Air Quality Impacts of Petroleum Refining and Petrochemical Industries
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Date
2017-09-19
Authors
Ragothaman, Aiswarya
Anderson, William A.
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
Multidisciplinary Digital Publishing Institute
Abstract
Though refineries and petrochemical industries meet society’s energy demands and produce a range of useful chemicals, they can also affect air quality. The World Health Organization (WHO) has identified polluted air as the single largest environmental risk, and hence it is necessary to strive for and maintain good air quality. To manage potential health impacts, it is important to implement proper air quality management by understanding the link between specific pollutant sources and resulting population exposures. These industries release pollutants such as Volatile Organic Compounds, greenhouse gases and particulate matter, from various parts of their operations. Air quality should be monitored and controlled more meticulously in developing nations where increased energy demands, industrialization and overpopulation has led to more emissions and lower air quality. This paper presents a review of findings and highlights from various studies on air quality impacts of petroleum refining and petrochemical plants in many regions in the world.
Description
Keywords
air pollution, air quality index, air quality management, refinery, petrochemical, emissions, exposure, particulate matter, volatile organic compounds, polychlorinated biphenyls, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease