International Journal of Engineering Trends and Technology (IJETT) Volume 4 Issue 4- May 2013

Pollution Issues in Iraqi Kurdistan Region

Hamed M. Jassim , Yousif Abdulla Aziz Kurdi , Fakhri H. Ibraheem Al-nidai
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Koya University-Faculty of Engineering-Geotechnical, Chemical Engineering Departments-Kurdistan-IRAQ * Salahaddin University-College of Fine Art-Plastic Arts Department-Kurdistan-IRAQ The Kurdistan region in Iraq has a strategic location in the Middle East. Due to the continental climate and the high elevation, Kurdistan has cold winters, snowfalls in December through February. These circumstances can be made use of for winter resorts and tourism and can be exploited as winter sports sites. In addition to that, a lot of sites in Kurdistan can be regarded as suitable tourism sites both in spring and in summer for local and foreign tourists. An excess of pollution and high levels of emission of various pollutants due various reasons might affect the activities of tourism in this region leaving a negative impact on the economy. An overview of the conditions of all cities in the region ( Erbil, Sulaymania and Duhok ) and comparing them with the conditions years before will indicate vast development, especially in the fields of construction, transportation, main roads and communication, cement and oil industry. We also noticed that the population has grown dramatically in addition to a huge increase of the numbers of vehicles as well as the big increase in gasoline and diesel consumption with accompanying pollutants emissions as being one source of air pollution in these cities. The wide expansion in industrial factories, oil central processing stations and petroleum refineries have created extra sources of pollution. We believe that understanding the impact of environmental issues is still not fully recognized in Kurdistan region in addition to the shortcomings of doing enough research dealing with the environment and environmental protection.

Abstract -- The Kurdistan region in Iraq, and the cities in particular are facing environmental problems such as solid waste management, air pollution, water pollution, pollution due to automobiles, cement industry and oil refineries. There is a certain amount of awareness to the evolving environmental problems in the whole region of Kurdistan which need a special attention and treatments. This research will be involved in some of the environmental topics facing Kurdistan Region and also gives indications of the causes of the pollutants and extract conclusions and suggests remedies for reducing their impact on the environment. The following categories of environmental issues will be dealt with by performing extensive statistics and studies (qualitatively and quantitatively) in order to draw the relevant conclusions and to make some recommendations, as outlined below: 1. Pollution due to the increasing numbers of vehicles in the region generally, which indicated an overall increased level of pollution by 13.43 times between 2006 and 2011, which is comparable to the level of increase of traffic volumes during the same period. This overall increase in the pollution rate can be broken down into the following pollutants: i. Carbon Monoxide ( CO ) quantities have increased by an amount of 12.44 times between 2006 and 2011, whereby the total daily amount produced in 2011 was 249.0 tons. ii. Hydrocarbons (HC) quantities have increased by an amount of 12.49 times over the same period, whereby the total daily amount produced in 2011 was 29.49 tons. iii. Nitrogen Oxides (NOx) quantities have increased by an amount of 12.92 times over the same period, whereby the total daily amount produced in 2011 was 19.76 tons. iv. Mass particulate quantities have increased by an amount of 17.74 times over the same period, whereby the total daily amount produced in 2011 was 2.803 tons. v. Carbon Dioxide (CO2) quantities have increased by an amount of 13.58 times over the same period, whereby the total daily amount produced in 2011 was 4319 tons. 2. Pollution due to increasing cement production, which indicated an overall increased level of pollution by 13.78 times between 2004 and 2010. This is attributed to an increase in cement production by the same proportion during this period. 3. Pollution due to an increase in the capacities of oil refining, which indicated an overall increased level of pollution by 37 times between 2007 and 2013, due to an increase in the oil refining capacities by the same amount over that period. Keywords-- Pollutants, emission, environment, solid waste, air pollution, dust emission, carbon monoxide, carbon dioxide, nitrogen oxides, hydrocarbons, mass particulate.

I.

INTRODUCTION

II.SOLID WASTE MANAGEMENT Recently, increasing attention has been paid to the environmental impact of solid waste in Iraqi Kurdistan region. Consequently solid waste management has become a remarkably important issue. Solid waste comprises a wide range of materials which come from a variety of sources. During the past decades the quantity and composition of municipal solid waste in the cities of Kurdistan province and the methods of collection, transport, and disposal are still primitive. An open dumping is the only method in practice in all three cities of the province. As a result, Kurdistan Province is facing serious environmental problems. For that reason the Department of Environment and Municipalities of the province is aware of the necessity for using a modern municipal solid waste management system (MSWMS) to control the spreading of pollution problems. Modern Landfill constitutes one of the primary methods of municipal solid waste disposal as shown in (Fig. 1a, 1b).

