Atmospheric Dispersion Modeling of the Emissions from the Logbaba Thermal Power Plant, Douala-Cameroon

Air quality in the vicinity of the thermal power plant of Logbaba in the town of Douala was investigated in this study using data collected in a 5-year period (2008-2012). The distribution of pollutants such as SO2, NOx, CO and the particle matter PM2.5 was analyzed using numerical modeling, based on physical and thermal characteristics, as well as the operating periods of the power plant. The American Environmental Regulator Model (AERMOD) that is an atmospheric dispersion model was used for simulation. The wind rose and others National Oceanic Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) in-situ data were used for the validation of the model. The pollutants distribution was evaluated at two locations: the exit of the power plant, considered as reference point, and at 330 m away from the exit where the first houses appeared. The results show that the relative concentration for each contaminant at the exit of the power plant is 7.2% for the PM2.5 during 24 hours of emission, 46.0% for CO over 8 hours of emission, and 17.5% for SO2 over one hour. The NOx is the highest pollutant with 259.1% over an hour of emission and 51.0% over one year. Beyond 330 m of the power plant, only NOx keeps a polluting character with a relative rate of 100%. These results show that the pollution level of the power plant is over the threshold for air quality set by the World Health Organization. Moreover, among all pollutants investigated, NOx appears to be the most critical for the population in the vicinity of the Logbaba thermal power plant. This information is therefore important for policy and decision makers in preventing the vulnerability of the population to air pollutants from such industrial settings.

The Relationship between Global Solar Radiation and Sunshine Durations in Cameroon

Based on the well-known modified Angstrom formula on the relationship between the sunshine duration and the global solar radiation, this paper aimed to estimate the value of the constant a and b in Cameroon. Only five cities (Maroua, Garoua, NGaoundéré, Yaoundé and Douala) had the both available in-situ data recorded during the period of eleven years (1996-2006) beside which four others cities (Dschang, Koundja, Yoko and Manfé) had only the in-situ sunshine duration available data recorded during the period of twenty years (1986-2006). The 9 cities were grouped in 3 different climate regions. Based on the data of the 5 first cities belonging the 3 regions, the follow constant values a1 = -0.05, a2 = -0.02, a3 = -0.14 and b1 = 0.94, b2 = 0.74, b3 = 1.12 were obtained. The Root Mean Square Error (RMSE) Mean Bias Error (MBE) and correlation coefficient (r) were also determined. Then we used these values to estimate the global solar radiation for the other four remain cities. The constants a and b obtained values are in accordance with those of the West Africa region which Cameroon belongs to. So they can be employed in estimating global solar radiation of location in Cameroon paying attention only to the geographical location information.