Modelling pollution from the Yorkshire power stations and its impacts on air quality
Dr Richard Pope, Prof Martyn Chipperfield
Power stations are large emitters of air pollutants (e.g. nitrogen oxides, NOx (NO+NO2), and particulate matter, PM) and can have significant impacts on regional air quality (Mauzerall et al., 2005). In East Yorkshire, there are several large power stations; Drax, Eggborough and Ferrybridge (though Ferrybridge is in the process of shutting down). Based on 2012 emissions data from the National Atmospheric Emissions Inventory (NAEI), Drax, Eggborough and Ferrybridge were the 1st (~40 ktonnes), 10th (~13 ktonnes) and 8th (~15 ktonnes) highest emitters of NOx in the country.
Despite the large emission of pollutants from these sites, there are no nearby monitoring sites to assess the impact on regional surface air quality (DEFRA, 2017). Several of the local councils (e.g. Selby - Selby District Council, 2014) use NO2 diffusion tubes to get monthly updates on pollution levels, however, these sites (mainly situated next to roads) will be dominated by traffic emissions. Pope and Provod (2016) used satellite observations of tropospheric column NO2 to identify these power stations as large pollution sources within the UK. The satellite only provides tropospheric information though, so it is difficult to draw any conclusions on surface levels of pollution.
This project proposes to use a Gaussian stack-plume model (Arystanbekova, 2004) and emissions data (e.g. NOx and PM2.5 & 10) from the NAEI to assess the impact of emitted pollution on regional surface air quality. There are several sizable surrounding urban areas (e.g. Selby, Camblesforth and Eggborough) which have a population in the order of 10,000s. The UK Met Office regional air quality model (AQUM) does simulate pollution levels in this region using the NAEI emissions, but Pope et al., (2015) found that it does a poor job when compared to satellite measurements. Therefore, the stack-plume model should provide a more sophisticated appropriate to assess the impact of emissions on pollution rather than just arbitrarily distributing them across the bottom AQUM levels as currently done by the Met Office.
Within the department, we have access to several particle counters which can measure the frequency of aerosols in different size bins. This provides us with the opportunity to 1) assess the levels of pollution (e.g. converted to PM2.5) around these power stations and 2) evaluate the robustness of the stack-plume model. These measurements would be taken downwind of the power stations at different distances long a transect to measure the pollution levels and its dispersion from the sources.
Overall, this project would allow for the assessment of the impact of pollution from the large Yorkshire power stations (e.g. Drax and Eggborough) on surface air quality in the surrounding populated areas.
References:
- Arystanbekova N. 2004. Mathematics and Computers in Simulation, http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.matcom.2004.06.023
- DEFRA. 2017. Interactive monitoring networks map, https://uk-air.defra.gov.uk/interactive-map
- Mauzerall et al. 2005, Atmos. Env., http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.atmosenv.2004.12.041
- Pope et al. 2015. ACP, doi:10.5194/acp-15-5611-2015.
- Pope and Provod. 2016. Weather, http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/wea.2651/full
- Selby District Council. 2014. Air Quality Progress Report for Selby District Council, http://www.selby.gov.uk/sites/default/files/Documents/Selby_District_Council_Progress_Report_April_2014_SDC.pdf