Air Quality Control

Air quality and air pollution control are tasks of international concern as, for one, air pollutants do not refrain from crossing borders and, for another, industrial plants and motor vehicles which emit air pollutants are in widespread use today. In a number of the world's expanding cities smog situations are a frequent occurrence due to the number and emission-intensity of air pollution sources. Polluted air causes annoy­ ances and can, when it occurs in high concentrations in these cities, constitute a seri­ ous health hazard. How important clean air is to life becomes apparent when consid­ ering the fact that humans can do without food for up to 40 days, without air, how­ ever, only a few minutes. The first step towards improving the air quality situation is the awareness that a sound environment is as much to be aspired for as the development of new tech­ nologies improving the standard of living. Technical progress should be judged es­ pecially by how environmentally benign, clean and noiseless its products are. Of these elements, clean air is of special concern to me. I hope that this book will awaken more interest in this matter and that it will lead to new impulses. Due to the increasing complexity of today's machinery and industrial processes science and technology can no longer do without highly specialized design engineers and opera­ tors. Environmental processes, however, are highly interdependent and interlinked.

The problem of air quality control concerns a wide range of disciplines. This introductory book explains the origin of pollutants and their dispersion and transformation in the atmosphere, describes their effects on humans, animals, plants, and objects, and presents techniques for the reduction of emissions from a variety of sources.
Measuring techniques are emphasized because of their importance for the detection of pollutants and for monitoring the performance of emission control equipment. The closing chapter discusses international regulations for air quality control.
For all those interested in environmental protection this book is a highly readable introduction to the field of air pollution and air quality control. It serves as a useful textbok for teachers and students, and as a reference for practice-oriented work in industry, consultancies, administration, and environmental agencies. Günter Baumbach, born in 1948, is Professor of Air Quality Control at the University of Stuttgart, Germany. His fields of research cover emission reduction for combustion processes and experimental investigations of air pollutant dispersion in urban and rural areas. He holds lectures on air pollution prevention, air quality control, and measuring techniques.
Fachgebiet: Environmental Engineering Zielgruppe: Application