ASPECTS OF AIR QUALITY STATUS OF BONNY ISLAND, NIGERIA ATTRIBUTED TO AN LNG PLANT

• Published in: Energy & environment (Essex, England) Vol. 22; no. 7; pp. 891 - 909
• Main Authors: Ede, Precious N., Edokpa, David O., Ayodeji, Oluleye
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: London, England Multi-Science Publishing Co. Ltd 01-10-2011; SAGE Publications; Multi-Science
• Subjects: Air pollutants; Air pollution caused by fuel industries; Air quality; Applied sciences; Atmospheric models; Atmospherics; Carbon dioxide; Carbon dioxide emissions; Carbon monoxide; Dispersions; Emittance; Energy; Energy. Thermal use of fuels; Exact sciences and technology; Fuels; Gas conditioning and treatments. Desulphurization. Liquefaction; Gas industry; Islands; Liquefied natural gas; Meteorology; Metering. Control; Natural gas; Plumes; Pollutant emissions; Pollutants; Receptors; Wind velocity; Nigeria; ASE, Nigeria, Rivers, Niger Delta; natural gas plant; Bonny Nigeria; Air quality; Gaussian plume model; air pollutants; meteorological agents
• ISSN: 0958-305X; 2048-4070
• DOI: 10.1260/0958-305X.22.7.891

The Bonny Island axis of the Niger Delta, Nigeria, is one of the most industrialized belts of Nigeria. Among the significant industries in the locality is the Nigerian natural gas liquefying plants. The plant complex generates emissions which are propagated by meteorological agents. An atmospheric dispersion model was used to model the emissions using a computer programme. A statistical analysis of meteorological parameters was also carried out to determine the pollutants dispersion in the atmosphere. The analysis shows that wind speed is moderate and the predominance of southerly winds will move plumes toward human settlements in the north and north-eastern directions from the plant. From the diffusion model, the compounds likely to be emitted in the largest quantity from the plant in the order of magnitude were CO₂, NOx, CO, PM₁₀ and SOx. There is evidence that pollutants concentration would be highest for receptors at about 10 km from the emission sources even under unstable atmospheric conditions. The concentration of all the pollutants were well within the set ambient limits for the averaging period considered (i.e., 1 hour). It is recommended that the LNG plants continue to use natural gas as their major fuel as it will help in reducing pollutants like CO, PM₁₀ and SOx. Also, due to the large CO₂ gas emitted, afforestation and conservation projects should be initiated in Bonny Island so as to earn carbon credit.