Mathematical Methods for the Assessment and Control of Industrial Emissions (Mathematical Engineering)

Industrial pollution is a serious problem worldwide, both in developed and in developing countries. The rapid growth of the population and significant development of production and transport have led to the release of toxic pollutants that have a negative impact on the environment and human health. The problem of environmental pollution is exacerbated by large industrial complexes whose emissions exceed sanitary standards, as well as accidental or hidden discharges of pollutants. This applies equally to the processes taking place on the continent and in the ocean. Since many gases and aerosols affect the environment in one way or another, the immediate task is to assess the strength and localization of emissions in order to reduce their negative impact.

In recent years, the problem of protecting and restoring the environment has become one of the most important tasks of many sciences, the development of which is stimulated by the increasing pace of technological progress inall countries. There are two approaches to reduce emissions and protect the environment in the major industrial regions. The former, so-called technological way deals with "green" technologies that clean air or remove pollutants. The second approach including methods of prevention is of great mathematical interest and is more cost-effective than the application of end-of-pipe treatment technologies. The methods use mathematical models to describe the dispersion of pollutants, and the concentrations of harmful pollutants are regulated by a control of the intensity of emissions from the pollution sources. The advantage of this approach is that it makes it possible to simulate on a computer the concentrations of various primary and secondary pollutants, to determine the sources of excessive pollution of particularly vulnerable areas (residential areas, forests, etc.) and to develop emission control strategies for operating industrial enterprises. Also, this approach allows planning the placement of a new industrial zone and the installation of safety devices in high-risk areas to prevent an accident or unauthorized discharge.

This book is intended to introduce the reader to modern mathematical methods for preventing dangerous environmental pollution. It discusses various dispersion models and emission control strategies. The overall goal of all strategies is to limit emissions from pollution sources in order to comply with sanitary standards and prevent risks to human health. Since sanitary standards are usually associated with temporal and spatial averages, the proposed control strategies aim to reduce average concentrations of pollutants to acceptable levels in a particular zone and time interval. An effective control strategy should be applied whenever a short term forecast model predicts a violation of sanitary standards. The focus is on various mathematical aspects related to industrial pollution, including the dispersion and assessment of pollutants, thecontrol of their emissions, and the identification of the basic parameters of unknown sources. Because these problems are interdisciplinary, the reader needs a basic knowledge in differential equations, mathematical modeling, optimization theory, and numerical methods. The attached bibliography contains extensive literature on these environmental issues.

To illustrate the basic ideas of mathematical control, we will often use a simple two-dimensional (vertically integrated) model that describes the dispersion of quasi-passive pollutants. Despite this, any control strategy can also be applied to a three-dimensional dispersion model. Various examples of air and marine pollution control are presented in Chapters 5-7. Given its breadth of coverage, the book benefits a wide variety of readers, including researchers, professionals, aspirants, and students.

David Parra-Guevara received his Doctor (Ph.D.) degree from the National Autonomous University of Mexico, Mexico, in 2001. In 2002, he held a postdoctoral position for one year as a visiting researcher at the Mexican Petroleum Institute. He is currently a senior researcher (Investigador Titular) at the Institute of Atmospheric Sciences and Climate Change of the National Autonomous University of Mexico. His research interests include air and water pollution control models, direct and inverse pollution problems, and numerical methods.