Modelación matemática de las emisiones de fuentes fijas de la refinería esmeraldas con el modelo aermod para evaluar su impacto sobre la calidad del aire.

Abstract

The following degree work consisted in the use of a mathematical model of dispersion of atmospheric pollutants emitted from fixed sources of the Esmeraldas Refinery, to determine the impact they have on air quality. For this research the AERMOD model is used, a model recommended by the Environmental Protection Agency of the United States (EPA), open source and free access, which uses the concept of Gaussian dispersion. As input data it requires meteorological information, terrain characteristics and emission characterization. For the meteorology, data generated by a global meteorological model Weather Research and Forecasting (WRF) was used, for the terrain data, data from the United States Geological Survey (USGS) was used, and with respect to the emissions data, it was provided by the regulatory analyses performed by a certified laboratory. The final results after modeling with AERMOD, gave as a product ten concentration maps of the study area and the maximum concentrations with their respective receptor that confirmed that the emissions from the Esmeraldas Refinery do not comply with the maximum values allowed in the Ecuadorian Air Quality Standard.