Modeling the spread of gaseous elemental mercury from coal-fired thermal power plants of the Irkutsk-Cheremkhovo industrial complex
E.S. LUTSKIN, V.L. MAKUKHIN
Limnological Institute, Siberian Branch, Russian Academy of Sciences, Irkutsk, Russia
Keywords: atmospheric pollution, anthropogenic emissions, field observations, mathematical modeling, emission assessment, Lake Baikal
Abstract
The article presents the results of a comprehensive study of the processes of emission and atmospheric transport of gaseous elemental mercury from large thermal power plants of the Irkutsk-Cheremkhovo industrial complex. The study includes an integrated approach that combines field observations and mathematical modeling. Radiosonde data, ERA-5 atmospheric reanalysis data, reverse trajectories of air masses (HYSPLIT), and the results of monitoring gaseous elemental mercury were used to verify the model. A quantitative analysis of emissions of gaseous elemental mercury into the atmosphere from large thermal power plants of the Irkutsk-Cheremkhovo industrial complex was carried out. Based on the in-situ measurements of the concentration of gaseous elemental mercury at the Listvyanka monitoring station (southwestern coast of Lake Baikal) and the results of numerical modeling using a nonlinear non-stationary spatial model of turbulent impurity diffusion, the dispersion fields of gaseous elemental mercury were obtained and their convergence with the measured values was assessed. According to the data obtained, the average measured concentration of gaseous elemental mercury was 1,59 ng/m3, while the calculated one was 1,24 ng/m3. It has been established that during the northwesterly transfer of air masses and winter temperature inversions, zones of persistent pollution are formed with concentrations of gaseous elemental mercury up to 1,73 ng/m3, while the level of 1,29 ng/m3 reaches the limits of the central ecological zone of the Baikal Natural Territory. It is concluded that in order to enhance the accuracy of forecasting the spread and deposition of gaseous elemental mercury, it is necessary to integrate numerical models with an extended network of in-situ measurements, which will make it possible to improve emission control and to increase the reliability of estimates.
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