Human health risk characterization of petroleum coke calcining facility emissions

Abstract

Calcining processes including handling and storage of raw petroleum coke may result in Particulate Matter (PM) and gaseous emissions. Concerns have been raised over the potential association between particulate and aerosol pollution and adverse respiratory health effects including decrements in lung function. This risk characterization evaluated the exposure concentrations of ambient air pollutants including PM10 and gaseous pollutants from a petroleum coke calciner facility. The ambient air pollutant levels were collected through monitors installed at multiple locations in the vicinity of the facility. The measured and modeled particulate levels in ambient air from the calciner facility were compared to standards protective of public health. The results indicated that exposure levels were, on occasions at sites farther from the facility, higher than the public health limit of 150 μg/m(3) 24-h average for PM10. However, the carbon fraction demonstrated that the contribution from the calciner facility was de minimis. Exposure levels of the modeled SO2, CO, NOx and PM10 concentrations were also below public health air quality standards. These results demonstrate that emissions from calcining processes involving petroleum coke, at facilities that are well controlled, are below regulatory standards and are not expected to produce a public health risk.

A case study of potential human health impacts from petroleum coke transfer facilities

“…Similar to the results of the fence line monitoring and air dispersion modeling, our assessment of off-site environmental media indicates that potential community exposures to petcoke are minimal. A recent risk characterization of a petcoke handling and calcining facility has reached similar conclusions to those presented in this study (Singh et al, 2015). We found that deposition and accumulation of petcoke in off-site locations in neighborhoods abutting the facility, if any, is insufficient to alter concentrations of trace elements and PAHs in the soil and on surfaces examined.…”

Simulating Ambient SO2 Dispersion Patterns and Assessing their Health Risk in a Gas Refinery

“…The AMS/EPA regulatory model (AERMOD) was widely used by researchers in many studies, including dispersion modeling for various pollutants such as SO 2 , NOx, PM 2.5 , PM 10 , mercury, etc. [19][20][21][22][23][24][25][26]. AERMOD has also been compared to other dispersion models, including CALPUFF and ADMS [27][28][29][30][31], and coupled with the WRF model to analyse sensitivity to metrological conditions associated with PM dispersion calculations [32][33].…”