Graduation Semester and Year
2017
Language
English
Document Type
Thesis
Degree Name
Master of Science in Civil Engineering
Department
Civil Engineering
First Advisor
Melanie L Sattler
Abstract
Generator emissions contribute to increase in air pollution. In developing countries with inadequate electricity supply, many people rely on back-up generators for long-term electricity supply. Nigeria is the second biggest importer of generators in Africa. As of 2009, it was estimated that 60 million people in Nigeria owned and operated small to medium size generators to provide electricity for their daily use. The sheer number of generators in use suggests that generator emissions are a significant source of air pollution in the country, particularly in urban cities. In this work, the concentrations of pollutants emitted from 50 generators in a 200 m x 200 m area are modeled using the AERMOD Gaussian modeling software. USEPA AP-42 (1995), DICE-Africa (2013), and Shah et al. (2016) emission factors are utilized to calculate emission rates for both diesel and gasoline generators. Results of the model runs are compared with the USEPA NAAQS as well as the WHO air quality standards. Modeled concentrations of NO2 (1-hour averaging time) is shown to exceed both the USEPA and WHO guidelines. The modeled concentrations of NO2 also exceed measured concentrations of NO2 due to transportation sources in Lagos, as reported in the literature. Modeled concentrations of SO2 (1-hour and 24-hour averaging times) exceed both the USEPA and WHO guidelines. Results for PM10 exceed the WHO guideline only. To reduce the risk to human health as a result of air pollution caused by the use of numerous backup generators within the Lagos metropolis, it is recommended that the government invest in infrastructure to provide a stable electricity supply, and emission standards for backup generators be adopted. It is also recommended that monitored air pollutant values be compared with modeled results, once monitoring data is available.
Keywords
AERMOD Modeling, Air pollution, Backup generator, Lagos, Nigeria
Disciplines
Civil and Environmental Engineering | Civil Engineering | Engineering
License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-Share Alike 4.0 International License.
Recommended Citation
Abayomi, Temitope, "AERMOD MODELING OF AIR POLLUTANT EMISSIONS FROM BACKUP GENERATOR USE IN LAGOS, NIGERIA" (2017). Civil Engineering Theses. 300.
https://mavmatrix.uta.edu/civilengineering_theses/300
Comments
Degree granted by The University of Texas at Arlington