Environmental Calculations

A Multimedia Approach

Robert G. Kunz

• Publisher: Wiley-AIChE
• Year: 2011
• Print ISBN: 9780470139851
• eBook ISBN: 9781118215630
• Edition: 1
• Topic: Physical Sciences
• Subtopic: Organic Chemistry

Consolidates information and technical calculations for a wide variety of environmental factors

Operating a business facility of any size, especially a manufacturing location, requires environmental permits from a number of governmental regulatory agencies responsible for protecting human health and the environment. Environmental Calculations: A Multimedia Approach provides an essential, one-stop reference for the necessary technical calculations to obtain a broad range of such permits. Along with clear, concise, and factual explanations, the text also includes relevant equations, examples, and case studies to support and clarify the calculations.

Filled with the rich experience from the author's years of work in environmental permitting, the coverage features:

• An introduction to the major concepts and practice in the permitting process
  
  

• Key concepts in environmental chemistry such as the ideal gas law, vapor pressure, reaction stoichiometry, and heat effects
  
  

• Air pollution control
  
  

• Water/wastewater
  
  

• Solid/hazardous waste
  
  

• Noise generation, propagation, and control
  
  

• Radiation/radioactive decay
  
  

An all-around guide for environmental permitting in many contexts, Environmental Calculations: A Multimedia Approach is a must-have for anybody concerned with environmental assessment and compliance, as well as those reviewing, issuing, and monitoring environmental permits.

Chapter 1

Introduction

You have to start somewhere.

1.1 WHO, WHAT, WHY, AND HOW OF THIS BOOK

This work is an outgrowth of the author’s many years in industry as a member of or supervising a group of engineers charged with securing, maintaining, and/or negotiating environmental quality permits issued by government agencies. (On the author’s watch, no capital project was ever delayed on account of not having been issued an environmental permit on time.) Demonstrating compliance and, when necessary, troubleshooting processes and equipment to ensure such compliance go with the territory. To “fill out the form” as per the printed instructions, one would often have to fall back on fundamental principles or develop one’s own methods to estimate emissions to the environment, in addition to or in spite of using a prescribed methodology that came with no explanation or perhaps made no sense at all. This book attempts to capture many of those calculations and procedures in one place to serve as a reference for interested parties.

If one is looking for a book on environmental regulations, perhaps translated from legalese into plain English, this is not the right book. Although some discussion of regulations is necessary to clarify the motivation for certain calculations, the presentation strives to avoid being too specific lest it become dated as regulations, subject to change, indeed do change. In contrast, the underlying scientific principles, and the calculations derived from them, are timeless.

The presentation presumes at least a general background in science. One can accept on faith the equations and calculation procedures presented and proceed from there. However, to understand the origin of some of the mathematical relationships to the fullest, knowledge of algebra, calculus, and differential equations is required. The author’s suggestions for a course curriculum useful in preparing practitioners in the environmental control function are explored in Appendix A.

There may be some overlap between sections as common elements are perhaps repeated to make the example problems as independent as possible, so that the reader does not have to refer to the entire book while solving a particular problem. The book, however, contains a minimal amount of “handbook information.” Sufficient chemical and physical property data, basic constants, and conversion factors are included to enable an understanding of the subject matter and solve the example problems. This document may be used along with other references as necessary when modifying the problems for one’s own use and/or for other materials. It cites such sources, rather than incorporating vast amounts of supplemental material in the text. (Besides, where better to find handbook data than in a handbook?)

1.2 POTENTIAL USERS

One title that came to mind was Dr. Bob’s Handy Household Guide to Environmental Permitting Calculations, but the grown-ups at Wiley prevailed; hence, the present title. The book is designed to help someone in industry to complete environmental permit applications. It is also intended for an Environmental Regulatory Permit Engineer in a government agency to evaluate the technical content of such an application and write a meaningful permit for a new project, or ascertain compliance/noncompliance with an existing permit. This compendium of calculation procedures could also be used as a primary or supplemental text in a college course in environmental stoichiometry or as a reference source to prepare for professional engineering or other professional licensing examinations. It may serve as a useful guide for government officials and mass media personnel when called upon to educate the public in the midst of an environmental disaster, such as a chemical fire, explosion, or release of hazardous/toxic materials. A recent local example comes to mind [1]. Since the book is oriented more toward technical issues than to specific environmental regulations, the basic principles discussed could have international appeal beyond the United States, especially in developing countries where environmental control efforts may be just getting started.

