Air pollution emission inventory of thermal power plants in South-East and South-West areas, and proposed solutions to reduce emissions

Abstract

The coal-fired power plants have been the major sources of emissions and caused a serious impact on the environment, especially on the air quality. Currently, the Mekong Delta area has 07 thermal power plants that have been put into operation including Duyen Hai I, III & III expanded coal-fired thermal power plants, Ca Mau I&II gas power plants; O Mon I & II gas thermal power plants…. The Southeast region currently has 08 thermal power plants with a total capacity of 5,509 MW. In addition, according to the National Power Development Plan (Power Master Plan VII revised) for the 2011 – 2020 period with the vision to 2030, the study areas will have 33 thermal power plants in total with a total capacity of 30,879 MW. Air pollution from coal-fired power plants is mainly PM2.5, PM10, SO2, NOx, and CO. In which PM2.5 is said to be the most harmful pollutant that is responsible for diseases and mortality of public health. The objectives of this study are (i) Calculate emissions for two scenarios: The current scenario - emissions of thermal power plants operating in 2020, and the future scenario - emissions of thermal power plants operate in 2030; and (ii) Proposing solutions to reduce air emissions fro thermal power plants. The approach of this study is to apply the emission factors (according to guidelines from AP-42 of the US and EMEP/EEA of Europe) to estimate the emissions, referring to technology applied. In 2020, thermal power plants emit: 12,396 ton/year of NOx, 16,348 ton/year of CO, 19,666 ton/year of SOx, 310 ton/year of PM10, 162 ton/year of PM2.5, and 672 ton/year of TSP. In 2030, thermal power plants in study areas will emit: 33.138 ton/year of NOx, 37,049 ton/year of CO, 59,247 ton/year of SOx, 350 ton/year of PM10 , 185 ton/year of PM2.5, and 756 ton/year of TSP. The study results showed that the Coal-fired power plants emissions are higher than the others, especially for the PM. The study also proposed solutions to reduce emissions such as switching to clean coal, low-ash coals to reduce dust emissions levels in the future. The priority order of energy type used for thermal power plants is gas, oil, biomass, imported coal, and finally domestic coal.