Petcoke emissions and air quality in the surrounding of a harbour: the case study of the Aveiro Port

Abstract

Emission of particulate material from port activities, namely fugitive particle emissions from petcoke stockpiles, was studied in this work. The goal was to estimate the impact of such emissions in air quality in the surroundings of the Port of Aveiro and find a suitable mitigation measure that could reduce the transport of those particles to the surrounding urban and suburban areas. The mitigation measure tested in this work was the placement of a barrier upwind from the petcoke stockpile. The optimal conditions for the application of such barrier were determined using two complementary approaches: (i) numerical simulation by means of CFD application, and (ii) physical modelling in a wind-tunnel. Both methodologies allowed the analysisof different barrier configurations (size and position) that would minimize the maximum petcoke particle emissions.After performing the experiments, the barrier was applied in the Port of Aveiro to verify the effectiveness of the solution, from a mitigation, size and location standpoint. Air quality monitoring campaigns performed after placing the barrier registered petcoke emissions considerably lower than in the reference scenario. Moreover, the legal limit value was not exceeded in any day of the campaign, which verified the efficiency of the barrier. The solution studied in this work proved to be a very effective mitigation measure regarding the control of fugitive emissions of particles in the Port of Aveiro, contributing to the improvement of air quality in the surrounding area.

Key-words: petcoke emissions, CFD model, Wind Tunnel, particulate matter dispersion, mitigation
measures