Impact of the ambient air quality due to the dispersion of PM₁₀ from a hot-dip galvanizing plant located in the Sultanate of Oman

Hot-dip galvanizing (HDG) plants are a major source of particulate matter (PM) and, as a result, the areas around the plants can be affected by these emissions. The primary objective of this study was to evaluate the dispersion of PM with an aerodynamic diameter of less than 10 μm (PM₁₀) released from an HDG plant located in Sohar, Oman. Two PM₁₀ emission sources were considered: the off-gases resulting from the combustion of fuel used to generate the required heat for melting the zinc and the fumes generated from dipping the steel in the molten zinc bath. Supported by CALPUFF dispersion modeling software, the study analyses were based on selected modeling days representing winter and summer—the predominant seasons experienced in the region. CALPUFF simulation results revealed that winter’s top PM₁₀ concentration level at 27.968 μg/m³ was slightly greater than the summer’s maximum recorded level at 27.207 μg/m³. However, that being said, the concentration levels for both seasons were far below the allowable concentration limit set by the United States Environmental Protection Agency (U.S. EPA) at 365.21 μg/m³.