Considerable hazards produced by heavy fuel oil in operating thermal power plant in Assiut, Egypt

Abstract

Heavy fuel oil and ash samples were collected from the Assiut thermal power plant in Egypt and subjected to gamma spectrometry analysis for natural radioactivity contents. Considerable results were observed where the ash contains nearly 1,000 times natural radionuclides more than raw oil. The results were confirmed by measuring the samples via using different devices in different institutions. All ash samples had radium equivalent activities and external hazard index values more than 370 Bq/kg and unity respectively. The mean absorbed dose rate was10,650 nGy/h which is nearly 190 times higher than the global average value of 55 nGy/h. The corresponding annual external effective dose is estimated to be 13 mSv/year, which is nearly 30 times higher than that in areas of natural background radiation (0.46 mSv/year).

Monstrous Hazards Produced by High Radioactivity Levels Around Assiut Thermal Power Plant

“…The concentrations of natural radionuclides in the produced ash are extremely higher than the corresponding concentrations in the earth's crust and much higher than that in coal fly ashes in other countries (El-Gamal et al, 2013).…”

“…The The enhancement of natural radioactivity in ash samples mainly depends on the physicochemical properties of the elements and their chemical compounds in heavy oil (Cevik et al, 2007;Pandit et al, 2011 226 Ra will reside with the uraninite fraction of its 238 U parent, while the more mobile species will be allowed more than the others, e.g., the silica associated with 226 Ra (Pandit et al, 2011;El-Gamal et al, 2013).…”

“…It was found that the ash produced by the combustion of heavy fuel oil in Assiut Thermal Power Plant (ATPP) contains nearly one thousand times of natural radionuclides more than raw oil (El-Gamal et al, 2013). The concentrations of natural radionuclides in the produced ash are extremely higher than the corresponding concentrations in the earth's crust and much higher than that in coal fly ashes in other countries (El-Gamal et al, 2013).…”

Kondisi Arus Pasang Surut dan Angin di Perairan Sekitar PLTU Muara Karang sebagai Indikator Persebaran NORM

“…Hernández et al (2014) menyatakan bahwa penggunaan bahan bakar fosil untuk PLTU menghasilkan lepasan berupa abu terbang (fly ash) dan abu dasar (bottom ash) yang mengandung NORM dengan konsentrasi aktivitas tertentu. Minyak yang digunakan sebagai bahan bakar pembangkit listrik mengandung radionuklida seperti Radium, Thorium, Kalium beserta anak luruhnya yang dilepaskan dari operasional PLTU sehingga akan terpapar ke lingkungan sekitar yang didominasi oleh perairan laut (El-Gamal et al, 2013;Ozden et al, 2018). Fly ash yang keluar akan terbawa angin karena ukuran partikelnya yang halus dan kemudian memasuki perairan dalam bentuk partikulat yang persebarannya dipengaruhi oleh arus dan terendapkan dalam sedimen dasar perairan (Vives et al, 2018).…”