Details of Poolbeg Plume Plotter

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

Stacks and buildings

Building measurements are taken from the building plans included in the EIS [1]. There are two stacks but they have been combined into one because of the short distance between them (~5m).

This image shows the layout of the stack and buildings modelled. (North is at the top; numbers indicate the height of stacks and buildings; lighter shades of pink are used for higher buildings.)

Stack measurements

All of these are taken from [1] [2] [3] except the stack location which is not stated but was calculated from aerial photographs:

The following values are used for albedo, Bowen ratio and roughness length. The roughness length is set to a low value because of the source of wind data used. (For historical plots and animations, a roughness length of 0.5m was used, as specified in [3]).

Emissions

The planned emission rates of pollutants are taken from [1] [2] [3]. These are:

PollutantEmission rate
per second
Oxides of nitrogen23.89 g
Particulates663.6 mg
Sulphur dioxide5.309 g
TOC663.6 mg
Carbon monoxide3.982 g
Hydrogen chloride1.062 g
Hydrogen flouride106.2 mg
Cadmium and thallium6.636 mg
Mercury2.655 mg
Other metals53.09 mg
Dioxins and furans6.636 ng

The actual emission rates use the same flow rates as above, conmbined with the concentrations measured in May 2022, as reported in the incinerator's report submitted to the EPA. They are listed below:

PollutantEmission rate
per second
Oxides of nitrogen25.29 g
Particulates64.5 mg
Sulphur dioxide366.3 mg
TOC39.1 mg
Carbon monoxide902.8 mg
Hydrogen chloride4.625 mg
Hydrogen flouride18 mg
Cadmium and thallium88.9 μg
Mercury33.3 μg
Other metals1.122 mg
Dioxins and furans0

Background levels

The background levels of pollutants are taken from [1] [2] [3]. These are:

PollutantBackground
concentration per m3
Oxides of nitrogen27.6 μg
Particulates30 μg
Sulphur dioxide14 μg
TOC1.7 μg
Carbon monoxide510 μg
Hydrogen chloride240 ng
Hydrogen flouride10 ng
Cadmium and thallium1 ng
Mercury1 ng
Other metals10 ng
Dioxins and furans56 fg

Weather data

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

Upper air data is the latest reported by the Castor Bay upper air station.

References

1. Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) for the Dublin Waste to Energy facility. Chapter 8: Air Quality and Climate. 2006.

2. Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) for the Dublin Waste to Energy facility. Chapter 8: Air Quality and Climate (contd.). 2006.

3. Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) for the Dublin Waste to Energy facility. Appendix 8.1: Air Quality Study. 2006.