The dispersion of air pollutants such as Ammonia (NH3) and Hydrogen Sulphide (H2S) emitted by a municipal wastewater treatment plant (WWTP) was studied for a period of over one year. The main intent was to support the environmental impact assessment focusing on the diffusion of annoying odours over surrounding areas during the regular activity of the sewage treatment facility. The adopted methodology consists in comparing, in three test cases, the performance of the Gaussian plume model AERMOD, an American Meteorological Society and U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Regulatory Model, against the performance of the 3-D Lagrangian model AUSTAL2000, a German Dispersion Model developed according to the Technical Instructions on Air Quality Control. Both models were run over a domain of about 30km 2 made of hilly zones and located in the centre-eastern Italy. Ten sources of airborne pollutants, located along the sludge treatment line and considered as area sources, were taken into account. The diffuse emissions associated with odour production within WWTP were estimated considering the pollutant emission factors suggested by the American Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). The test cases included different emission scenarios deriving from three different operative plant configurations set in order to investigate the most impacting one. The results show a good agreement between the two model outputs since the annual average for NH3 and H2S are almost equivalent. These concentrations are below the legal limits while the highest values, measured at closest receptors, are beneath the odour perceptibility thresholds. Some noteworthy differences concern the AERMOD distribution maps that show a sort of pollutant stagnation over complex topography areas, especially in valleys, and a farer allocation of the highest pollutants levels from the source, while the AUSTAL2000 model is more biased to distribute the highest values closer to the sources.
Ports have always been communication and trade crossroads and have historically promoted the development of local economies. However, being hubs of activities, they are also major sources of noise and air pollution mainly due to ships, but also to vehicles, appliances, offices, etc. The port of Ancona, like many other Italian ports, is very close to the urban area, therefore it strongly influences the air quality of the city so that prolonged exposure to air pollutants generated by the port may cause adverse health effects on a big part of local population. Reducing air pollution without penalizing the local economy is one of the main objectives of the local authorities. The aim of the present study is to evaluate the contribution of different port emission sources, such as "Roll-on/roll-off Passengers" (Ro-pax) ships and fishing vessels, to Ancona air pollution. Between all, the levels of carbon monoxide (CO), volatile organic compounds (VOCs), nitrogen oxides (NOX), sulphur oxides (SOX), and particulate matter (PM) have been evaluated. The study pointed out that most of the emissions in Ancona harbour are due to "Roll-on/roll-off" (Ro-ro) and Ro-pax maritime activities. Thus we focused on Ro-ro/Ro-pax ships' different emission scenarios based on different sulphur percentages in ship fuel, annual ships calls, manoeuvring/hotelling schedule, and ship characteristics, such as engine power. SOX denoted a strong dependency not only on the percentage of sulphur but also upon the manoeuvring/hotelling time while all other pollutant emissions mostly depend on timing and ship features. Therefore, it was found necessary to know such data exactly to estimate the emissions so to formulate new scenarios in order to choose the best strategies to reduce air pollution.
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