Assessment of air pollution resulting from the South Baghdad power plant using the Gaussian model
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.54386/jam.v27i1.2759Keywords:
Primary pollutant concentration, Atmospheric stability, Lagrangian dispersion coefficients, Effective height, South Baghdad Thermal Power PlantAbstract
The city of Baghdad is currently facing a significant air pollution crisis due to increased industrial activity. Therefore, the assessment of concentrations of air pollutants specifically carbon dioxide (CO2), sulfur dioxide (SO2), nitrogen dioxide (NO2), nitrous oxide (N2O), and methane (CH4) at Al-Mustansiriya University, located approximately 10 km from the north of the South Baghdad Thermal Power Plant (SBTPP), has been made and the emission rates of these pollutants are estimated. The atmospheric stability was determined using a three-dimensional ultrasonic anemometer and stability classes were determined using the Monin-Obukhov method and applied Lagrange scale to calculate vertical and horizontal dispersion coefficients. We applied the Gaussian model to the dataset in July 2024, a month characterized by peak power generation and increased fuel combustion. The results showed that the vertical dispersion coefficient played an important role more than the transverse dispersion coefficient in measuring the dispersion of pollutants causing instability in the atmosphere. A significant peak around the tenth day of the month was observed, suggesting a change in winds, temperature, or weather patterns that influenced the dispersion and accumulation of these gases. The concentrations of the gases were found to vary with distance. The analysis indicated that the pollutants from the plant primarily dispersed in a north-westerly direction due to prevalent wind direction and their impact on areas near the Al-Mustansiriya University.
References
Abdel-Razzaq, F. A.-W., Yaseen, S. K., and Dhaigham, A. A. R. (2023). Design and construction of an air pollution detection system using a laser beam and absorption spectroscopy. Baghdad Sci. J., 20(3): 0825-0825
Ajayi, O., Ngene, B., and Ogbiye, S. (2021). Plume Model: A Simple Approach to Air Quality Control. Paper presented at the IOP Conf. Ser.: Mater. Sci. Eng. doi 10.1088/1757-899X/1036/1/012017
Ali, S. H., Qubaa, A. R., and Al-Khayat, A. B. M. (2024, February). Climate Change and its Potential Impacts on the Iraqi Environment: Overview. In IOP Conf. Ser.: Earth Environ. Sci. (Vol. 1300, No. 1, p. 012010). IOP Publishing. doi:10.1088/1755-1315/1300/1/012010
Al-Jiboori, M. H., Hasson, A. F., and Muhammed, N. A. (2024). Practical air pollution (p. 168). S. Press.
Al-Jiboori, M. (2010). Determining of neutral and unstable wind profiles over Baghdad City. Iraqi J. Sci., 51(2): 343–350.
Al-Jiboori, M. H., Al-Shaeer, M. A., and Hassan, A. S. (2020). Statistical forecast of daily maximum air temperature in arid areas in the summertime. J. Math. Fundam. Sci., 52(3): 353
Al-Naser, R. A., and Al-Jiboori, M. H. (2024). Study of the vertical dispersion coefficient of air pollution under different atmospheric stability conditions over Baghdad. Asian J. Water Environ. Pollut., 21(6): 173–180.
Al-Samarrai, H. M., and Al-Jiboori, M. H. (2022). Estimation of the Daily Maximum Air Temperature for Baghdad City Using Multiple Linear Regression. Al-Mustansiriyah J. Sci., 33(4): 9-14.
Anad, A. M., Hassoon, A. F., and Al-Jiboori, M. H. (2022). Assessment of air pollution around Durra refinery (Baghdad) from emission NO2 gas in April Month. Baghdad Sci. J., 19(3): 0515-0515. https://doi.org/10.21123/bsj.2022.19.3.0515
Blackadar, A. K. (2012). Turbulence and diffusion in the atmosphere: lectures in Environmental Sciences: Springer.
