Mitigation Plan for Atmospheric Pollution, Research Paper Example

Introduction

Atmospheric pollution is the introduction of hazardous components in to the atmosphere. The atmosphere in this regard is the space around all the living and the non living organisms. It is a collection of a number of gases that are very important with reference to supporting life. The introduction of harmful substances in to the depths of the atmosphere is known to amount in to altered compositions of these gases. The extent to which air pollution has been done especially with regard to industrialization is alarming and demands a critical review to establish corrective measures. The world populations can not effectively survive without the need to have a number of industries. It is also unfortunate that some form of air pollution is a result of natural factors that can not be controlled by man. The possibility of a pollutant free air exists if only corrective measures are put in place to help reduce or completely do away with the pollution by effectively converting the harmful elements in to less harmful or alternatively harmless products.

Air pollution is eminent as a result of the interaction between the various elements that find their way in to the atmosphere hence amounting into secondary pollution.  Primary pollution is evident in the event that the emissions are harmful in themselves. Measures geared at converting harmful emissions in to forms that are not harmful or preventing their interaction with other elements to form more harmful products can indeed promise a pollutant free air safe for both living and non living inhabitants of the earth.

Causes of Atmospheric Pollution and the Implicated Effects to the Natural Habitat

Atmospheric pollution is largely caused by both natural and man made factors.  However the rate at which the later contributes is alarmingly higher than that implicated by natural causes.  Both non living and living organisms emit pollutants in various forms. Some of the emitted pollutants are harmful in their natural state while some become harmful on being converted in to other forms .The contribution of human activity with respect to industrialization is to blame for a number of atmospheric problems. For instance, the processes involved in the harvesting of coal and petroleum products are a threat to the atmosphere (Christopher et al, 2004). The two products contain sulfur compounds that contribute to the formation of acid rain. The effect of such rain is very devastating to both plant and animal life. Such rain on falling gets its way in to the precipitation cycle and is intergrated in to systems of plants and animals causing their death.

Industrialization is largely to blame for most of atmospheric pollution. The emission of volatile gases by the motor vehicle industry is thought to be of severe effects to the natural atmosphere. Carbon monoxide forms the largest proportion of the emitted gases from motor vehicles. This gas is of severe effects to the living organisms especially in human beings where it is thought to harm the red blood cells. Other than gases, there are a number of toxic elements that are equally pollutive. Such elements include metals that are deposited in the form of effluents in to water systems. Such metals are bound to get in to the body systems of aquatic animals and plans and interfere with the normal body functioning. Such elements poison the water in which a number of living organisms thrive.  A number of aquatic animals have been reported dead as a result of the pollution of the water bodies with such elements. Harmful aerosols emitted in to the air are feared for causing a number of respiratory complications in human beings. Radio active elements produced by nuclear experiments and wars are bound to cause certain types of cancers in human beings. Such elements are very carcinogenic and their accumulation in the atmosphere is very dangerous since their removal is almost not possible.

The effects of atmospheric pollution are alarming. Human beings seem to be at a greater risk with regard to health. In America, studies indicate a mortality rate of about 150,000 individuals as a result of ailments that result from atmospheric pollution. The rise in the use of motor vehicles alone has increased the number of pneumonia cases and deaths. Such cases go hand in hand with escalated forms of  very many respiratory complications including severe asthmatic attacks , bronchitis and a wide range of both lung and heart infections.  In India, the Bhopal disaster in 1984 is said to have consumed two thousand people and injured several that later died from a number of complications. In the UK, the 1952 great smog is said to have consumed a total of four thousand people.  The spread of biological matter in warfare in Russia   is said to have resulted in to numerous deaths. The effects of air pollution are felt at various levels. Studies indicate that owing to air pollution, most people die prematurely (Christopher et al, 2004).

Current Sustainability Plan

A number of world organizations have come up strongly in the quest to reduce atmospheric pollution. Most of these organizations the United Nations included attribute global warming to atmospheric pollution.  A number of them are thus pushing for the abolition of some industrial activities and the adoption of safe forms of industrial energy.  The Kyoto protocol is one among many moves that is pushing for the adoption of alternative forms of energy. The problem arises when a number of the member countries are not ready to adopt any of the recommendations. This is owing to the fact that they have heavily invested in such industries. Adoption of alternative forms of energy calls for the need to have more monetary resources. A number of countries are not any ready to cater for the cost of adopting alternative forms of energy. Such strategies might never bear good fruits especially with regard to the fact that industrialization is the backbone of any economy.

