| Abstract The uncontrolled releases of volatile organic
compounds (VOCs) from wastewater treatment plants
(WWTPs) have been highly concerned due to the associated public health risks. In petrochemical industries,
WWTPs are responsible for various organic compound
emissions into the atmosphere, which can considered as the
main source of VOCs emission in such industries. The
typical high-strength petrochemical wastewater is generated from an acrylonitrile–butadiene–styrene (ABS) resin
manufacturing plant that usually needs pretreatment before
discharging to the main WWTP. The objective of this study
was to investigate the emissions and fates of acrylonitrile
(ACN) and styrene (STM) through wastewater pretreatment units operated in an ABS manufacturing plant. In this
study, the emission rates of ACN and STM were estimated
by means of EPA’s Water9 emission model. Subsequently,
the emission rates were used as the input data of AERMOD
model to simulate the atmospheric behaviors of emitted
ACN and STM. The results of Water9 model showed that
57 and 81 % of influent ACN and STM are emitted to the
air through pretreatment units, respectively. For both of
them, the equalization basin had the major portion of
emission to the atmosphere. The concentration distribution
profiles of ACN and STM resulted from AERMOD model
indicted that the concentration of STM was lower than
EPA reference concentration (RfC); however, the higher
concentration of ACN (higher than RfC) occurred near the
WWTP as well as the neighbor ambient. |