Particulate Matter Over A Seven Year Period in Urban and Rural Areas Within, Proximal and Far from Mining and Power Station Operations in Greece

Abstract

Lignite mining operations and lignite-fired power stations result in major particulate pollution (fly ash and fugitive dust) problems in the areas surrounding these activities. The problem is more complicated, especially, for urban areas located not far from these activities, due to additional contribution from the urban pollution sources. Knowledge of the distribution of airborne particulate matter into size fraction has become an increasing area of focus when examining the effects of particulate pollution. On the other hand, airborne particle concentration measurements are useful in order to assess the air pollution levels based on national and international air quality standards. These measurements are also necessary for developing air pollutants control strategies or for evaluating the effectiveness of these strategies, especially, for long periods. In this study an attempt is made in order to investigate the particle size distribution of fly ash and fugitive dust in a heavy industrialized (mining and power stations operations) area with complex terrain in the northwestern part of Greece. Parallel total suspended particulates (TSP) and particulate matter with an aerodynamic diameter less than 10 microm (PM10) concentrations are analyzed. These measurements gathered from thirteen monitoring stations located in the greater area of interest. Spatial, temporal variation and trend are analyzed over the last seven years. Furthermore, the geographical variation of PM10 - TSP correlation and PM10/TSP ratio are investigated and compared to those in the literature. The analysis has indicated that a complex system of sources and meteorological conditions modulate the particulate pollution of the examined area.

Clear-air lidar dark band

“…Measurements of the particle size distribution of lignite particles escaped from heavy industrialised areas (mining and power stations operations) in the form of fly ash or fugitive dust have been reported by several authors (among others, Triantafyllou et al, 2006;Civiš and Hovorka, 2010). Specifically, Triantafyllou et al (2006) were able to measure the particle size distribution of fly ash injected into the atmosphere from elevated stacks in power stations, thus identifying a prominent particle mode at ∼ 8 µm, with approximately 80 % of the particles smaller than 10 µm. Civiš and Hovorka (2010) reported size distribution measurements for brown coal with an average particle size of 1.84 µm.…”

“…Based on literature values of these quantities, the above specified increase of RH from 60-62 to 75-80 % would result in a particle size growth in radius by 10-20 %. In this study, we are considering an initial size for the dry lignite particles of 1.84 and 8 µm, as reported by Civiš and Hovorka (2010) and Triantafyllou et al (2006), respectively.…”

“…7a considers a minimum radius of 1.84 µm, as measured by Civiš and Hovorka (2010), while the simulation in Fig. 7b considers a minimum radius of 8 µm, as measured by Triantafyllou et al (2006). Both simulations consider a sounding wavelength of 1.064 µm, which is the laser wavelength used for the dark band lidar measurements illustrated in Fig.…”

“…Simulations consider a log-normal size distribution with a percentage standard deviation of 5 %. (a) Selection of a minimum radius of 1.84 µm, as given by Civiš and Hovorka (2010) and a maximum radius of 10 µm; (b) selection of a minimum radius of 8 µm, as given by Triantafyllou et al (2006) and a maximum radius of 50 µm. Both simulations consider a sounding wavelength of 1.064 µm.…”

“…As for Fig. 7, the simulation in panel (a) considers a minimum radius of 1.84 µm, as measured by Civiš and Hovorka (2010), while the simulation in panel (b) considers a minimum radius of 8 µm, as measured by Triantafyllou et al (2006). The figure clearly reveals that both in the smaller and larger particle domains, the consideration of progressively larger values of σ leads to a progressive smearing down of the Q back oscilla- tions, which are still present for values of σ ≤ 10 % but are almost absent for σ = 20 %.…”