Most elements that are harmful on their on or bound to interact with other elements to form related harmful compounds find their way in to the air as emissions in gaseous state. With the increased need to save the atmosphere and the world inhabitants from the effects of air contamination, several industrialized countries are reframing their legal systems to attain structures that are geared at controlling the rate of emission.  A number of industries with dangerous emissions are economically important and can not be done away with. For instance the Soviet Union under the department of chemistry has provision for safe chemistry under the legislation of what has been termed as industrial medicinal chemistry. The department is empowered to regulate the amount of emissions from industries .Other countries operate under Maximum Allowable Concentrations (M.A.C) with bureaus that foresee the chemistry of various emissions before approving safe quantities that can be emitted in to the atmosphere (Khalizova, 2009).

According to an article on air pollution control by O.D khalizova, controlling air pollution by legal provisions has been effective in a number of industrialized countries. The use of M.A.C for instance makes it possible for chemical researchers to collaborate with experts from various fields such as health and environment in ascertaining the toxicity of various elements. This is in order that their emission can be limited to levels that are known to be completely harmless or less harmful. A number of methods are employed for both large and small scale studies. All technologies involved revolve around sampling and toxicity testing before legal provisions are offered on the amounts to be emitted. The methods used in both sampling and testing vary with regard to the scale of production and may range from the vacuum method, expiration with quantity determination based on techniques such mass spectroscopy, palarography, photometry, luminescence alongside volumetric analysis and chromatography. This is done   depending on the nature of the sample material. This method is geared at enhancing safe industrial practices with the aim of protecting the atmospheric air from contamination (Khalizova, 2009).

A Mitigation Plan towards Sustainable Management of Atmospheric Pollution

The world can never do without most of the industries implicated in atmospheric pollution. This explains the need to opt for alternative remedies that can safely convert the pollutants in to less harmful products before they are emitted. With such measures, the world economy will still be boosted by industrialization as the atmosphere is kept free of pollution. The possibility of a contaminant free atmosphere lies in the adoption of such remedies and not in the reduction of industrial activities. Safe industrial practices can be enhanced through the adoption of a number of methods that can convert harmful emissions in to less harmful products before their emission. Such strategies can also prevent air pollution by hindering the formation of secondary pollutants in the atmosphere. When the compounds responsible for becoming secondary pollutants are safely converted in to alternative forms, the possibility of forming in to pollutants is relatively reduced.  This is a strategy that if adopted may seem more realistic than the abolition of a number of industrial activities. The adoption of methods that can convert pollutants in to safe compounds and alternatively hindering the formation of secondary pollutants is a safe way to promoting the economy through industrialization.

The Methods Implicated In the Plan

A number of methods can effectively be used in the purification of pollutants before they are emitted in to the atmosphere. These methods are both of the small and large scale. With regard to a number of emissions from transport vessels, control measures aimed at regulating particulate forms of contaminants include the use of electrostatic precipitators. These are devices designed to collect particulates in gaseous emissions in motion. Removal of particulates is attained by the help of an electrostatic charge that in turn generates a force. Electrostatic precipitators vary in their design and they are capable of effectively removing foreign particles that may be harmful in a number of gaseous compounds in motion through the process of filtration. The particulates are thus filtered out of the gas before the gas is emitted in to the atmosphere (Godish, 1997).

The use of bag houses is equally effective at controlling air pollution with regard to particulate matter. Bag houses are simply gas collectors designed for the purpose of handling dust particles that are relatively heavy. An ideal bag house will thus comprise of a blower to let in air through blowing, a dust filter that is meant to effectively sort out dust particles, and a filter cleaning device that is to clean the filter and get rid off the dust particles initially filtered alongside a dusting, system that removes the dust called the dust receptacle. The device uses the process of filtration in removing the particulate matter ensuring that the air that is finally emitted is free of contaminants.  Unlike an electrostatic precipitator whose filters are disposable bag houses are made with filters that are permanent (Godish, 1997).

Other methods or removing particulate matter from air involve the use of various scrubbing techniques .Scrubbing has severally been done with the use of various liquids to dissolve the solid elements. It can also be done when other formulations like a slurry are ejected on the solid particles. The use of liquids in dissolving the particles is termed as wet scrubbing and the procedure entails a direct contact between the liquid formulation and the solid particles to be removed. The figure below illustrates a model of a commonly used wet scrubber. A number of liquids can be used depending on the ability to effectively dissolve the particles as some particles may dissolve in some liquid formulations and not in others.

