This course requires basic understanding of common air pollutants, air emissions management, statistics, and impact assessment.
The following topics will be covered:
- Regulatory framework for air emissions in BC and air quality objectives,
- Introduction to key elements of an air discharge permit,
- Standard conditions for discharge: %H2O, %O2, temperature and pressure corrections, conversion from actual to standard conditions, and stack test reports,
- Particulate matter control: introduction to cyclones, baghouses, and ESPs,
- Control of gaseous pollutants,
- Fundamentals of dispersion modelling: what models can (and cannot) tell you and how to interpret results, and
- Analysis ambient air quality data: common caveats and spatiotemporal variability.
Attendees will acquire:
- A basic understanding of the regulatory framework in BC with respect to air emissions,
- Learn about the fundamentals of air pollution control equipment and selection,
- Learn how to interpret permit conditions for air emissions, including the importance of standard conditions, and
- Basics of dispersion modelling, understand limitations, and advantages of modelling.
Head, Air Quality Section, BC Ministry of Environment
Adjunct Professor, IRES, UBC Vancouver
Dr. Saraswat works as the Head of Air Quality Section (Assessments) at the BC Ministry of Environment and an Adjunct Professor at the Institute for Resources, Environment, and Sustainability. In his current role at the Ministry of Environment, Arvind leads the section responsible for the review of air discharge applications under the Environmental Management Act (EMA) and the Environmental Assessment Act (EAA), and is also a statutory decision maker under EMA. Arvind’s team is responsible for making recommendations on permitting of air discharges, publishing regional air quality reports, leading airshed planning activities, and issuing air quality advisories. In his previous role as the Head of Environmental Management Section (Omineca-Peace), Arvind led regional permitting and compliance activities for oil and gas, forest, and municipal sectors. Arvind is a professional engineer with a bachelor’s degree in civil engineering from the Indian Institute of Technology Delhi, India, and a PhD in Resource Management and Environmental Studies from the University of British Columbia, Vancouver.
Arvind’s research interests include modelling small-area variations in concentrations of urban air pollutants, development of novel methods for estimating population exposure, and air quality impact assessment for major industrial sources. Arvind has published his research in important scientific journals like Environmental Science and Technology and Transportation Research Part-F.