Applications of Atmospheric Dispersion Model for Air Quality Assessment of NOx and SO2 from Waste Incinerator

Abstract

Oxides of nitrogen (NOx) and sulfur dioxide (SO2) are included in the criteria air pollutants and plays the role in the formation of acid rain. Waste incinerator are a major sources of NOx and SO2, particularly on local basic of air pollutions. This study was designed to assess the impact of NOx and SO2 emissions that are emitted from the waste incinerator at Walailak University to the ambient concentrations using an atmospheric dispersion model, AERMOD for the two simulated years of 2010 and 2012. Stack emissions of NOx and SO2 were taken from stack monitoring data of the waste incinerator. Meteorological data were mainly taken from Thai Metrological Department for the study area while terrain data were taken from ASTER GDEM database. Results indicated that maximum NOx concentration were 3.30, 0.30 and 0.13 µg/m3 , respectively for 1-hour, 24-hour and annual average while those for SO2 were 18.68, 1.72 and 0.72 µg/m3 , respectively. Simulated concentrations of NOx and SO2 were well below the values specified in the National Ambient Air Quality Standards of Thailand and World Health Organization Guidelines.