Modeling of Air Pollution Systems with Chemical Reactions: Application to Gas Flares in Nigeria

The Eulerian model was used for the prediction of air pollutants in some gas flare locations in the Niger Delta region of Nigeria. A continuity equation (mass balance) that incorporates second order reaction schemes for the generation of pollutants at source or in the ensuing atmosphere was used to characterize the n species in the fluid element and the finite difference method (the Crank-Nicholson formulation) was applied for the numerical scheme. Thus, the spatial and transient concentration profiles of key contaminants were obtained for the meteorological conditions under consideration. The first series of simulations were carried out at ground level and at altitudes of 30 and 90 m, for a simulation time of 10 min. The second series of simulations were identical to the first, except that the simulation time was 20 min. The third series of simulations were carried out for 50 min at ground level and at an altitude of 30 m. The concentration profiles were parabolic for at least one of the pollutants at the ground level for 10, 20 and 50 min simulation times, and additionally at an altitude of 30 m for a simulation time of 50 min. Other concentration profiles are exponential in nature. The deterministic Eulerian model provided a satisfactory prediction of the spatial and transient concentration profiles for the pollutants in the gas flares.