Details of Washington Plume Plotter

This page should be read in conjunction with How Plume Plotter Works. It provides more details specific to the Washington version of Plume Plotter.

Stacks and buildings

Building measurements are taken from drawings in the planning application (same link as [1] and [2]). We have modelled the incinerator buildings in much more detail than [1]. This image shows the layout of the stack and buildings modelled. North is at the top; colours and numbers indicate the height of buildings and the stack:

Stack measurements

All of these are taken from [2]:

The following values are used for albedo, Bowen ratio and roughness length. Roughness length is as specified in [2]:

Emissions

The emission rates of pollutants are taken from [2]:

PollutantEmission rate
per second
Oxides of nitrogen10.06 g
Particulates503 mg
Sulphur dioxide2.51 g
Carbon Monoxide2.51 g
Hydrogen chloride503 mg
Hydrogen flouride50.3 mg
Cadmium and thallium2.51 mg
Mercury2.51 mg
Other metals25.1 mg
Ammonia503 mg
TOC503 mg
Dioxins and furans5.03 ng

Background levels

The background levels of pollutants are taken from [1]. These are:

PollutantBackground
concentration per m3
Oxides of nitrogen19.6 μg
Particulates16.1 μg
Sulphur dioxide21.8 μg
Carbon Monoxide169 μg
Hydrogen chlorideN/A
Hydrogen flourideN/A
Cadmium and thallium175 pg
MercuryN/A
Other metals38.91 ng
AmmoniaN/A
TOC541 ng
Dioxins and furansN/A

Weather data

Weather data is taken from METAR reports from a local airport: Newcastle.

Upper air data is the latest reported by the Albemarle upper air station.

References

1. Environmental Statement: Chapter 5 - Air Quality. Air Quality Consultants Ltd. October 2017.

2. Environmental Statement: Appendix 5 - Air Quality Appendices: Sunderland REC. Air Quality Consultants Ltd. October 2017.