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Synopsis of Ph.D Dissertation
John O. Mubenwafor, Ph.D., Th.D.
MATHEMATICAL MODELING OF AIR POLLUTION WITH PARTICULAR REFERENCE TO ELEME LOCAL GOVERNMENT AREA OF RIVERS STATE, NIGERIA
JOHN OSILAWALA MUBENWAFOR, Th. D.
A Dissertation Submitted to the
Faculty of Engineering & Technology
BUI INTERNATIONAL UNIVERSITY
EU
In Partial fulfillment of the requirement for the degree of
Doctor of Philosophy In Applied Mathematics
July 2009
“I do hereby attest that I am the sole author of this report and that its contents are only
the result of my research of the above mentioned topic.”
ACKNOWLEDGEMENT
A number of people made my research work possible, enjoyable and thoroughly rewarding. First, I am indebted to my best friend,
and beloved wife: Mrs. Sarah Lale Mubenwafor, for her prayers, encouragement, and moral support during the times I needed these most.
Without her corporation and “pushing”, this work would never have reached completion.
I thank my uncle, Chief A. C. Uzoma and his wife, who were there for me during hard times; they have been a source of inspiration to me. I am also grateful to my late mother-in-law, Elder (Mrs.) Mercy Obele-Ollorma, who believed in me and inspired me with her undaunted faith in God that I can make it through the “wilderness”. She continues to provide me with rich source of optimism and enthusiasm in all aspects of life.
I express my profound gratitude to Prof S. Lale, and Bishop (Dr.) M. O. Kattey, who shared their expertise, and provided tremendous moral support; Rev I. R. Green, Mr. Macaulay Bamido, Rev E. O. Osarollube, Mr. M. N. Karanwi, who helped to gather the needed data for this research from Eleme; Mrs. Angelina Owate for her hospitality (especially whenever I was in New York with my family).
Prof Williams Martin, who graciously served as my official supervisor, gave me full freedom to do my research and challenged my knowledge of pollution which prodded me to ask questions, rather than to be content with my own level of understanding. Irene Fernández, was always there to answer my questions timely.
Thanks are due to Mr. & Mrs. Emmanuel Ogor, Mr. & Mrs. Eugene Otuonye (Chairman, Public Service Commission, former Deputy Attorney General, Turks & Caicos Islands) for their moral and spiritual support. They also showered me with guidance.
Words alone cannot express my appreciation to Rev (Mrs.) Julia Williams, President of Turks & Caicos Islands Community College, for the opportunity afforded me that enabled the completion of my doctorate degree program.
I shall always remain grateful to all members of the Christian Fellowship Deliverance Church (aka Commonwealth Covenant Church) International, Port Harcourt, Nigeria, Bible Study Ministries (Grand Turk, Turks & Caicos Islands) and my other beloved brothers and sisters in the Lord for upholding me daily in prayers.
Above all, I give all the glory and honor to God for His provision, protection, strength and wisdom (especially in times of adversities). Blessed be Your Mighty Name; You are the God of my salvation.
ABSTRACT:
Eleme Local Government Area is about 120 square kilometers with a population (the growth of which is on the fast lane) of over one hundred and fifty thousand. The discovery, in 1957, of abundant reserves of oil and gas in the area has attracted over one hundred companies, including: two oil refineries, one petrochemical complex plant, a fertilizer plant and one port complex serving as the pivot for Sub-Saharan Africa.
With all these companies located within the vicinity of Eleme, there is daily flaring of gases with no enforced air quality standards, like that of the Clean Air Act, 42 U.S.C. §§7401 et seq., implemented by the United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). It is a worldwide recognized fact that Air pollution is an environmental problem that is both pervasive and difficult to control. It is clearly, the contamination of the atmosphere (– a complex, dynamic natural gaseous system that is essential to support life on planet Earth –) by the introduction of pollutants from human and natural sources. Air pollution is responsible for large numbers of deaths and cases of respiratory disease. The World Health Organization estimates that 2.4 million people die each year from causes directly attributable to air pollution – more deaths per year than to automobile accidents. Direct causes of air pollution related deaths include aggravated asthma, bronchitis, emphysema, lung and heart diseases, and respiratory allergies.
This work will presents a reliable means for evaluating the air quality impact of alternative abatement measures – a capability, in the form of a mathematical description of the production and transport of photochemical oxidants within an urban air-shed. The combined influences of advection, turbulent diffusion, chemical reaction, emissions and surface removal processes will all be incorporated into a series of models that are based on the species continuity equations. A delineation of the essential assumptions underlying the formulation of a three-dimensional, a Lagrangian trajectory, a vertically integrated and single cell air quality model will be presented.
The atmospheric processes taking place in the atmospheric boundary layer will be described using the conservation laws of mass, heat, motion, water, gaseous and aerosol materials. These conservation laws are expressed by a set of mathematical equations: the continuity equation, energy equation, motion equations (three components), water transport equations (three phases), pollutant transport equations (one equation for each species in each phase).
A new formulation for gaseous deposition fluxes will be presented to provide a means for estimating removal rates as a function of atmospheric stability. The mathematical formulation of the complete system will contains no regional or area specific information, however, performance evaluation studies will be carried out using data measured in Eleme Local Government Area of Rivers State, Nigeria.
There is growing concern regarding to the possible effects of air pollution on respiratory health of children in Eleme industrial area of Port-Harcourt Nigeria. A total of 250 children were sampled from six primary schools with pre-nursery facilities for a period of 18 months. Subjects were divided into two zones (A and B), monitored and examined on weekly basis. The effects of four criteria pollutants (nitrogen dioxide, sulfur dioxide, particulate matter and carbon monoxide) on the respiratory health of the children were examined with reference to symptoms and diseases such as cough, cold, bronchitis, sinusitis and phlegm. Data were obtained from surveys of socioeconomic status of parents of subjects, three air monitoring stations and on-the-spot measurements of these pollutants and their association with symptoms and diseases analyzed. Results showed that there was a strong association between air pollution and symptoms and diseases among children. The effect was strongest among children below 2 years of age (adjusted OR = 3.5, 95%, CI 1.7-8.3) in the highly polluted zone than in the less polluted area. The higher the age of children, the lesser the susceptibility to these pollutants. These general results constitute a starting point for further research on long-term exposure to industrial air pollution and call for an urgent enforcement of regulatory standards to protect the most vulnerable groups in most of the growing metropolises of the country.
A new mathematical model for air pollution control is proposed. Air pollution is the result of the accumulation of pollutant, caused by the transition of the wind fields. The feature of air pollution phenomena is discussed first. Secondly, a new model structure is proposed which treats the concentration of pollutant in the background separately from the whole pollutant. Finally, an example of numerical simulation based upon the proposed model is shown.
