Study of air quality at an industrial area in coastal India

Abstract

 After privatization of the power sectors in India, the fossil-fuel-based power industries have an important role to play in the liberalization of the economy of the country. Modeling efforts will help a great deal in designing   stacks and in taking appropriate pollution control measures for the proposed power plants. A case study has been cited with short-term (24-hour) use of dispersion model in assessing Ground Level Concentration (GLC) of the pollutants due to existing and proposed major industries, and their impact on large human settlement close to the power plants.  The results of the new Desein Dispersion Model (DDM) are compared with those of Industrial Source Complex Short-Term, ISCST (version 3) model of the US Environment Protection Agency. In  DDM, the reflection coefficient term has been used in calculating  GLCs. This has the advantage of including the impact of gravitational settling on the pollutants close to the site. Hourly meteorological data of wind direction (degree), wind speed (ms^-1), temperature (K), stability class, and mixing height (m) have been used as input for both the models.  Short-term GLCs of  SO₂ and NO_x due to major industries have been assessed during monsoon, post-monsoon, summer and winter under worst meteorological conditions. Comparison of the 8 hourly model predicted concentrations of SO₂ and NO_x with the corresponding observed values at nine locations around the pollution source indicates that DDM results are more suitable for Indian conditions than those of ISCST3 model.