Document Type : Research article
Authors
1 PhD candidate, Department of Natural Resources, Isfahan University of Technology, Isfahan, Iran.
2 PhD, Department of Natural Resources and Environment, Science and Research Branch, Islamic Azad University, Tehran, Iran.
3 M.sc, Department of Natural Resources and Environment, Science and Research Branch, Islamic Azad University, Tehran, Iran.
4 PhD candidate, Department of Natural Resources, Isfahan University of Technology, Isfahan 84156-83111, Iran
Abstract
Background and Objective: Today, many people are exposed to air pollution, a phenomenon that threatens human health in various ways. Air pollution is defined as the presence of a pollutant at concentrations exceeding permissible limits in the natural environment. The primary objective of this study is to examine the effect of stack height on the concentration of pollutants emitted from an industrial stack.
Materials and Methods: In this descriptive-analytical study, the AERMOD software was employed to model the dispersion of SO₂ emissions at four different stack heights (63, 97, 103, and 110 meters). The input data included: technical specifications of the stack (flow rate, temperature, and exit gas velocity), hourly meteorological data from the Shiraz synoptic station (2021-2022), and a 90-meter resolution digital elevation model of the study area. The modeling domain was divided into a 300×300 meter grid within a 10 km radius of the stack.
Results: The findings demonstrated that increasing the stack height from 63 to 110 meters (a %42 increase) resulted in a %32 reduction in SO₂ concentrations. At the 63-meter height, the maximum 1-hour SO₂ concentration reached 263 μg/m³ (exceeding the 196 μg/m³ standard limit), while at 110 meters, this value decreased to 178 μg/m³. The minimum effective height for compliance with air quality standards was determined to be 103 meters.
Open Access Policy: This is an open access article under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits use, distribution and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited. To view a copy of this licence, visit https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/
Conclusion: This research demonstrates that modifying stack height significantly affects both the concentration and spatial distribution of pollutants. Future studies should investigate the combined effects of other physical stack parameters to develop more comprehensive emission control strategies.
Keywords
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