Modelagem e simulação da dispersão das emissões de fluoreto gasoso de uma redução eletrolítica de alumínio.

Abstract

The determination of the pollutants concentration released into the atmosphere is an important element in the prediction of environmental impacts caused by emissions from industrial effluents, being fundamental in the feasibility evaluation of new plants, or even for existing plants. Due to the industrial parks expansion and the approximation of urban centers, it is increasingly evident that there is a need for air quality simulation data to make decisions regarding the type of treatment of gaseous effluents, plant positioning, chimneys dimensions (height), and especially of the type of control and process that will be necessary to minimize the concentrations released in the environment. The main objective of this work was to develop a routine applied to the emission of gaseous fluoride from electrolytic smelting of aluminum. The reference adopted was the model developed by Environmental Research & Technology Inc called BLP - Buoyant Line and Point Source (model based on the Gaussian distribution), applying some specific considerations. The implementation was performed using Mathcad 11 Enterprise Edition. After the development, several simulations were carried out with information collected by Alumar's stationary source monitoring program and compared to the data collected at the continuous air quality monitoring station located in the village of Coqueiro (distant 2,500 km). In addition, simulations were also carried out to compare the results of the proposed model with the results from CALPUFF (commercial software endorsed by the EPA - Environmental Protection Agency) that was used during the elaboration of the environmental impact study of the complementation of the potroom - line 3. The proposed model presented a correlation of 82% with the historical data collected at the station located in the village of Coqueiro and an error of 4.35% when compared to the simulations of the CALPUFF.