A progressive interest has been found in the recent years on real-time
simulations of air quality forecasting systems for environmental policy and
management. The advances on air quality modeling have been substantial in the last
decade. Nowadays, air quality modeling systems are capable to provide accurate
information on the impact of different sources in relation to the total air pollution
concentrations in real-time and forecasting mode. Large industrial emissions located in
the surrounding areas of cities are a substantial and important part of air concentrations
in the surrounding areas of the city and industrial plant. In this chapter we describe an
operational forecast system used for impact of industrial sources on the air quality. The
system has been implemented by using an emission model which includes
anthropogenic and biogenic emissions. The system is tested in real-time and forecasting
mode by implementing the “base case” on routine operational mode which includes
emissions of the large industrial plants operating in an area. The system runs for specific
domain architecture in ON/OFF mode (two simultaneous simulations) to extract the
impact in time and space of the pollution emissions of a large industrial plant. The
system is based on the TEAP (EUREKA) project, a tool to evaluate the air quality
impact of industrial plants funded by EUREKA. The ON/OFF methodology helps to
run the system over the different domain architecture with the anthropogenic and
biogenic emissions from traffic, industrial, tertiary and domestic sectors including the
targeted large industrial source (combined cycle power station, oil refinery, incinerator,
etc.). This will be the ON mode. The OFF mode is exactly the same than the ON mode
but switching off the emissions from the targeted large industrial source. The sensitive
cases include the impact of disconnecting the emissions of each of the industrial plants
completely and also other possible scenarios, as for example of disconnecting 50 % of
the total emissions for each industrial plant. The results show that the modeling system
is capable to determine the impact of the different emission scenarios in real-time and
forecasting mode. The system can be used as an excellent tool for a possible future
inmission trading EU Directive since the system identifies in time and space the
percentage of inmission concentrations due to the industrial plant (or any other emission
source). The system has been used in Spain as an advanced air pollution system for
determination of industrial emission impacts (inmissions) of future or planed industrial
or electric power plants.
Keywords: Air quality modeling, industrial emissions, TEAP (EUREKA) project,
EU Directives, TEAP (Tool to Evaluate the Air quality impact of industrial
Plants) tool, MM5 model, CMAQ model, WRF model, EMIMO model, Iberian
Peninsula, Madrid, ozone, operational forecast, dioxin, furan, International
Toxicity Equivalency Factor, CBM-IV chemical scheme, EMEP, O3, SO2, NOx,
CO, PM10, PM25.
