Scholarly record

THREE-DIMENSIONAL DIFFUSION MODEL FOR COMPUTING THE CONCENTRATION OF PM10 ORIGINATED FROM AN ASH DUMP AFFECTING A ROMANIAN URBAN AREA

Clementina Moldovan

Abstract

The purpose of the paper has been finding an effective numerical diffusion model able to predict the patterns of the particulate matter PM10 transported by the wind within the urban area of Craiova (major city in Romania) from the nearby ash dump produced by Craiova II Thermal Power. In order to verify this mathematical model, experimental data have been gathered during four weeks in the selected area, in different seasons and places, by using a particulate matter sampling system and then gravimetrically evaluating appropriate filters for PM10. The bi- and three-dimensional views that have been computationally obtained for the concentration profile in the ground surface layer, using a color code to present the amount of particulate matter in the unit volume, have clearly shown that PM10 daily average in the ambient air at distances between 0.4 and 1.6 km from the investigated ash dump has been often higher than the European Union threshold, so that urgent measures for reducing air pollution have to be taken in Craiova, as well as in other developed cities in Romania, for this country to get the exoneration regarding air pollution from the European Union and for the people living here to improve their life quality. The three-dimensional diffusion model proposed was shown to be consistent with the experimental data and developing it was proved to be an important and useful tool, taking into account that variation of PM10 concentration with distance generally obeys a logarithmic curve near a pollution source as an ash dump, but, unfortunately, no analytical method for solving diffusion equations considers the logarithmic profile of wind speed, a powerful numerical model being therefore required.

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