Degrazia, G. A., Stefanello, M., Costa, F. D., Martins, L. G. N., and Acevedo, O. C. (2024). Asymptotic solution for turbulent variances: application to convergence of averages and particle dispersion, 1(1) https://doi.org/10.20935/AcadEnvSci6217
Garratt, J. R. (1994). The atmospheric boundary layer. Earth- Sci. Rev., 37(1-2): 89-134.
Haugen, D. (2015). Lectures on air pollution and environmental impact analyses: Springer.
Issakhov, A., Omarova, P., and Issakhov, A. (2020). Numerical study of thermal influence to pollutant dispersion in the idealized urban street road. Air Qual. Atmos. Health, 13, 1045-1056.
Khadir, J. M., Hassoon, A. F. H., and Al-Knani, B. A. (2024). Influence of atmospheric stability conditions on wind energy density in Ali Al-Gharbi region of Iraq. J. Agrometeorol., 26(3): 279–289. https://doi.org/10.54386/jam.v26i3.2589
Khan, S., and Hassan, Q. (2020). Review of developments in air quality modeling and air quality dispersion models. J. Environ. Eng. Sci., 16(1): 1-10. https://doi.org/10.1680/jenes.20.00004
Larki, I., Zahedi, A., Asadi, M., Forootan, M. M., Farajollahi, M., Ahmadi, R., and Ahmadi, A. (2023). Mitigation approaches and techniques for combustion power plants flue gas emissions: A comprehensive review. Sci. Total Environ, 166108. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.scitotenv.2023.166108
Mahmood, D. A., Naif, S. S., Al-Jiboori, M. H., and Al-Rbayee, T. (2023). Study the relationships among stability parameters in the atmospheric surface layer adjacent to an oil refinery, in Baghdad. AIP Conf. Proc.
Nasser, M. S., Al-Hassany, J. S., and Al-Jiboori, M. H. (2024). Assessment of air pollution dispersion during wet season: A case study of Rumaila Combined Cycle Power Plant, Basrah, Iraq. J. Agrometeorol., 26(4):411–418. https://doi.org/10.54386/jam.v26i4.2756
Santos, L. G. R., Afshari, A., Norford, L. K., and Mao, J. (2018). Evaluating approaches for district-wide energy model calibration considering the Urban Heat Island effect. Appl. Energy, 215:31-40. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.apenergy.2018.01.089
Stull, R. B. (2012). An introduction to boundary layer meteorology (Vol. 13): Springer Science & Business Media.
Turner, D. B. (2020). Workbook of atmospheric dispersion estimates: an introduction to dispersion modeling: CRC press.
Xin, L., Fei, H., Yifen, P., Al-Jiboori, M., Zhaoxia, H., and Zhongxiang, H. (2002). Identification of coherent structures of turbulence at the atmospheric surface layer. Adv. Atmos. Sci., 19: 687–698.
Younes, M., Harale, A., and Musawi, M. (2019). Process for acid gas treatment and power generation. In: Google Patents.
Downloads
Published
How to Cite
License
Copyright (c) 2025 RUQAYA A. Al-NASER, MONIM H. AL-JIBOORI
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.
This is a human-readable summary of (and not a substitute for) the license. Disclaimer.
You are free to:
Share — copy and redistribute the material in any medium or format
Adapt — remix, transform, and build upon the material
The licensor cannot revoke these freedoms as long as you follow the license terms.
Under the following terms:
Attribution — You must give appropriate credit, provide a link to the license, and indicate if changes were made. You may do so in any reasonable manner, but not in any way that suggests the licensor endorses you or your use.
NonCommercial — You may not use the material for commercial purposes.
ShareAlike — If you remix, transform, or build upon the material, you must distribute your contributions under the same license as the original.
No additional restrictions — You may not apply legal terms or technological measures that legally restrict others from doing anything the license permits.
Notices:
You do not have to comply with the license for elements of the material in the public domain or where your use is permitted by an applicable exception or limitation.
No warranties are given. The license may not give you all of the permissions necessary for your intended use. For example, other rights such as publicity, privacy, or moral rights may limit how you use the material.
