A Nonlinear Programming Search Technique to Locate Position and Magnitude of the Maximum Air Quality Impact from Point Sources

Abstract

Environmental regulations in the USA require that the effect on ambient air quality of new air pollutant emission sources be determined prior to construction of these sources. Air quality modeling is the means by which this evaluation is performed. In the process of this evaluation, the programmer carries out many similar operations entering data for various receptor locations. The objective is to locate the region of maximum concentration by constructing ever finer receptor grids narrowing down the region with each succeeding computer run. This process can be time consuming for the computer operator and may also involve a large amount of computer time. In an effort to reduce the time required by the operator and the computer, a study was conducted using modern optimization techniques that have become routine for engineering studies of this kind. This paper describes the technique of finding the location and magnitude of maximum air quality impact from point emission sources.