An alternative method of scrubbing is dry scrubbing which unlike the former does not dissolve the particles to be removed but rather uses a dry or sometimes a semi dry agent in scrubbing. Wet scrubbing, owing to the use of liquid formulations, amounts in to a stack that calls for residual water disposal mechanisms unlike dry scrubbing. Most acidic gases are purified by dry scrubbing.

Two commonly used dry scrubbers are the dry sorbent injectors and the spray dryer absorbers that are also known as semi dry scrubbers. With the dry sorbent injection, a basic agent is incorporated in to the acidic gas in motion and the two will react by neutralization. Introduction of the basic agent in to the gas in a flowing stream can be done at any point along the path of flow. For spray dryer absorbents, the gases to be purified are channeled in to a dryer also called an absorbing tower and held in direct contact with an atomized basic formulation in slurry. On absorption of the acidic gases inherent the residual solids are ejected by an out let also called a particulate controller.

Benefits of the Plan

The use of various methods to remove particulate matter unlike legal provisions can be effective if used at the level of enhancing Good Manufacturing Practices (GMP).   This is because it may not be possible for all industries to effectively adhere to the regulations unless guarded by GMP. The removal of particulate matter from gaseous emission depends on the chemical nature and the size of the particles which may call for different techniques of removal.  This is because there are always particles that are generally too fine and thus the need to have limits on sizes of the particles that can be filtered. The figure below illustrates a number of size limits for most particulate matter. The term ultra fine has been coined to imply any particle below the size of 100nm (Godish, 1997).

The use of precipitation to remove particulate matter is more effective for very small tiny particles that are bound to travel to greater heights in the atmosphere .Such particles are held for longer periods of time in air unlike heavier particles that may settle on the ground easily and perhaps be washed by other mechanisms. The use of bag houses also called dust collectors has been effective through the use of a number of bag houses. The figure below illustrates a commonly used bag house referred to as the mechanical shaker whose filtration process entails the mechanical shaking of the stream of gas to filter out the solids. The efficacy of which depends on the type of filter. A factor that is common to all methods that entail removal of particles in gases by filtration.  It is very effective if at all good filters are used.

Wet scrubbing is effective in air purification if at all the liquid formulations used are effected to concentrations that can effectively remove the targeted material. The time of contact between the liquids and the material to be removed can be increased for effective removal. Though the use of liquids, calls for the need to have affluent removal techniques; scrubbing by use of dry methods is equally effective especially with the use of spraying since pressure can easily be modified to various levels to attain efficacy. All the methods used in cleaning air are geared at increasing its safety by reducing contamination. Cleaned air is thus safe if emitted in to the atmosphere (Turner, 1994).

The Role of the Government in the Implementation of the Plan

The adoption and efficiency of the above methods of purifying air lies within good manufacturing practices. Such a plan does not need   a wide time frame to implement as the facilities can be readily purchased on the market. It is thus upon the government to ensure that good manufacturing practices are upheld. The government can thus foster such through limiting operation of industries to the adoption of such facilities. This will send the notion that only industries that have facilities that can convert pollutants in to less harmful products can operate. Such a move will see a number of implicated industries adopting the facilities and thus protecting the atmosphere from pollution.

Conclusion

Air pollution is a threat to both living and non living inhabitants of the world. A number of industrialized countries have adversely felt the effects of air pollution and are out to implement corrective measures. It is possible to have a form of industrialization that is air friendly and economically viable. Doing away with industries will be of severe negative implications. This is with regard to   human beings since    the survival of both urban and rural inhabitants is made more ample with industrial products. Both primary and secondary pollutants of air can be controlled to levels that are less harmful or equally harmless. A number of natural emissions can be effectively converted to less harmful products since it is not possible to stop natural forces.

Reference

Christopher, H. et al. (2004). Effect of air pollution .American journal of atmospheric research, (56), 345-349.

Godish T. (1997). Air quality, 3^rd edition. Washington: CRC press.

Khalizova, O. D. (2009). Methods of Controlling Harmful Gases, Vapors and dusts in industrial air. Washington: McGraw Hill.

Turner, D.B. (1994). Atmospheric dispersion estimates: Washington: CRC Press.