Details of Tarago Plume Plotter

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

Stacks and buildings

The proposed incinerator's building layout is not known, so it is (unrealistically) assumed that there are no buildings near the stack. The presence of such buildings would cause building downwash and increase ground-level concentrations.

Stack measurements

Apart from the stack location, these are estimated from the proposed incinerator's annual throughput (380000 tonnes per annum):

The following values are used for albedo, Bowen ratio and roughness length:

Emissions

The emission rates of pollutants are estimated from the proposed incinerator's annual throughput (380000 tonnes per annum), using the EU limits (2019 BREF) on pollutant concentrations:

PollutantEmission rate
per second
Oxides of nitrogen10.15 g
Particulates422.9 mg
TOC845.8 mg
Hydrogen chloride507.5 mg
Hydrogen flouride84.58 mg
Sulphur dioxide2.538 g
Carbon monoxide4.229 g
Cadmium and thallium1.692 mg
Mercury1.692 mg
Other metals25.37 mg
Dioxins and furans5.075 ng

Background levels

The background levels of pollutants used are not very local: they are taken from the 2016 proposal for the Eastern Creek incinerator in Western Sydney:

PollutantBackground
concentration per m3
Oxides of nitrogen21.6 μg
Particulates17.6 μg
TOCN/A
Hydrogen chlorideN/A
Hydrogen flourideN/A
Sulphur dioxide1.5 μg
Carbon monoxideN/A
Cadmium and thalliumN/A
MercuryN/A
Other metalsN/A
Dioxins and furansN/A

Weather data

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

Upper air data is the latest reported by the Moree Mo upper air station.

References