Известия Томского политехнического университета: Инжиниринг георесурсов (Sep 2017)
Assessment of mercury pollution in the vicinity of petrochemical complex in winter (by the example of in Pavlodar, Kazakhstan)
Abstract
The relevance of the research. Hg has gained worldwide attention due to its high toxicity and bio-accumulation. The atmospheric emission of Hg mainly comes from coal combustion and oil products. The level of mercury pollution due to release of solid emissions in the areas of refineries and petrochemical complexes is currently poorly studied, however, these facilities are one of the potential sources of this toxic element. This causes the importance of the research. The main aim of the study is to assess mercury pollution in the vicinity of the petrochemical complex in winter (by the example of Pavlodar, Kazakhstan), according to the study of snow cover as a storage of solid particles. The methods used in the study: selection snow samples, melting the samples at room temperature, filtering using the ashless «blue tape» type filter, drying and weighing of samples, atomic absorption method using mercury analyzer RA-915 + and prefix PYRO-915 to determine mercury content in the samples, the application «STATISTICA 8» was plied to process the data analysis, calculation of eco-geochemical parameters: concentration ratio, daily average deposition of mercury, ratio of relative increase of mercury total load, ratio of mercury aerosol accumulation. The results. The mercury content in snow solid residue in the vicinity of the studied enterprises varies widely, and exceeds the back-ground from 1,5 to 7 times. The value of daily average mercury deposition on snow cover ranges from 4,99 to 221,98 ; the character of mercury distribution in solid residue samples of snow from the vicinity of the Pavlodar petrochemical plant was determined. The maximum rate was identified in the sample at a distance of 1,5 km in the north-eastern area. It is 48 times above background. High mercury content in solid residue samples of snow can be related togas flaring at the enterprises of refinery complex. Mercury transfer from the emissions of coal thermal power station, located at a distance of 500 m from the petrochemical plant is not excluded as well. Hg0mercury, adsorbed on the surface of the particles coming from gas combustion, may be the form of mercury emission from the petrochemical and refinery plants.
