Effect of the waste heat recovery system to buoyancy and momentum flux of combustion stack in the cement industry

Abstract

© 2019, Faculty of Environment and Resource Studies,Mahidol University. All rights reserved. Buoyancy and momentum fluxes are important parameters to determine the plume rise which is related to the ability to dilute air pollutants emitted from combustion stack sources. The change of temperature due to waste heat recovery directly affects these fluxes. This study analyzed buoyancy and momentum fluxes and evaluated the ground level concentration of PM-10 prior and after implementation of waste heat recovery in the area surrounding one of the largest cement production plants in Thailand. The results showed that the ambient temperature was the significant parameter affecting buoyancy and momentum fluxes. The buoyancy flux was found to be the dominant force to the rise of plume for both scenarios. There were no differences in the predicted PM-10 ground level concentrations at receptors around the cement plant for the model simulation under two scenarios. Therefore, it was concluded that decreasing of stack gas exit temperature does not affect the dispersion of air pollutants in the cement industry.