EMECAP. Deliverable 5.4. Part 1: Local dispersion and deposition.

Abstract

As part of Work Package 5 of the EU FP5 EMECAP project, dispersion model calculations have been carried out in order to determine the concentration and deposition of Mercury in the region surrounding 3 selected Mercury Cell Chlor-Alkali (MCCA) plants. In this study the dispersion modelling is applied to calculate the yearly concentration and deposition maps surrounding the 3 MCCA plants under study. The calendar year 2002 has been used for the model runs. The results show that mercury concentrations quickly reduce to background levels within 1 to 3 km from the plants.Deposition of mercury occurs mainly within the first kilometrefrom the plant and background levels are reached within a few kilometres. The deposition has been found to be strongly dependent on the amount of RGM emitted from the plant. Deposition is largest for the Tarnow plant in Poland where RGM emission is also the highest.