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where people live regardless of its danger to human health. Waste is classified according to its origin to non-hazardous and hazardous. It has to be dealt with accordingly.

III.WATER POLLUTION
As the population in the cities of Kurdistan continues to increase the demand for freshwater obviously increases and this leads to water resources crisis. If this continues, the quality and shortage of water becomes a critical factor. In addition to limiting future development, it also affects basic health and hygiene. Groundwater is highly used in the developing countries especially in the remote areas. Agriculture, industry, car workshops and landfill sites are main sources of groundwater contamination. The use of various pesticides and the wastes of chemical industries give the risk of pollution in groundwater, streams and rivers. IV.POLLUTANT DUE TO AUTOMOBILES The automobiles market in Kurdistan region has witnessed a large increase in the numbers of automobiles which are registered and used in the region during the past few years. This will be reflected on the amount of pollution connected with such increase, as shown below:
TABLE 1

Fig.1a Modern Landfill System

Fig-1b Improper Landfill System-Kurdistan

An appropriate selection of landfill site is important in order to minimize the environmental damage as well as the prevention of the negative impact to the public health, thereby improving the overall sustainability associated with the life cycle of the landfill. Moreover, an ideal selection of landfill site depends on the recognition of several factors such as land use, environmental, hydrology, socioeconomic factors, etc. Uncontrolled daily dumping of hundreds of tons of municipal solid waste onto the available land around the urban areas is a common daily practice in Kurdistan. Besides endangering the environment, this uncontrolled method of disposal has created many hygienic, social, and human difficulties for the province and the surrounding areas. Citizens are not being directly charged for the services provided by the municipal solid waste management systems (MSWMS), yet the current cost of collection, transport, and disposal of municipal solid waste in Kurdistan is about 1 US. cent/ kilogram which can be regarded as a considerable figure. The financial aspects of installation, operation, and maintenance of a (MSWMS) will play a major role in selecting more rewarding and cleaner alternatives. The term waste covers anything from the contents of the household dustbin to high-level radioactive waste and other hazardous waste from hospitals, factories and other industrial premises. Poorly managed waste disposal sites could affect the environment by contaminating the air, soil and water. In Europe, waste is land filled, incinerated or recycled and even used for power generation. One cant imagine h ow many thousands of tones per year of waste are generated in Kurdistan. Waste in the region is probably dumped or disposed in areas not very far from places

ACCUMULATED AUTOMOBILE PROFILE IN KRG THROUGH THE PERIOD FROM 2006 - 2011
Type of cars Private Taxi Trucks Motorcycles Agricultural Construction Total 2006 36158 7930 7908 1 50 278 52325 2007 71740 15632 16230 474 117 362 104555 2008 112217 25713 32013 4354 268 794 175359 2009 171850 38161 61536 8469 2213 2367 284596 2010 268699 55501 115193 12668 3373 3931 459365 2011 373267 109530 194682 15719 3621 6033 702851

Assumption: Half of the trucks are fuelled by gasoline fuel and half by gasoil.

TABLE 2

ACCUMULATED AUTOMOBILE PROFILE IN KRG CLASSIFIED ACCORDING TO FUEL TYPE

Types of Automobiles Gasoline Automobiles Gasoil Automobiles 2006 48043 4282 2007 95961 8594 2008 158291 17069 2009 249248 35348 2010 394465 64901 2011 595857 106994

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TABLE 3 TABLE 4

EMISSION STANDARDS FROM BOTH GASOLINE AND GASOIL FUELLED VEHICLES(1)

Types of Automobiles CO (gm / km) 27.7 HC (gm / km) 3.24 NOx (gm / km) 2.04 CO2 (gm/km) Mass Particulate (Pm) (gm / km) 0

TOTAL AUTOMOBILE GAS EMISSIONS IN KURDISTAN REGION

(2006-2011) Year 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 CO (gm/day) 413 823 1468 2168 3510 5412 HC (gm/day) 195 389 638 1020 1651 2546 Nox (gm/day) 118 235 385 620 1004 1547 Mass Particulate (Pm) (gm/day) 25 35 77 206 350 532

Gasoline cars Diesel Passenger Cars Diesel Light Commercial Vehicles Average Diesel Cars

399

0.83

0.27

0.9

403

2.46

0.94

0.39

1.01

537

2.46

0.885

0.330

0.955

470.000

2.460

Figure 2 Accumulated automobiles profile in KRG through the period from 2006 2011

Figure 3 Accumulated automobiles profile in KRG classified according to fuel type through the period from 2006 2011

(1)

Reference: Asif Faiz, Christopher S. Weaver, Michael P. Walsh; Air Pollution from motor vehicles p37, P41, Washington D, C - USA. 1996.

