Air Quality Monitoring Around The First ISCC Power Plant in Egypt

Abstract

It may be the first study in Egypt and therein lays the importance of carrying out this study to determine the impact of emissions of such type of power stations on ambient air quality. Survey for four pollutants: suspended particulate matter (SPM), inhalable suspended particulate matter (ISPM), sulfur dioxide (SO2), and nitrogen dioxide (NO2), at the ISCC power plant was achieved in the period from April 2009 to March 2012. The annual levels of SPM were 680.4, 546.7, and 466.2 μg m−3 and those of ISPM were 318.3, 239.2, and 175.6 μg m−3 for years 2009, 2010, and 2011, respectively. The high contribution of SPM and ISPM is due to dust intrusions, besides local sources. Lower ISPM/SPM concentration ratio than 0.5 confirms that desert intrusions are the main source. The annual NO2 levels were 14.2, 17.9, and 19.0 μg m−3 and those of SO2 were 8.1, 10.3, and 8.8 for years 2009, 2010, and 2011, respectively. These concentrations are very low when compared with the Egyptian and international laws but daily SO2 levels exceed the limit given by WHO. This shows the low impact of studied gaseous pollutants. There is no definite seasonal trend for SPM and ISPM in the first and third year of study while SPM level in the second year was high in spring (March and May) and winter (December to February), whereas ISPM concentration was high in spring only (March and May). Coarse particulate matter is predominant in winter. The variation in NO2 and SO2 concentrations changes from year to year of the studied 3 years. The relatively high SO2/NO x ratios indicate that the point emission sources are predominant. Significant relation of WS with SPM and its nonsignificant relation with ISPM reflect the contribution of desert intrusions. Most of pollutants correlations with studied meteorological factors are nonsignificant, and this confirm that the main sources of pollution are local sources.