1.3 ARRANGEMENT

The book is arranged by environmental media, with several chapters on air, water and wastewater, solid waste, noise, and radioactive decay, following an overview of basic concepts. (The chapter on solid waste includes a discussion of potentially hazardous materials stored on site, which may result in the aforementioned environmental disaster.) The format is an explanation of a given topic (and possibly a related anecdote) followed by a worked example problem to illustrate the concept. Where appropriate, a general discussion of environmental laws and regulations driving the need for a permit is included. Each succeeding topic builds upon others that have preceded it. When a more extensive discussion is warranted, original, real-world case study material is presented in an appendix. Finally, one of Kunz’s Maxims, truisms/snippets of philosophy accumulated over the years, appears after each chapter heading. For example, “If you are at all capable of something no one else wants to do, you’ve got the job.” Enjoy!

1.4 TRUTHS AND MYTHS ABOUT ENVIRONMENTAL CONTROL

Environmental control is based upon what the author calls the First Three Laws of the Environmental Material Balance, to wit

• What enters either stays there or leaves.
• It’s all got to go somewhere.
• That somewhere is usually the most inconvenient place.

The last statement is a corollary to Murphy’s law. Since the universe does not come with an owner’s manual and new discoveries are still being made, there may well be other laws of which the author is not yet aware.

In addition to the self-evident truths enumerated above, there is a series of accompanying environmental myths commonly held by people not directly involved in obtaining or issuing environmental permits. These are listed in Table 1.1. The tabulation is limited here to a baker’s dozen (13) to avoid devoting the entire book to this one topic. It is hoped that this book will help to remove the existence of a universal permitting handbook from the list of myths.

Table 1.1 List of Environmental Myths

...

Myth no. 1	Permits? Permits? We don’t need no stinking permits!
Myth no. 2	Environmental regulations have to make sense.
Myth no. 3	These rules don’t apply to us:
	Small plants don’t require permits.
	The plant is out in the middle of nowhere.
	It’s only water/steam.
	The agency will listen to reason.
	We’ll get an exemption.
	We can always change the law.
	Political influence works wonders.
Myth no. 4	The contractor, vendor, project engineer, consultant, or someone else gets the permits, certainly not us.
Myth no. 5	Permit expenses are not in the budget.
Myth no. 6	Requirements are getting easier.
Myth no. 7	There is no need:
	No need to explain: environmental engineers (ours and theirs) are psychic.
	No need to be straightforward: slip it in (or leave it out); maybe they won’t notice.
	No need to plan ahead: agency personnel work nights, weekends on our permit applications; the really dedicated ones give up their vacation time.
Myth no. 8	Plant managers never go to jail.
Myth no. 9	No problem! The plant’s neighbors will gladly wear earplugs, gas masks, and dark glasses.
Myth no. 10	All environmentally concerned persons are “tree huggers.”
Myth no. 11	If only our environmental people were more clever …

Table of contents

• Cover
• Half Title page
• Title page
• Copyright page
• Dedication
• Preface
• Acknowledgements
• Chapter 1: Introduction
• Chapter 2: Basic Concepts
• Chapter 3: Air Combustion
• Chapter 4: Air Control Devices
• Chapter 5: Water/Wastewater Composition
• Chapter 6: Water/Wastewater Hydraulics
• Chapter 7: Water/Wastewater Draining of Tanks
• Chapter 8: Solid Waste
• Chapter 9: Noise
• Chapter 10: Radioactive Decay
• Appendix A: Suggested Undergraduate Environmental Curriculum
• Appendix B: Relationship Among Expressions For Atmospheric Contaminants as Concentrations (ppm), Mass Flow Rates (lb/H), and Emission Factors (lb/MMBtu)
• Appendix C: Burner NOx From Ethylene Cracking Furnaces
• Appendix D: What is BOD and How is It Measured?
• Appendix E: Cooling Water Calculations
• Appendix F: Increase in Runoff From Industrial/Commercial/Urban Development: The Telltale Bridge
• Appendix G: Water Quality Improvement For A Small River
• Appendix H: Experimental Determination of Coefficient For Draining of Tank
• Appendix I: Noise Case Studies
• Appendix J: Air Pollution Aspects of the Fluid Catalytic Cracking Process
• Appendix K: Case Studies in Air Emission Control
• Appendix L: Combustion of Refinery Fuel Gas
• Index