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Figure 4 Rate of Pollutants emitted from different automobile types n KRG from 2006 2011.

Figure 5 Rate of carbon dioxide (CO2) pollutant emitted from different automobile types in KRG from 2006 2011

Figure 6 Rate of total pollutants emitted from different automobiles in KRG from 2006 2011

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V.CEMENT INDUSTRY The analysis of the data of cement production which were provided by the ministry of trade and industry KRG shows that there is an increase in the cement production in Iraq generally and in Kurdistan region in particular during the period from 2004 to 2010. The table below illustrates the cement production capacities both in Iraq and in Kurdistan region over the past seven years. The year 2009 witnessed a remarkable increase in the production volume at a percentage of ( 83 % ) compared to the previous year. The total production volume during this period grew at a CAGER(2) (Compound Annual Growth Rate) of 21%.
TABLE 5

Figure 7 shows the trend of change of cement production in Kurdistan Region and the other parts of Iraq. This figure shows that the production of cement in Kurdistan has recorded a remarkable increase during this period. In 2009, the cement production in Kurdistan Region has doubled to reach ( 4,400,000 ) tons, indicating a growth rate of (86 %) compared to the previous year. The main reason behind this increase is attributed to the start of cement production in Bazian cement plant. As a matter of fact, the total production in the region of Kurdistan grew at a CAGER of (54.84 %).

VI. ENVIRONMENTAL HAZARDS & POLLUTION IN CEMENT INDUSTRY Cement industry is classified as a pollution-prone industry by International Funding Agencies with the potential to cause environmental problems if proper mitigation measures are not taken. Clinker and cement manufacturing plants pose some environmental hazards to the land, vegetation, atmosphere and inhabitants within the vicinity of the factory. The main identified areas of degradation land pollution are as follows:

TOTAL PRODUCTION OF CEMENT(3) Year 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 Production Volume in Tons Iraq 2,462,000 2,529,000 3,750,000 3,457,000 3,325,000 6,096,000 7,384,000 Kurdistan Region 370,000 900,000 1,920,000 2,170,000 2,130,000 4,400,000 5,100,000

Figure 7 Trend of cement production change with time.

(2)

Hisham Zireeni, Horwath Abou Chakra Co. , Feasibility for Establishing a Cement Plant in Kurdistan Iraq December 2011. Reference: Ministry of Trade & Industry KRG

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a. Land degradation due to mining activities to produce raw materials for cement production: The increased cement production in Kurdistan with time during the mentioned period which necessitates a corresponding increase of raw materials excavation will result in an increase of land degradation problems. Hence the level of cement production land degradation. b. Noise hazards associated with crushers and ball mills: The increased volume of cement production in Kurdistan will basically lead to the production of more noise hazards due to the need for either higher capacity and bigger crushers and ball mills or the increase of numbers of needed crushers and ball mills. Hence the level of cement production noise hazards produced. c. Hazards from toxic and corrosive exhaust gases from the kiln especially toxic gases like carbon monoxide ( CO ), carbon dioxide ( CO2 ) and corrosive gases like sulfur dioxide (SO2). In cement production, carbon dioxide emissions arise from fossil fuel use and from non-fuel related sources ( decarburization of limestone ). As a guide for quantification, carbon dioxide emissions from different fuels have been presented by some researchers in India(4) such as that in table ( 6 ) whereby the rate of ( CO2 ) emissions for each ton of cement produced has been recorded. Hence the level of cement production emission of toxic and corrosive gases. d. Emission of cement dust: According to the same arguments above, we may deduce the following relationship: The level of cement production quantities of emitted dust. The following table gives the long term average emission values from European cement kilns(5). e. Noise hazards associated with crushers and ball mills: The increased volume of cement production in Kurdistan will basically lead to the production of more noise hazards due to the need for either higher capacity and bigger crushers and ball mills or the increase of numbers of needed crushers and ball mills. Hence the level of cement production noise hazards produced. Hazards from toxic and corrosive exhaust gases from the kiln especially toxic gases like carbon monoxide ( CO ), carbon dioxide ( CO2 ) and corrosive gases like sulfur dioxide (SO2). As a guide for quantification, carbon dioxide emissions from different fuels have been presented by some researchers in India (4) such as that in Table 6 whereby the rate of ( CO2 ) emissions for each ton of cement produced has been recorded.
TABLE 6

