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In order to evaluate the impact of emission of pollutants on the environment, it has become increasingly important that the dispersion of pollutants be predicted accurately. Recently, USEPA has proposed stringent guidelines for regulating the diesel exhaust emissions, specifically, NOx, COx, SOx, and particulate matter (PM) due to green house effect, and ozone depletion. Modeling pollutant transport in the atmospheric environment is complicated by the fact that there are many turbulent mixing time scales and spatial scales present which directly influence the dispersion of the plume. The traditional approach to predicting pollutant dispersion in the atmosphere is the use of Gaussian plume models. The Gaussian models are based on a steady state assumption, and they require the flow to be in a homogeneous and stationary turbulence state.

In recent years, there has been an increasing need for accurately predicting the nucleation, coagulation, and dynamics of particulate matter (PM) emissions from diesel engines. The proposed United Sates Environmental Protection Agency (USEPA) standard on fine particles, is focused on allowing levels of 50 μg/m3 annual average concentration of PM10 (particles smaller than 10 μm aerodynamic diameter) and an additional annual average standard of 15 μg/m3 of fine particles smaller than 2.5 μm in the atmosphere. Existing legislation for particulates is however, based on measurement by mass but not on the particle number density. The current system does not properly account for the small particulates, mostly of the nucleation type, which have an insignificant mass despite being present in very high numbers. These small particulates in high numbers can contribute extremely large surface areas for biological interaction, and they can pose a serious health threat.