Assessing the Impact of Fugitive Dust Emissions from Cement Silos at Cluster of Concrete Batching Facilities Using Air Dispersion Modeling

Abstract

This research assessed the environmental impact of cement silos emission on the existing concrete batching facilities in M35-Mussafah, Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates. These assessments were conducted using an air quality dispersion model (AERMOD) to predict the ambient concentration of Portland Cement particulate matter less than 10 microns (PM10) emitted to the atmosphere during loading and unloading activities from 176 silos located in 25 concrete batching facilities. AERMOD was applied to simulate and describe the dispersion of PM10 released from the cement silos into the air. Simulations were carried out for PM10 emissions on controlled and uncontrolled cement silos scenarios. Results showed an incremental negative impact on air quality and public health from uncontrolled silos emissions and estimated that the uncontrolled PM10 emission sources contribute to air pollution by 528958.32 kg/Year. The modeling comparison between the controlled and uncontrolled silos shows that the highest annual average concentration from controlled cement silos is 0.065 μg/m3, and the highest daily emission value is 0.6 μg/m3; both values are negligible and will not lead to significant air quality impact in the entire study domain. However, the uncontrolled cement silos’ highest annual average concentration value is 328.08 μg/m3. The highest daily emission average value was 1250.09 μg/m3; this might cause a significant air pollution quality impact and health effects on the public and workers. The short-term and long-term average PM10 pollutant concentrations at these receptors predicted by the air dispersion model are discussed for both scenarios and compared with local and international air quality standards and guidelines.