TITLE:
Modeling of Criteria Air Pollutant Emissions from Selected Nigeria Petroleum Refineries
AUTHORS:
Temitayo Oladimeji, Jacob Sonibare, Moradeyo Odunfa, Augustine Ayeni
KEYWORDS:
Air Quality Standards, Ground Level Concentration, Nigeria Petroleum Refinery
JOURNAL NAME:
Journal of Power and Energy Engineering,
Vol.3 No.6,
June
25,
2015
ABSTRACT: 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.