Abstract
The paper presents measurement data concerning the degree of acidification of precipitation collected during a 6-month measurement campaign carried out in an immediate vicinity of a power plant, where the cooling tower was used for discharging flue gases as a product of coal combustion. As reference, data obtained from parallel measurements carried out at a monitoring station considered as city background station were used. High acidity of precipitation was anticipated due to reactions of acid gases contained in the combustion gases with water, which already occur inside the cooling tower. The results have not confirmed this assumption. The pH value of the precipitation samples was significantly higher than the pH of rainwater at the background station located 18 km away from the power plant.
Highlights
Studies on the causes of precipitation acidity have been conducted for a long time, and there is no doubtS
The measurement station in Jaworzno was located at the premises of a coal-fired power plant, in an immediate vicinity of the cooling towers which were used for discharging flue gases
The pH values of the precipitation samples from the Jaworzno sampling site (S1) ranged from 4.57 to 7.78, and those collected in Katowice (S2) varied from 4.84 to 6.81
Summary
Studies on the causes of precipitation acidity have been conducted for a long time, and there is no doubt. S. Hlawiczka Institute for Ecology of Industrial Areas, 40‐844 Katowice, Poland that precipitation with a pH less than 5.6 must contain acids of anthropogenic origin (Likens, 1976; Charlson & Rhode, 1982; Seinfeld, 1976). The causes of acid deposition may in particular be found due to emissions of flue gas from the combustion of solid fuels in coal power plants (Granat, 1972; Hewitt, 2001; Srivastava et al, 2004). Power plants are a dominant emission source of SO2, NOx, CO2 and HCl, i.e. chemical compounds that lead to formation of acid rain. In plumes emitted mostly from coal-fired power plants, there are favourable conditions for chemical changes leading to the formation of acid-forming compounds. The main driving factor is the accumulation of reactive compounds and substances that demonstrate catalytic properties (Neuman et al, 2004; Frost et al, 2006; Sillman, 2000; Springston et al, 2005; Hlawiczka et al, 2003, Zhou et al, 2012)
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