The influence of different mixing heights on the ECOSENSE model results at a local scale
Section snippets
Software availability
The software is available from the IER of the University of Stuttgart, Germany. More details of the software can be found at: http://externe.jrc.es/append.pdf and http://www.ier.uni-stuttgart.de/public/prodserv/tfu/ecosense/ecosense.html.
The ExternE methodology
The external costs can generally be divided into two categories:
- 1.
the costs of the negative effects of pollution on human health, climate, materials, forests and ecosystems, etc.;
- 2.
the costs or benefits that derive from the variations of occupational levels, from emission limiting policies, etc.
The evaluation techniques of externalities are divided into direct and indirect methods: as far as the external costs due to pollution are concerned, the direct techniques characterise the facility to be
The ECOSENSE model
The ECOSENSE software package (Krewitt et al., 1995, Heck et al., 1997) has been developed as part of the ExternE project to support and standardise the assessment of the environmental impact that derives from exposition to atmospheric pollutants; in particular, the impact on human health, crops, building materials, forests and ecosystems are considered. ECOSENSE 2.0 covers 13 pollutants, including the ‘classical’ pollutants SO2, NOx, particulates and CO, as well as some of the most important
Determination of the required atmospheric variables at a local scale
While the atmospheric dispersion modelling at a regional scale (throughout European) requires meteorological data that are all included in the software, the local scale analysis requires, for every given hour of the considered year, the following data:
- •
wind direction (in degrees);
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wind speed (in m/s);
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ambient temperature (in K);
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stability class (A=1, B=2, …, F=6);
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rural mixing layer height (in m);
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wind profile exponent;
- •
vertical potential temperature gradient (in K/m).
The wind speed and direction and
Available data
Three facilities were employed to perform the sensitivity analysis of the ECOSENSE model:
(1) A coal fired power station in Lauffen, Germany, which produces 600 MW for 6500 h/y with the following emissive characteristics:
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TSP emissions: 20 mg/Nm3
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Flue gas volume: 1,720,740 Nm3/h
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Flue gas temperature: 403.1 K
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Stack height: 240 m
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Stack diameter: 10 m
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Name of the facility in the analysis: COAL
(2) A cement factory in Borgo San Dalmazzo, south Piedmont in Italy, which produces 1.300 t/d with the following
Sensitivity analysis
As previously mentioned, a sensitivity analysis is performed in the present chapter in order to determine the influence of the mixing height on the results of the ECOSENSE model at a local scale; to do this, three different facilities are studied and three different sites are taken into account. The impact on human health, due to TSP emissions, at a local scale has been chosen for the analysis in this paper.
Conclusions
The ECOSENSE model is very easy to use and can be adopted in different situations, but the implementation at a local scale requires several specific data concerning the meteorology of the site; it is in fact absolutely necessary to define the hourly values of wind speed, wind direction and ambient temperature. In the case where profile measurements are not available, the atmospheric stability class can be obtained by means of conventional classifications, such as the Pasquill-Gifford approach,
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