Models, Methods, and Databases

Air

Integrated Air Pollution Control System (IAPCS) Cost Model  The IAPCS model estimates costs for implementing various air pollution control technologies applicable to coal-fired power plants. These technologies include sulfur dioxide control, nitrogen oxide control, particulate matter control, and combustion control. The IAPCS model is intended for use by pollution control regulators, architecture and engineering companies, utility companies, public utility commissions, and legislators.

Economics and Performance Modeling  EPA’s Air Pollution Technology Branch develops, refines, and maintains economic and performance evaluation models that estimate costs for air pollution prevention and control strategies. The models are intended for use by decision makers looking for objective, authoritative information on the cost-effectiveness of environmental technologies and risk management methods.

Mobile Source Ozone Precursor Emissions Characterization and Modeling: Mobile Emissions Assessment System for Urban and Regional Evaluation (MEASURE)  This model characterizes mobile source emissions, which are one of the largest sources of tropospheric ozone precursor emissions (carbon monoxide, nitrogen oxides, and volatile organic compounds) in the United States. This model estimates emissions for specific vehicle and engine operating modes (e.g., engine starts, acceleration, deceleration, and idling) so that more accurate information about actual on-road emissions can be obtained.

Highway Vehicle Particulate Emission Modeling Software — PART5 This is EPA's most up-to-date model for estimating particulate emissions from highway vehicles. The model analyzes the particulate air pollution effect of in-use gasoline-fueled and diesel-fueled motor vehicles. The model is appropriate for comparative analyses, such as determining the potential impact of one traffic control measure versus another.

Indoor Air Quality Modeling  Using the latest EPA research, the Indoor Environment Management Branch has developed an indoor air quality model for analyzing the effect of emissions sources, sinks, ventilation, and air cleaners on indoor air quality.

RISK Model  The RISK computer model is designed to calculate individual exposure to indoor air pollutants from emissions sources. The model can calculate exposure due to individual (as opposed to population) activity patterns and source use. It can also determine risk from the calculated exposure to indoor air pollution.

IAQX: Simulation Tool Kit for Indoor Air Quality and Inhalation Exposure Model  This model is an indoor air quality simulation software package that supplements existing simulation programs. It performs conventional indoor air quality simulations, computes the time concentration profile and inhalation exposure, and estimates the adequate ventilation rate for improving indoor air quality.

Cost Analysis of Indoor Air Control Techniques: Energy Costs of Increased Ventilation in Humid Climates (DOE-2 Modeling)  This building energy methodology is used to improve indoor air quality. It assesses the energy costs of indoor air quality control through increased ventilation in a warm, humid climate (a climate that makes improving indoor air quality particularly challenging).

Cost Analysis of Indoor Air Control Techniques: Cost Analysis of Air Cleaners for Removing VOCs From Indoor Air  This model compares the cost of using granular activated carbon with the cost of using photocatalytic oxidation for treating volatile organic compounds in indoor air.

Water

EPANET  EPANET is software that models water distribution piping systems. It performs extended‑period simulations of the hydraulic and water quality behavior within pressurized pipe networks. EPANET was developed to help water utilities maintain and improve the quality of water delivered to consumers through distribution systems. It can be used to design sampling programs, study disinfectant loss and by-product formation, conduct system vulnerability and consumer exposure assessments, and to improve a system’s hydraulic performance.

Storm Water Management Model (SWMM)  SWMM is a dynamic rainfall-runoff simulation model used for single-event or long-term (continuous) simulation of runoff quantity and quality from urban areas. SWMM tracks the quantity and quality of runoff, flow rate, flow depth, and quality of water in each pipe and channel during a simulation period. It can be used for designing urban and highway drainage systems, for Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) floodplain mapping, and for studying sewer inflow and infiltration.

Ecosystems

Center for Subsurface Modeling Support (CSMoS)  CSMoS provides modeling software used to perform site characterization and ground water flow and transport simulations. The models are also used for selecting ground water remediation options at Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA) sites, for studying Superfund-related issues, and for determining wellhead protection areas.

Sustainability

Industrial Process Pollution Prevention Modeling  This research program models industrial processes for pollution prevention applications. The purpose of the modeling is to develop computer software tools for users to assess their pollution prevention options with environmental concerns as a major parameter.

PARIS II: Computer-Aided Solvent Design for Pollution Prevention (Program for Assisting the Replacement of Industrial Solvents)  PARIS II is software created to address industrial solvents whose continued use raises concern about worker health and about toxins in the environment. This tool identifies pure chemicals or designs chemical mixtures that can serve as alternatives to more hazardous substances currently in use.

CAPE-OPEN — Computer-Aided Process Engineering, Metal Finishing Facility Pollution Prevention Tool  Chemical process simulation is a design tool that has long been used to determine the best chemical process options. The CAPE-OPEN project defines a common application for chemical process simulation and computer-aided process engineering, thereby creating a process simulation package for the metal finishing industry. This program can easily be applied to other chemical process industries.

Primary Fine Particle Control Technologies  Because of the risks associated with fine particle emissions, EPA has reviewed primary fine particle control technologies. The objective was to evaluate selected particulate matter cost and performance models, critically analyze their strengths and weaknesses, and recommend a program to focus future research on making these models more cost‑effective and on developing the optimum risk reduction strategies.

Air

Cost Analysis of Indoor Air Control Techniques: Methodology for Cost-Effective Selection of Indoor Air Quality (IAQ) Control Options  This methodology can be used by indoor air quality diagnosticians, architects, engineers, building owners and operators, and the scientific community for preliminary comparison of the cost‑effectiveness of alternative indoor air quality control measures for commercial or institutional building. It addresses improved ventiliation, air cleaners, and source management options.

Sustainability

Computer-Aided Chemical Process Design Methodologies for Pollution Reduction  This method is used to develop computer optimization and simulation methodologies for the design of economical chemical manufacturing processes. These computer tools help to minimize the potential adverse effects of pollution while keeping capital and operating costs from increasing.

Chemical Process Simulation for Waste Reduction: WAR Algorithm  EPA research is under way to develop methodologies that will help reduce the adverse effects of chemical waste on the environment while minimizing the cost of chemical processing. The goal is to minimize the potential environmental impact for a process instead of minimizing the amount of waste generated by a process. Users can emphasize or de-emphasize different hazards as needed for particular applications. For example, an operation in an area suffering from smog may emphasize air pollution effects, while an operation where workers are routinely exposed to chemicals may emphasize human health effects.

Industrial Ecology — Hierarchical Process Design  EPA is developing a hierarchical process design method for creating conceptual designs of chemical processes. In this process, the designer incorporates more detail as designs progress. At each level of the hierarchy, the designer evaluates the economics of a process so that uneconomical processes can be dropped as early as possible. The designer evaluates the environmental effects of a process in parallel with the economics so that environmental concerns can be examined early in development.

Treatability

The Drinking Water Treatability Database (TDB) presents referenced information on the control of contaminants in drinking water. It allows drinking water utilities, first responders to spills or emergencies, treatment process designers, research organizations, academicians, regulators, and others to access referenced information gathered from thousands of literature sources and assembled on one site. Over time, the TDB will expand to include over 200 regulated and unregulated contaminants and their contaminant properties.

Ecosystems