Hazardous Emissions from Combustion of Fossil Fuel from Thermal Power Plants Based on Turbine Technologies

Thermal power generation is associated with the emission of hazardous gaseous and particulate pollutants, which is one of the major contributors to deteriorated local ambient air quality. A comprehensive emissions assessment was carried on three thermal power plants and one oil refinery operating on fossil fuel, mainly heavy residual oil. The background ambient air quality was also monitored for criteria pollutants around three thermal power plants and one oil refinery to assess the impact of plant emissions on ambient air quality. Emissions of the critical air pollutants carbon monoxide, carbon dioxide, oxides of nitrogen, sulphur dioxide, particulate matter, lead, and mercury were monitored from the stacks of each plant. The emissions from all the stacks of these plants were monitored for a period of 6 months. The emission concentrations were compared with the National Environmental Quality Standards (NEQS) of Pakistan and with World Bank (WB) guidelines for thermal power plants. The study found that the emissions of sulphur dioxide, oxides of nitrogen, and particulate matter were exceeding the permissible levels in power plants fueled by heavy residual fuel, whereas the power plants that were fueled by mixed fuel (natural gas and heavy residual oil) showed comparatively low emissions of pollutants.