Masters Theses

Date of Award

5-1993

Degree Type

Thesis

Degree Name

Master of Science

Major

Environmental Engineering

Major Professor

Wayne T. Davis, Terry L. Miiller

Committee Members

Bruce R. Robinson

Abstract

The Urban Airshed Model has been employed to predict the maximum impact of ozone formation in the atmosphere passing over Memphis, Tennessee during the period of 1986 to 1988. The wind direction was chosen from south-west to north-east. The model result was compared with the observed peak ozone concentration. The model result was within 7% of the observed ozone concentration. The effects of various emission sources on ozone formation were evaluated. Mobile and area sources had the most significant contribution to ozone formation and those sources were also the most significant contributor to NOx emissions. NOx emissions from a local power plant were also high. This source showed less of a contribution to ozone formation at the ground level due to the stack height. In spite of large VOC emissions from biogenic sources, this source category also showed little contribution to ozone formation. A sensitivity analysis was done by varying the VOCs emitted from mobile sources. Analysis showed that the ozone formation was NOx limited. The peak ozone concentration did not change appreciably when VOC emissions from mobile sources were changed significantly. However, a reduction of NOx emissions from mobile source caused a significant reduction in ozone formation based on the UAM modeling.

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