Assessment of air pollution dispersion during wet season: A case study of Rumaila Combined Cycle Power Plant, Basrah, Iraq

This study presents an assessment of the levels of air pollution emanating from natural gas combustion at the Rumaila Combined Cycle Power Plant (CCPP) in Basrah City by using a Gaussian dispersion model, with results at distance of 100, 500 and 1000 m for the pollutants CO, SO2, NO, and particulate matters (PM). Data on atmospheric stability assessments were taken from meteorological stations in Basrah Governorate that belong to the Iraqi Ministry of Agriculture. The study determined the emission rates from the five stacks of the plant and the wind speed, wind direction at stack height, and Turner-Pasquill stability classes for the wet conditions of 2023/2024. The following are the maximum pollutant concentrations emanating from the stacks: CO was 186 μg.m-3 at 100 m, 6 μg.m-3 at 500 m, and 2.5 μg.m-3 at 1000 m; SO₂ was 0.5 μg.m-3 at 100 m, 0.05 μg.m-3 at 500 m, and 0.01 μg.m-3 at 1000 m; NO was 0.07 μg.m-3 at 500 m and 0.03 μg.m-3 at 1000 m; PM was 11 μg.m-3 at 100 m, 0.4 μg.m-3 at 500 m, and 0.15 μg.m-3 at 1000 m. All of these measurements are well below national ambient air quality standards, which means that the Rumaila power plant is not locally deleterious to the air quality.