Modeling of air pollutant concentrations in an industrial region of Turkey.
The hourly SO2and PM10concentrations in ambient air of the Kutahya city located at the western part of Turkey have exceeded the air quality limits in winter months since several years. The region has major industrial plants including lignite-fired power plants and open-cast mining activities, residential areas, and traffic sources. To obtain and quantify the sector-wise anthropogenic emissions and spatial distribution of the major pollutants including SO2, NOx, PM10, and CO, a comprehensive emission inventory with 1-km spatial resolution was prepared for the year of 2014, and the AERMOD dispersion model was used to predict ambient air concentrations in a domain of 140 km by 110 km. Validation of the model results was also done referring to in situ routine measurements at two monitoring stations located in the study area. Total emissions of SO2, PM10, NOx, and CO in the study area were calculated as 64,399, 9770, 24,627, and 29,198 tons/year, respectively. The results showed that industrial plants were the largest sources of SO2, NOx, and PM10emissions, while residential heating and road traffic were the most contributing sectors for CO emissions. Three major power plants in the region with total annual lignite consumption of 10 million tons per year were main sources of high SO2concentrations, while high PM10concentrations mainly originated from two major open-cast lignite mines. Major contributors of high NOxand CO concentrations were traffic including highways and urban streets, and residential heating with high lignite consumption in urban areas. Results of the dispersion model run with the emission inventory resulted in partially high index of agreement (0.75) with SO2measured in the urban station within the modeled area.
Department of Environmental Engineering, Dokuz Eylül University, İzmir, Turkey.
Gizem Tuna
GT
Tuygun
Department of Environmental Engineering, Anadolu University, Eskişehir, Turkey.
Hicran
H
Altuğ
Department of Environmental Engineering, Dokuz Eylül University, İzmir, Turkey. tolga.elbir@deu.edu.tr.
Tolga
T
Elbir
Department of Environmental Engineering, Anadolu University, Eskişehir, Turkey.
Eftade E
EE
Gaga
D000393:Air Pollutants / Q000032:analysis; D000397:Air Pollution / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D002248:Carbon Monoxide / Q000032:analysis*; D003031:Coal; D004784:Environmental Monitoring / Q000379:methods; D008906:Mining; D008962:Models, Theoretical; D009589:Nitrogen Oxides / Q000032:analysis*; D052638:Particulate Matter / Q000032:analysis*; D011210:Power Plants; D012621:Seasons; D013458:Sulfur Dioxide / Q000032:analysis*; D014421:Turkey
D000393:Air Pollutants; D003031:Coal; D009589:Nitrogen Oxides; D052638:Particulate Matter; D013458:Sulfur Dioxide; D002248:Carbon Monoxide
AERMOD; Dispersion modeling; Emission inventory; Open-cast mining; Power plants