AERMOD Application for Assessment of Formaldehyde Emission Dispersion from Chipboard Production

Abstract

The results of modeling the formaldehyde dispersion from the chipboard production at the plant in Ivatsevichi (the Brest region, the Republic of Belarus) are presented. The AERMOD Gaussian model developed by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is applied. Maximum hourly concentrations of formaldehyde at the distance to 3 km from emission sources are calculated. The simulation results are verified by under-plume measurements of formaldehyde concentration in air at the distance to 650 m from the sources as well as near the sources of formaldehyde releases. The correlation between the measured and simulated concentrations is demonstrated. The sources of uncertainty of the results associated with the shortage of available meteorological information with a required temporal resolution are described.