

  • Nimmatoori, P. (2014). Advances in Analytical and Numerical Dispersion Modeling of Pollutants Releasing from an Area-source [Doctoral dissertation, University of Toledo]. OhioLINK Electronic Theses and Dissertations Center. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=toledo1404321818

    APA Style (7th edition)

  • Nimmatoori, Praneeth. Advances in Analytical and Numerical Dispersion Modeling of Pollutants Releasing from an Area-source. 2014. University of Toledo, Doctoral dissertation. OhioLINK Electronic Theses and Dissertations Center, http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=toledo1404321818.

    MLA Style (8th edition)

  • Nimmatoori, Praneeth. "Advances in Analytical and Numerical Dispersion Modeling of Pollutants Releasing from an Area-source." Doctoral dissertation, University of Toledo, 2014. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=toledo1404321818

    Chicago Manual of Style (17th edition)

toledo1404321818
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This open access ETD is published by University of Toledo and OhioLINK.