Modeling of Criteria Air Pollutant Emissions from Selected Nigeria Petroleum Refineries

摘要

The dispersion models were used to estimate or predict the concentration of air pollutants or toxins emitted from sources such as industrial plants, vehicular traffic or accidental chemical releases. In this study, the Industrial Source Complex Short Term (ISCST3) emission dispersion model was used to measure the ground level concentration of criteria air pollutants within 50 km radius of location. This model considered emissions from major point sources of pollutants in four existing and twenty-three proposed Nigeria petroleum refineries. The obtained ground level concentration for 24-hr averaging periods of the criteria air pollutants at sensitive receptor around each of the refineries was compared with the National Ambient Air Quality Standards (NAAQS) of Nigeria, World Bank and World Health Organization (WHO) to determine their level of compliance. The highest ground level concentration predicted to be 450 - 1875 μg/m3 for 24-h averaging period was obtained at Tonwei Oil Refinery, Ekeremor Local Government, Bayelsa State, while the lowest ground level concentration predicted to be 0.0099 - 0.1 μg/m3 for 24-h averaging period was obtained at Amakpe International Refinery, Eket Local Government, Akwa Ibom State. Percentage set limits of criteria air pollutants ranging from 0.02% to 94.5% are within the set standard limits and no health risk is associated with areas around the plant’s locations while percentage set limits of criteria pollutants ranging from 1.1 to 55.6 folds of the standards exceed the maximum permitted limits, hence affecting areas around the plants. The air quality standards guiding petroleum refinery emissions must be strictly considered, in order to ensure that the ground level concentrations do not exceed the required standard limits and prevent the adverse effects of air pollution in the Nigeria airshed.