Assessment of Ambient Air Quality Level at 21 sites in cement sector, Egypt.

Abstract

The cement industry is prospering in the Middle East countries, especially in Egypt due to the presence of raw materials, as well as increasing population growth in the region and increasing cement demand. Without activating and applying the regulations and laws, which enforced by local government to ensure compliance with national and international standards upon this industry, the increase of cement factories and complementary units in the region may damage air quality and threaten the ecosystems. This paper deals with the monitoring of the ambient pollutants surrounding 21 cement factories during the 2017 year: carbon monoxide (CO), sulfur dioxide (SO2), nitrogen dioxide (NO2), ozone (O3), and particulate matter (TSP, PM10 and PM2.5) emitted from the cement production processing. Air pollutants around the cement plants were determined using appropriate sampling techniques according to international standard methods. Results indicated that particulate matter concentrations were higher than all permissible guidelines for ambient air quality. Carbon monoxide concentrations of all sites were lower than permissible limits, while recorded gases concentrations (NO2, SO2, O3) in some sites were comply with those limits. High concentrations of particulate matter at all sites could be attributed to the applied processes for cement production, such as raw materials mining, transportation, blending, quarrying, preparation, and stockpiles. Moreover, kilns operation, clinker cooling, and milling processes were responsible for gases and particulates emission operations.