Environmental Pollution Control Laboratory, Department of Chemistry, Aristotle University, 54124, Thessaloniki, Greece.
West Macedonia Lignite Center, Environment and Mine Support Division, Public Power Corporation S.A., 24630-28601, Ptolemaida, Greece.
Environ Sci Pollut Res Int. 2018 May;25(13):12206-12221. doi: 10.1007/s11356-017-9655-4. Epub 2017 Jul 13.
The Western Macedonian Lignite Center (WMLC) in northwestern Greece is the major lignite center in the Balkans feeding four major power plants of total power exceeding 4 GW. Concentrations of PM (i.e., particulate matters with diameters ≤10 μm) are the main concern in the region, and the high levels observed are often attributed to the activities related to power generation. In this study, the contribution of fugitive dust emissions from the opencast lignite mines to the ambient levels of PM in the surroundings was estimated by performing chemical mass balance (CMB) receptor modeling. For this purpose, PM samples were concurrently collected at four receptor sites located in the periphery of the mine area during the cold and the warm periods of the year (November-December 2011 and August-September 2012), and analyzed for a total of 26 macro- and trace elements and ionic species (sulfate, nitrate, chloride). The robotic chemical mass balance (RCMB) model was employed for source identification/apportionment of PM at each receptor site using as inputs the ambient concentrations and the chemical profiles of various sources including the major mine operations, the fly ash escaping the electrostatic filters of the power plants, and other primary and secondary sources. Mean measured PM concentrations at the different sites ranged from 38 to 72 μg m. The estimated total contribution of mines ranged between 9 and 22% in the cold period increasing to 36-42% in the dry warm period. Other significant sources were vehicular traffic, biomass burning, and secondary sulfate and nitrate aerosol. These results imply that more efficient measures to prevent and suppress fugitive dust emissions from the mines are needed.
希腊西北部的西马其顿褐煤中心（WMLC）是巴尔干地区的主要褐煤中心，为总装机容量超过 4GW 的四座大型发电厂提供燃料。该地区主要关注的是 PM（即直径≤10μm 的颗粒物）浓度，而观察到的高浓度通常归因于与发电相关的活动。在这项研究中，通过进行化学质量平衡（CMB）受体模型，估算了露天褐煤矿的扬尘排放对周围环境中 PM 水平的贡献。为此，在 2011 年 11 月至 12 月和 2012 年 8 月至 9 月的冷暖和温暖期间，在矿区周边的四个受体点同时采集了 PM 样本，并对 26 种宏观和痕量元素以及离子种类（硫酸盐、硝酸盐、氯化物）进行了分析。使用机器人化学质量平衡（RCMB）模型，根据各受体点的环境浓度和各种来源（包括主要煤矿作业、电厂静电过滤器逸出的粉煤灰以及其他一次和二次来源）的化学特征，对 PM 进行了源识别/分配。不同地点的平均实测 PM 浓度范围为 38 至 72μg/m。在寒冷时期，估算的矿山总贡献率在 9%至 22%之间，在干燥温暖时期增加到 36%至 42%。其他重要来源是机动车交通、生物质燃烧以及二次硫酸盐和硝酸盐气溶胶。这些结果表明，需要采取更有效的措施来防止和抑制矿山的扬尘排放。
