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Air Pollution Training Institute (APTI)

Computer-Based Courses

The Air Pollution Training Institute (APTI) has developed several computer-based courses to support the APTI mission of providing technical air pollution training. These courses have been developed for employees of state, tribal, and local air pollution control agencies. These courses can also be of great value to anyone with an interest in air pollution control. Links and course descriptions are listed below. 

Introduction to Air Pollution Control
 http://www.epa.gov/apti/control/index.html
This course is designed to present an introductory view of all major aspects of air pollution control. This course is intended primarily for those unfamiliar with governmental control of air pollution or those who require a general knowledge of the principles and practices associated with air pollution control.

Topics included are:

  1. Control Program History
  2. Human health and environmental effects of air pollution
  3. Transport and dispersion of air pollution
  4. Indoor air
  5. The US Clean Air Act
  6. Ambient air quality monitoring
  7. Measurement of pollutant emissions
  8. Emissions inventory
  9. Control of stationery and mobile source emissions
  10. Pollution prevention
  11. Laws & regulations
  12. Compliance & enforcement

Although not required, a final exam is available with a certificate for those obtaining a grade of 90% or better.

Risk-Based Air Toxics Computer Training Course
 http://www.epa.gov/apti/course/index.html
This computer-based training course consist of 11 highly interactive modules. These modules contain simulations, animation, and graphics. Each module is approximately 30-45 minutes in length. Upon completion of this training, students will have a basic understanding of air pollution toxicology, epidemiology, and risk assessment. This computer training course is in a self-study format with review questions to help reinforce presented information. Once the course is completed, students can take a quiz and upon passing can print out a certificate of completion.

Basic Concepts in Environmental Sciences 
http://www.epa.gov/apti/bces
This online reference material, consisting of seven modules, contains self-study reading material and problems that review important fundamental engineering principles and concepts used in a number of Air Pollution Training Institute (APTI) courses on control technology, permit review, and compliance monitoring and inspection. Mastering this material will prepare you for understanding the more advanced technical information presented in APTI courses. 

The format is self-instructional with the added feature of allowing learners to direct questions and comments to a content expert at APTI. 

Each module is divided into approximately 10 lessons, each of which has a set of Practice Problems. A Review Exercise follows each module. While Practice Problems focus primarily on concepts discussed in a particular lesson, the Review Exercises test concepts and principles discussed in multiple lessons or modules. Students are responsible for checking their own answers to Practice Problems and Review Exercises. Some lessons contain animation and Java applets that reinforce concepts introduced in the text. 

No registration is required. This reference material is free to the public. 

OS 411 Computational Atmospheric Sciences 
http://www.shodor.org/os411 Exit EPA disclaimer
This series consists of six courses identified by the "OS411" course number, followed by the letters A through F. Each course is a "stand-alone" course: that is, each course is a complete program of instruction. Courses after the first course, however, "build" on each other. In other words, participants are expected to be comfortable with the information presented in OS411A prior to beginning any of the subsequent courses. 

The six courses, with brief descriptions, are as follows. More detailed information about each course, including the number of credit hours, is available on the top page of each course: 

1. OS411A, Essential Science for Air Quality Modeling: this course is designed to be a refresher course in the basic principles of chemistry, physics, mathematics, and statistics that are necessary in any study of atmospheric science, meteorology, and air quality modeling. This course is designed to prepare the student for the application of the basic concepts to atmospheric science, meteorology, and air quality modeling analyses. 

2. OS411B, Essential Atmospheric Sciences: this course builds on OS411A, providing a foundation in some of the more basic concepts in atmospheric science, including structure of the atmosphere, atmospheric chemistry and physics, and atmospheric cycles. Students taking this course should have a high comfort level with the basic sciences presented in OS411A. 

3. OS411C, Meteorology for Air Quality Modeling: this course provides the basic foundation needed in meteorology by the air quality modeler. In addition to basic concepts in meteorology, the course also includes readings on numerical weather prediction (NWP) and other meteorological models. 

4. OS411D, Tropospheric Chemistry: this course provides an in-depth description of the chemical species, reaction mechanisms, and characteristics of the atmosphere from a chemist's perspective. Discussions on air quality standards are also presented in this course. 

5. OS411E, Computational Science: this course provides a detailed overview of the technologies, techniques, and tools of computational science. The course looks at different scientific disciplines (or areas) that are studied from a computational perspective, the tools of computational science, and some of the advantages and disadvantages of the use of these methods (to be completed by May 2001).

6. OS411F, Atmospheric Science Models: the final course of the series presents a discussion, using a computational science framework, of some of the more important models historically and currently in use in the atmospheric science field (to be completed by May 2001).

No registration is required. This reference material is free to the public. 

MACT Control Technology Series 
 http://www.epa.gov/ttn/atw/utrain.html
The MACT Control Technology Series has been developed to provide new state and local inspection personnel basic training on different air pollution control equipment. The series is broken down into different types of equipment such as electrostatic precipitators or condensation type devices and provides basic instruction on these types of devices. Some of the issues covered in the modules are: 

  •      What the different types of devices are. 
  •      How they work.
  •      How to tell if they are working correctly. 
  •      Causes of decreased performance.
  •      Performance monitoring. 

Although this training is not intended as a complete training in the inspection of these devices, it will provide a basic understanding of the different types of equipment used. This series is available on CD, video tape, or as a downloadable ZIP file.  CDs and VHS tape can be requested via e-mail to rogers.donna@epa.gov.

The current series consists of the following topics: 

  •      Electrostatic Precipitators
  •      Incineration
  •      Carbon Adsorption
  •      Wet Scrubbers
  •      Condensation
  •      Absorbers 

No registration is required. This reference material is free to the public. 

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