Abstract
Coal-fired thermal plants are known to pollute the atmosphere with emission of many greenhouse gases and particulate matter. The power generation from these thermal plants cannot be stopped completely because it forms the backbone of the Indian grid power supply. It is necessary to study the dispersion patterns of pollutants that affect the health of the people. The dispersion patterns are location-specific since they depend on local meteorological conditions. In this study, the dispersion of particulate matter (PM) and sulphur dioxide (SO2) from a power plant with a 275 m-high stack are studied under different atmospheric boundary layers (ABLs) of neutral, stable and unstable conditions up to a distance of 30 km from the stack. The plume of the PM spreads under all conditions. During some parts of the day, PM settles around the stack while at other times PM keeps suspending in the air for the full distance under study. Sulphur dioxide dilutes to concentrations below the detection limits in 12–13 km from the stack for neutral and unstable boundary layers whereas for the stable boundary layer, the dispersion is up to 30 km. The 24-h weighted average concentration of sulphur dioxide, at 10-m height from the ground, is 14.2 μg/m3 at a distance of 25 km from the power plant, which is comparable with the value of 9.2 μg/m3 measured at the Air Quality Stations located around the same distance. Based on the results, policy changes that need to be implemented are suggested.
Highlights
Coal Thermal Power Plants (CTPP), in addition to releasing CO2, one of the greenhouse gases that leads to global warming, emit pollutants like SOx, NOx and particulate matter
Results and Discussion: results obtained from the simulation of the atmospheric boundary layer (ABL) are presented, which includes the profiles of key parameters across the domain for every stability class and dispersion trends of pollutants as their concentration profiles within the simulation domain
The results show multiple peaks of PM2.5, observed at around 200-300 m, 100 m and 50 m, which seems in line with the results obtained from the stable boundary layer simulations
Summary
Coal Thermal Power Plants (CTPP), in addition to releasing CO2, one of the greenhouse gases that leads to global warming, emit pollutants like SOx, NOx and particulate matter. This has been a concern all over the world and many studies have been carried out in this regard (Xu et al, 2017; WiatrosMotyka, 2019; Gibson et al 2013). These pollutants have a relatively acute impact on human health, and as studies have shown, it has become a significant cause of premature deaths in developing countries (Backes et al 2013; Cohen et al, 2017). Pollutants can spread over as far as 25 kms from the power plant
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