Simulation of atmospheric emissions over Araucaria municipality using the AERMOD model

Abstract

The present paper aims to evaluate the use of the air quality model AERMOD to simulate the dispersion of atmospheric emissions produced by the main industries located in the Araucária municipality area. Pollutant emissions were estimated for both stationary sources in the President Getúlio Vargas Refinery (REPAR) and stationary sources in the main industries located at the industrial district of Araucária municipality. As the pollutant emissions from mobile sources are small in comparison to stationary sources, the simulations were performed using only emissions from the stationary sources. Initially, the AERMOD model was evaluated by comparing simulated concentrations and observed concentrations from the air quality station located inside the REPAR. The observed data concerns the following pollutants: nitrogen oxides (NOx), sulfur oxides (SOx), carbon monoxide (CO) and particulate matter (MP). A sensitivity analysis was performed to evaluate the influence of input data variations on the simulated concentrations for two air quality stations located at REPAR and downtown Araucária.