Air Quality Benefits From Implementing Best Available Techniques in Copper Mining and Smelting Complex Bor (Serbia)

Abstract

Since 2016, the impact of the best available techniques (BAT) on air quality in Bor is significant. Its performance is presented by the air quality assessment with respect to the average annual sulfur dioxide (SO2) emitted concentrations and the total SO2 volume emitted per year from the smelter and sulfuric acid plant, relative to the quantity of processed concentrate in the period when production was conducted with the old technology, in 2013. Air quality in Bor was categorized as category III, i.e., the air was heavily polluted due to the exceeded tolerance of SO2 values. In the agglomeration Bor, during 2016/2017, air was of the category I, i.e., clean or slightly polluted air. The data illustrated that the temporal (yearly) variation of SO2 concentration was more influenced by human-related factors, especially by secondary industry share, as SO2 is mainly produced and discharged in the process of industrial production. The spatial variation of such concentration was more affected by meteorological indicators, especially by wind direction. In the period of the new technology, a significantly greater volume of concentrate was processed and a considerably larger quantity of cathode copper produced, and at the same time, total volume of emitted SO2 and measured heavy metals (lead-Pb, arsenic-As, cadmium-Cd, and nickel-Ni) was substantially reduced.