Environmental Impact Assessment of Petrol and Gas Filling Stations on Air Quality in Umuahia, Nigeria

Uc Okonkwo,I Onwuamaeze,In Orji

doi:10.4314/gjer.v13i1.2

Abstract

This study investigated pollutants emissions from filling stations and their impact on the air quality. Gas monitors were employed to identify the different pollutants present in the ambient air of the study areas. The results showed that the most prominent pollutants present in the ambient air are the volatile organic compounds followed by methane, then carbon monoxide. Measurements were taken at the controls at distances between 20 to 200m.The pollutants concentration recorded at the study areas showed that the level of pollutants exceeded the FEPA air quality guidelines. There are few exceptions in pollutants like the particulate matter which was found to be at concentrations within the FEPA limits. Regression analysis of the pollutants at the controls showed that only the volatile organic compounds and methane are the only significant pollutants present in the ambient air primarily because of the presence of the filling stations. These two pollutants showed a strong negative correlation with distance from the study area. While the regression curve for the volatile organic compounds (VOCs) shows a nearly perfect curve with exponential functions as its regression equations, that of methane is linear. Specifically, both VOCs and methane have a correlation coefficient (R) that is above 0.9 for the study areas. Hence a conclusion was drawn from the findings that the primary pollutant to consider when building filling station are the VOCs and methane and that the minimum safe distance to site a filling station is a distance of 80m away from residential areas.

Highlights

With the advent of industrial revolution came the demand for a better source of energy which in previous times were being provided by human and animal muscle and later by the combustion of solid fuels such as wood, peat and coal
More volatile organic compounds (VOCs) were recorded at the dispensing areas and the reason is because evaporation of fuel occurs during the refueling of vehicles
This is because U1 is a very busy station compared to U2 and U3 at the periods that the measurements were carried out and the direct consequence of this is that more of the pollutants will be released into the ambient air at U1 when compared with the other two.Methane was found to be in high concentration at U1 and U3 and this comes from leakages from the storage tanks for cooking gas and evaporation during the dispensing of the gas to buyers

Summary

Introduction

With the advent of industrial revolution came the demand for a better source of energy which in previous times were being provided by human and animal muscle and later by the combustion of solid fuels such as wood, peat and coal. One problem associated with the use of these solid fuels is the amount of effort geared towards harnessing the energy. At the beginning of the 20th century the industrial revolution has progressed to the extent that the use of refined oil primarily for illumination ceased to be of primary importance. The oil industry became a major supplier of energy largely because of the advent of the automobile industry. Oil constitutes a major petrochemical feedstock, its primary importance can be seen in the fact that it is an energy source on which the world economy depends [1]. The production and consumption of oil is vital to international relations and has frequently been a decisive factor in the determination of foreign policy

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