Regulated Air Pollutant Emissions From Higher Emitters Stationary Sources in Belo Horizonte, Minas Gerais, Brazil

Abstract

Belo Horizonte, capital of Minas Gerais state, is a highly urbanized city located in the third largest metropolitan area of Brazil, being one of the most important cities in the country. There are several potential air pollutant emission sources in the studied area, such as industry and the vehicular fleet (1,669,884 vehicles in 2015). These can affect the air quality, which can have an impact on population health. Despite this critical scenario, few studies have been developed with the objective of evaluating the air quality in this city, especially regarding the identification of pollutant emission sources. Thus, the aim of this study was to identify and quantify atmospheric emissions by stationary sources of significant environmental impact in Belo Horizonte. The quantification of emissions was preferably performed based on chimneys monitoring data. However, in the absence of these data, estimates were made based on AP-42 guidelines. As a result, 75 chimneys were identified, belonging to 28 companies. Pollutant emission rates of 305, 235, 234, 224, 206, 180 and 63 t year-1 were observed for NO X , CO, TSP, PM 10 , PM 2.5 , SO 2 and VOC, respectively. The results obtained can contribute to the diagnosis, modeling and management of air quality in Belo Horizonte.

Air Quality Characterization and Trend Analysis in a Brazilian Industrialized Metropolitan Area in the Period from 1995 to 2022

“…Some studies have focused on analyzing air pollution in the MABH, investigating aspects such as (a) evaluation of air quality model results [18,19], (b) evaluation of the influence of meteorology on fine particle concentration [20], (c) identification of some pollutants' behavior and their relation with atmospheric conditions [20], (d) health effects of inhaling fine particulate matter [18,21], and (e) emission inventories and control strategies [19,[21][22][23][24]. All these studies highlight the need for reliable air quality data for assessment and air quality management.…”

Influence of Emissions from the Stationary Heat Sources upon the Atmospheric Precipitation Pollution with Inorganic Nitrogen in the Sevastopol Region

“…In [2], the authors take up the position that in 2015, among the estimated pollutants in Belo Horizonte (Brazil), taking into account all the sources, nitrogen oxide emissions were maximum and amounted to 305 t/year. This pollutant emission is closely related to combustion processes.…”