St. Arnold’s Hr.

Sec School
Vijay Nagar, Indore (M.P.)

2018 -
19
Chemistry Project

Submitted By - Guided By -

Pranjal Parmar Mrs. Reena Harry

XII - A
 CERTIFICATE

This is to certify that PRANJAL PARMAR , of

class XII-A has successfully completed the
research on the below mentioned project
under the guidance of MRS. REENA HARRY
during the year 2018-2019 in partial
fulfilment of chemistry practical examination
conducted by C.B.S.E., AJMER.

SIGNATURE OF
EXTERNAL EXAMINER: INTERNALEXAMINER:

PRINCIPAL:

1
 ACKOWLEDGEMENT

I would to express my special thanks of

gratitude to my Chemistry teacher
MRS. REENA HARRY,to my lab incharge
Mr. Randheer Victor and Dr. D.K Wagela
(Chief Chemist, MPPCB) as well as our
principal Rev. Fr. PIOUS CYRIAC, SVD for
providing with all the facility required which
helped me to complete my project within the
limited time frame.

2
 OBJECTIVE

The purpose of the experiment is – To understand

the methods the calculating the concentration of
pollutants in air and their harmful effects.
I became interested in this idea when I read an
article about the increasing rate of air pollution
and it harmful effects. I wanted to know how the
statistical data was calculated and how can we
reduce it.

3
 INTRODUCTION

Air pollution can be defined as the presence of

toxic chemicals or compounds (including those of
biological origin) in the air, at levels that pose a
health risk. In an even broader sense, air pollution
means the presence of chemicals or compounds
in the air which are usually not present and which
lower the quality of the air or cause detrimental
changes to the quality of life (such as the
damaging of the ozone layer or causing global
warming).

Air pollution is probably one of the most serious

environmental problems confronting our
civilization today. Most often, it is caused by
human activities such as mining, construction,
4
transportation, industrial work, agriculture,
smelting, etc. However, natural processes such as
volcanic eruptions and wildfires may also pollute
the air, but their occurrence is rare and they
usually have a local effect, unlike human activities
that are ubiquitous causes of air pollution and
contribute to the global pollution of the air every
single day.

5
 HISTORY
The first evidences of air pollution was witnessed
in 1948 in Donora, Pennsylvania, a small town
that was enveloped in a lethal haze. Steel and zinc
smelters had long plagued the town with dirty air.
In over five days, nearly half of the town's 14,000
residents experienced severe respiratory or
cardiovascular problems. It was difficult to
breathe. The death toll rose to nearly 40. The
situation in Donora was extreme, but it reflected a
trend. Air pollution had become a harsh
consequence of industrial growth across the
country and world.
Crises like Donora's were widely publicized;
people took notice and began to act.
Scientists started investigating the link between
air pollution and health. States began passing

6
 legislation to reduce air pollution. And in 1970, a
milestone year, Congress passed the Clean Air Act
Amendments which led to the establishment of
the nation's air quality standards.

Iron ore, coke and limestone

CO(gas) CO(gas)

Steel lined with

heat resistant brick.

Hot air blast Hot air blast

Tap hole for

Slag
Tap hole for
Iron
Emission of Carbon Monoxide (CO) from
Smelter

7
 AIR POLLUTNATS
The chemical compounds that lower the air
quality are usually referred to as air pollutants.
These compounds may be found in the air in two
major forms:

 In gaseous forms ( as gases )

 In solid form ( as particulate matter
suspended in air)

SULPHER OXIDES NITROGEN OXIDE CARBON

(SOX) MONOXIDE (CO)

(NOX)
Toxic gases Extremely toxic,
Toxic gases.
produced by produced by
industrial processes incomplete
and burning fossil combustion and
fuels. vehicle exhaust.
CARBON DIOXIDE PARTICULATE AMMONIA
MATTER (PM)
(CO2) (NH3)
Produced by burning
A green house gas. Usually emitted from
fossil fuels.
Emitted by agricultural
Construction sites are
combustion processes.
another source.
processes.

8
EXPERIMENT

9
AIM:
To measure the concentration of harmful
pollutants in air.

THEORY:
Air contains harmful pollutants. The pollutants are
collected with the help of a machine called
Respirable Dust Sampler (RDS). The machine
collets air from the surrounding via a pump and
the collected air is passed through absorbing
solution of the pollutant gases. After 24 hours the
test tube are removed and then the concentration
of the gasses is calculated by different techniques.

