Numerical modelling of a passive scalar transport from thermal power plants to air environment

Abstract

The number of thermal power plants is growing due to the industry development and the growth of energy consumption. This leads to an increase in harmful emissions in the atmosphere. There is a necessity to control the emission concentration level in the areas of power plants location. The aim of this work was to study the level of pollution concentration at different distances from the source. The mathematical model and the numerical algorithm were verified by solving test problems and comparing them with the experimental data and numerical results of other authors. Furthermore, the pollution distribution in three-dimensional case was investigated in a real physical scale. CO2 was considered as polluting gas. As a real example, the Ekibastuz SDPP-1 coal-fired thermal power plant was simulated. The remarkable feature of this thermal power plant is that the pollution emits from two chimneys of different heights (330 and 300 m). The results showed that due to the difference between chimney heights (30 m), the pollution concentration from the higher chimney dropped far away from source, than from the lower one (2160 and 1970 m, respectively). Obviously, building higher chimneys helps to reduce the harmful impact of emissions on the environment. Also, it can be used to control the emissions level at already existing power plants.