Kannankai Madhuraj Palat, Devipriya Suja Purushothaman
School of Environmental Studies, Cochin University of Science and Technology, 682022, India.
School of Environmental Studies, Cochin University of Science and Technology, 682022, India.
Sci Total Environ. 2024 Mar 15;916:170289. doi: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2024.170289. Epub 2024 Jan 20.
The occurrence of waste fires in unscientifically managed landfill sites has become a pressing environmental issue in the urban centers of developing economies. In the present work, an investigation was carried out to evaluate the air quality implications of three major fire events that occurred at the Brahmapuram Municipal Solid Waste Treatment Plant (BMSWTP) in Kochi, India. Initially, Landsat-based surface temperature monitoring was conducted to identify the thermal hotspots within the landfill. The emissions of different pollutants during waste fires were quantified and compared between satellite-based ex-situ and field-based in-situ methods. The dispersion patterns of PM particles released during the fires were visualised using the Hybrid Single-Particle Lagrangian Integrated Trajectory (HYSPLIT) particle dispersion model. The Landfill Gas Emissions Model (LandGEM) was employed to quantify the greenhouse gases (GHGs) released during waste storage, which was then compared with the GHGs emissions during waste fires. In-situ emission estimates showed that the combustion of waste at BMSWTP led to the release of 909.3 MT of PM, 938.8 MT of PM, 5832.9 MT of CO, 43.6 MT of SOx, 284.2 MT of NOx, 138,941.9 MT of CO, 426.8 MT of CH, and 2665.1 MT of VOC. However, a noticeable disparity was observed between the in-situ and ex-situ emission estimates, wherein the latter underestimated the actual emissions. Most of the emitted PM particles propagated oceanward under the influence of prevailing winds, covering the densely populated areas of Kochi municipal corporation. The amount of CH and CO emitted during the waste fires was on par with the emissions from 159 days of waste storage for CH and 51.8 years of waste storage for CO, with a cumulative global warming potential of 147.9 Gg CO2-e.
在发展中经济体的城市中心，管理不科学的垃圾填埋场发生垃圾火灾已成为一个紧迫的环境问题。在本研究中，开展了一项调查，以评估印度科钦市布拉马普尔姆城市固体废弃物处理厂（BMSWTP）发生的三起重大火灾事件对空气质量的影响。最初，进行了基于陆地卫星的地表温度监测，以确定垃圾填埋场内的热热点。对垃圾火灾期间不同污染物的排放进行了量化，并在基于卫星的异地方法和基于现场的原位方法之间进行了比较。利用混合单粒子拉格朗日积分轨迹（HYSPLIT）粒子扩散模型可视化了火灾期间释放的PM颗粒的扩散模式。采用垃圾填埋气排放模型（LandGEM）对垃圾储存期间释放的温室气体（GHG）进行量化，然后将其与垃圾火灾期间的温室气体排放进行比较。原位排放估计表明，BMSWTP的垃圾燃烧导致释放了909.3吨PM、938.8吨PM、5832.9吨CO、43.6吨SOx、284.2吨NOx、138941.9吨CO、426.8吨CH和2665.1吨VOC。然而，原位和异地排放估计之间存在明显差异，其中后者低估了实际排放量。在盛行风的影响下，大部分排放的PM颗粒向海洋方向扩散，覆盖了科钦市人口密集的地区。垃圾火灾期间排放的CH和CO量与CH的159天垃圾储存排放量以及CO的51.8年垃圾储存排放量相当，累积全球变暖潜能值为147.9Gg CO2-e。
