ENVIRONMENTAL RESEARCHERS AT UH ON COURSE
TO CLEAR UP SMOG
Experts Available to Comment on EPA’s New Air Quality Rulings
The Environmental Protection Agency issued its annual report on
the air quality of the nation’s cities, and Houston remains
on the list as having to continue working to clean up its air. At
the University of Houston, scientists and engineers are already
on course to develop resolutions. UH researchers are available to
discuss the following air quality issues.
Daewon W. Byun
Professor of Geosciences and Chemistry; Director of Institute
for Multi-dimensional Air Quality Studies
713-743-0707; dwbyun@math.uh.edu
http://www.imaqs.uh.edu/
Developing Air Quality Forecasting Tools
In the College of Natural Sciences and Mathematics, Daewon W.
Byun, a professor in the Department of Geosciences, directs the
Institute for Multi-dimensional Air Quality Studies (IMAQS), which
is a diverse group of researchers from the fields of geoscience,
math, computer science and chemistry. Committed to using premier
scientific tools to model the complex issues of air quality and
climate change, the institute’s modeling efforts address critical
components simultaneously that include emissions inventories, meteorology
and atmospheric chemistry. IMAQS is currently developing air quality
forecasting tools to support the greater Houston community to provide
“real time” information on local and regional air quality.
IMAQS works closely with national, state and local agencies, as
well as leaders in academia, to identify key scenarios to run on
the institute’s modeling systems so that public policy is
guided with the best science.
Michael Harold
Dow Chair Professor and Chairman of the Department of Chemical
Engineering
713-743-4304; MHarold@uh.edu
http://www.chee.uh.edu/faculty/harold/
Reducing Diesel Fuel Emissions
In the Cullen College of Engineering, emerging technologies offer
promising possibilities for reducing the polluting emissions found
in diesel engine exhaust, a major culprit of smog, that would ultimately
improve urban air quality. Michael Harold, a professor and chair
of the Department of Chemical Engineering, is the principal investigator
on a five-year air quality project to conduct diesel emission research,
technology development, testing and data analysis. This research
is part of a $3.8 million contract awarded to the UH engineering
college from the City of Houston to test new technologies that may
reduce emissions from the city’s fleet of 2,800 diesel-powered
vehicles. Diesel fuel burns much more efficiently than gasoline,
so the development of effective diesel emissions technology offers
great promise for reducing energy consumption that, in turn, could
reduce the production of carbon dioxide, which often is associated
with global warming. Harold additionally has received funding from
the State of Texas Advanced Technology program to research advanced
catalytic converter technology for nitrogen oxide (NOx) reduction
from lean burn and diesel vehicles. This research involves fundamental
bench-scale and modeling studies of the “NOx trap,”
conducted by Harold and fellow Chemical Engineering Professor Vemuri
Balakotaiah.
James T. Richardson
Professor of Chemical Engineering
713-743- 4324; JTR@uh.edu
http://www.chee.uh.edu/faculty/richardson/
Stopping Nitrogen Oxide to Prevent Ozone
Also in the Cullen College of Engineering, Chemical Engineering
Professor James T. Richardson is working on an innovative solution
to the ozone problem that may stop nitrogen oxide (NOx), an ozone
precursor and major contributor to urban smog, before it ever gets
started. Roughly one-third of fossil fuel in the United States is
consumed for electrical power generation and industrial process
heat. When exhaust from that fuel is vented into the atmosphere,
it typically produces several pollutants that include NOx. If these
NOx emissions from power plants could be prevented, a major battle
against the formation of ground-level ozone would be won. A new
catalytic combustion design being developed by Richardson presents
the power industry with an affordable combustion alternative to
virtually eliminate NOx emissions by ensuring that most of it never
gets created in the first place.
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