Model Development for Emissions From Petrochemical Industries Located in the Petrochemical Special Economic Zone

Author
Assistant professor, Faculty of Civil, Water and Environmental Engineering, Shahid Beheshti University, Tehran, Iran
Abstract
Air pollution is one of the most obvious environmental problems and many efforts are being made to reduce it in various ways. One of the most effective tools to study air pollution is air quality modeling. The purpose of this study is to model the distribution of pollutants emitted by petrochemical industries located in the Petrochemical Special Economic Zone using a box model. Petrochemical Special Economic Zone is located in a rectangular area with a length of approximately 9 km and a width of approximately 3 km north of Imam Khomeini Port. The region has 5 zones, 17 petrochemical companies, and various light and heavy industries in the field of oil and gas. The box model has been selected due to the size and shape of the study area, the availability of the required information, computational efficiency, and the ability of pollutant concentration. In this regard, the emission inventory of the study area was prepared at the first stage; accordingly, the mixing depth was calculated, and the box model was developed to model the air pollutant concentration in the study area. According to the results, the average annual concentration of CO, NOx, and SO2 were 265, 53, and 27 µg/m3, respectively. Considering the annual concentration standard of 100 µg/m3 for NOx and 80 µg/m3 for SO2, the calculated levels for NOx and SO2 concentration are within the standard range. Finally, the box model gives a reliable estimate of the contribution of industries in reducing air quality and considering the adverse effects of sulfur-containing pollutants on human health, it is suggested to plan for reducing these pollutants in the special petrochemical economic zone.
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