Subgrid-scale treatment of stack plumes in a three-dimensional air quality model

Conference · Thu Jul 01 04:00:00 EDT 1999

OSTI ID:20002104

Karamchandani, P; Seigneur, C; Lohman, K ^[1]

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1. and others

The authors describe the development and application of a second-generation photochemical plume-in-grid model for investigating the subgrid scale effects associated with power plant emissions on ozone formation. Traditional Eulerian photochemical models cannot resolve the strong concentration gradients created by plumes emitted from large point sources. Although a number of plume-in-grid approaches have been used in the past to address this issue, they have been limited by their simplistic simulation of plume dispersion and their lack of treatment of the effect of turbulence on plume chemistry. The approach presented here combines a state-of-the-science puff model with an optimized chemistry model that accurately represents the chemistry of a power plant plume at various stages of its evolution. The puff model uses a second-order closure scheme, allowing for more accurate treatment of dispersion and the influence of turbulence on chemical rates. It also allows the splitting and merging of puffs to account for wind shear effects, varying chemistry across the plume, and inter- and intra-plume interactions. The combined puff/chemistry model is embedded into an Eulerian grid model. Results from the application of this model to a region containing some of the largest NO{sub x} emitting power plants in the US are presented.

• Research Organization: Atmospheric and Environmental Research, Inc., San Ramon, CA (US)
• OSTI ID: 20002104
• Report Number(s): CONF-990608--
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

20 FOSSIL-FUELED POWER PLANTS
AIR POLLUTION
ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACTS
FOSSIL-FUEL POWER PLANTS
MATHEMATICAL MODELS
NITROGEN OXIDES
OZONE
PHOTOCHEMICAL REACTIONS
PLUMES
STACK DISPOSAL