Abstract
The objective of this paper is to study the potential impacts of nitrogen oxide (NO x ) plume emissions from Shuaiba Industrial Area (SIA) on the air quality and photochemical smog concentrations of downwind areas when the plume travels from the east (sea) towards the west. SIA is considered as the most important industrial area in Kuwait because it is the centre for heavy industries. SIA includes many process industries which emit significant quantities of NO x as a result of the combustion of large quantities of fuel. The NO x are emitted mostly as NO (90%), the balance being NO 2 . In the atmosphere, NO is converted by chemical reactions to NO 2 and this can further react photochemically to produce ozone. However, NO 2 and O 3 are much more noxious than NO. Therefore, it is very important to be able to predict the downwind NO 2 and O 3 concentrations that may result from NO x sources. In this paper, the photochemical smog model which has been developed at the Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organization of Australia (CSIRO) was adopted. The model is a combination of the conventional dispersion model and the integrated empirical rate (IER) mechanism of photochemical smog formation which has been developed at CSIRO. It is based on knowledge of the measured properties of the background air and the concentration of the NO x plume. For modelling purposes, one day was selected as an example case of the application of the model. For this particular day, the air characteristics data recorded by the mobile laboratory at 12:00 h were selected to provide the ambient air data and considered as initial conditions for simulating the model when the wind blows from the sea direction (east) towards the west. These conditions in this particular direction from east to west have been considered a simulation case for the ambient air into which the plume would disperse. Then the effects of the NO x plume from SIA major industrial plants were done separately for atmospheric conditions which corresponded to this particular direction. It was found that the SIA NO x plume has clear impact and results in new smog production. In addition, it has been found that the effect of NO x emissions is strongly dependent on the chemical properties and conditions of the ambient air into which the NO x plume is mixed.
Published Version
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