10
EXPERIMENT:
1. Analysis of Sulphur dioxide (SO2)
 Principle

Modified West and Gaeke Method (For analysis

of SO2). Sulphur dioxide is absorbed in the
solution of potassium tetrachloromercurate
(TCM/ Cl4HgK2 ).
A dichlorosulphitomercurate complex is formed
which resist oxidation by oxygen, in air.
SO2 (g) + [HgCl4]-+ 2H2O ______> [HgCl2 SO3]-+2H++2Cl-
Dichlorosulphitomercurate complex

 Sampling

11
Place 30 ml of absorbing solution(TCM) at the
impringer in RDS machine for 4 hours at the flow
rate of 1L/min.
After sampling measure the volume of sample and
transfer to a sample storage bottle.

 Procedure
Replace any water lost by evaporation during the
sampling by distilled water up to calibration mark
on the absorber. Take 10/20 ml of the collected
sample into 25 ml volumetric flask. Add 1 ml of
0.6% sulphamic acid and allow reacting for 10
minutes to destroy the nitrite resulting from
oxides of nitrogen. Add 2 ml of 0.2%
formaldehyde solution and 2 ml of pararosaniline
solution and make up to 25 ml with distilled
water. Prepare a blank in the same manner. After
30 min colour development interval measure and
record the absorbance of samples and reagent
blank at 560nm.
12
The actual calibration of the sulphite solution is
determined by adding excess iodine and standard
sodium thiosulphate solution.
 Calculations
Concentration of sulphite solution:
C(SO2 ug/m3)= (As-Ab) X Cf X Vs ÷( Va X Vt)

Where,
C(SO2) = Concentration of sulphur dioxide, ug/m3
As = Absorbance of sample
Ab = Absorbance of reagent blank
Cf = Calibraiton factor (13.9± 1.3 ug/m3 , for SO2)
Vs = Volume of sample, ml
Va = Volume of air sampled, m3
Vt =Volume of aliquot taken for analysis,ml(<20
ml)
On an average day, the concentration of SO2 in
air is 10ppm or 0.0261 ug SO2/m3.

13
2. Analysis of PM2.5 particle(Gravimetric Method)
 Definition
PM2.5 refers to fine particles that are 2.5
micrometers (um) or smaller in diameter.
 Principle
The electrically powered air sampler draws
ambient air at a volumetric flow rate (16.71pm)
maintained by mass flow / Volumetric flow
controller coupled to microprocessor into
specially designed inertial particle – size separator
(i.e. cyclones or impactors) where the suspended
particulate matter in the PM2.5 size ranges is
separated for collection on a 47 mm
14
polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE) filter over a
specified sampling period. Each filter is weighed
before and after sample collection to determine
the net gain due to the particulate matter. The
mass concentration in the ambient air is
computed as the total mass of collected particles
in the PM2.5 size ranges divided by actual volume
of air sampled, and is expressed in ug/m3.
 Procedure
Take the weight of filter paper before installing it
in the WINS impactor. Install the filter paper
carefully in the grill of impactor. Run the sampler
for eight hours and record the flow rate at hourly
bases.
Record the time of sampling and average flow
rate. Record the final weight of the filter paper
and calculate the concentration of PM2.5 in ug/m3.
 Calculations
Volume of air sampled,
V= (F1+F2) X T/2

15
Where,
V = volume of air sampled in m3
F1= measured flow rate before sampling in L/m3
F2= measured flow rate after sampling in L/m3
T= time of sampling
Concentration of PM2.5,
C(PM2.5)=(Wf-Wi) X 1000/Va
Where,
C(PM2.5)= Concentration of PM2.5 particles
Wf-Wi= Final and initial weight of PTFE paper
Va= Volume of air sampled in m3
On an average day, the concentration of PM2.5 in
air is 16.5 or 25 ug SO2/m3.

16
 CONCLUSION

 Pollutants are solid(PM2.5 and PM10) as well as

gas(SO2, NH3, CO, CO2, NO2).
 Modified West and Gaeke Method can
measure concentration of SO2.
 The average value of SO2 in a day is 10ppm.
 Concentration of PM2.5 particles can be
measured with the help of Gravimetric
Method.

17
 The average value of PM2.5 in a day is 25 ug
SO2/m3 .

18
19
 BIBLOGRAPHY

 Wikipedia-the free encyclopedia

 http://cpcb.nic.in/
(Central Pollution Control Board)
 http://www.mppcb.nic.in/
 (Madhya Pradesh Pollution Control Board)

20