CARBON DIOXIDE EMISSIONS ( INDIA VERSUS BEST PRACTICE ) 1991 India:

.............ton. CO2/ton. cement Total Emissions : Emissions from Calcinations Emissions from Fuels Best Practice: ton. CO2/ton. cement Total Emissions: Emissions from Calcinations Emissions from Fuels Mton. CO2 Mton. CO2 Mton. CO2 Mton. CO2 Mton. CO2 Mton. CO2

1992

1993

0.86 45.97 22.51 23.46

0.91 49.20 22.46 26.74

0.89 59.54 25.39 26.15

0.63 33.83 18.18 15.65

0.63 34.15 18.34 15.81

0.63 36.55 19.63 16.92

Table 7 gives the long term average emission values from European cement kilns(5).
TABLE 7 LONG TERM AVERAGE EMISSION VALUES.

Emission Dust NOx SO2 Total Organic Carbon ( TOC ) CO Fluorides Chlorides PCDD/F Heavy Metals: Class 1 ( Hg, Cd, Tl ) Class 2 ( As, Co, Ni, Se, Te ) Class 3 ( Sb, Pb, Cr, Cu, Mn, V, Sn ) incl. Zn

mg. per standard cubic meter [ mg. / Nm3 ] 20 - 200 500 - 2000 10 - 2500 10 - 100 500 - 2000 <5 < 25 < 0.1 ( mg. /Nm3 ) < 0.1 < 0.1 < 0.3

f.

In cement production, carbon dioxide emissions arise from fossil fuel use and from non-fuel related sources (decarburization of limestone).

Katja Schumacher and Jayant Sathaye, Environmental Energy Technologies Division, U.S. Department of Energy, Indias Cement Industry: Productivity, Energy Efficiency & Carbon Emissions , July 1999.
(4) (5)

CEMBUREAU, Long term emission values from European cement kilns, 1999.

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In addition to these four refineries there is another source of a more serious pollution represented by some (70) small Oil refineries represent a big source of pollution in operating topping plants (mini refineries). These are dotted Kurdistan Region. Due to the boom in oil production in around the Kurdistan region and Kurdish-controlled areas in Kurdistan through the hectic activities of some ( 30 ) nearby Kirkuk and Ninewa province. international oil investment companies which have been Many of these topping plants are unlicensed and they dont operating in different parts of Kurdistan, an expansion in oil operate according to reasonable standards which makes them refining has occurred either through the increased refining very dangerous sources of pollution. The difference between a capacities of the existing refineries or by installing new topping plant and a refinery is that the refinery r efines a refineries, leading to increased levels of pollution in the region. whole RANGE of products and has things like Fluid Catalytic A published report(6) refers to the operating refineries in Crackers, Catalytic Reformers, Dimerization units, etc, Kurdistan Region. It states that there are 4 oil medium size whereas a topping plant is basically just step 1 of refining refineries operating in Kurdistan. These refineries are: ( an atmospheric distillation unit ). 1- Khabat ( or Kalak ) refinery in Erbil. The following table 8 and figure shows the development of 2- Bazian refinery in Sulaimaniya. refining capacities in Kurdistan Region over the past years 3- Kat Refinery in Kirkuk. ( 2007 2013 ): 4- Zakho refinery in Zakho. VII.POLLUTION DUE TO OIL REFINERIES Talks are ongoing to build a 5th. refinery in Kirkuk (Perde) which is a Kurdish-controlled town. These refineries have been built during the last 7 years and some of them were built at different phases which means that there are increasing oil refining capacities during the last seven years producing some pollutants in the region. The capacity of refining oil at the later three refineries reaches up to (65,000 100,000) BPD. On the other hand, Khabat refinery started with a plant having a refining capacity of (20,000) BPD. This plant started operation in July 2009, then the first expansion phase utilized (26) process modules to add another (20,000) BPD. refining capacity to the existing one in July 2010. The subsequent second phase provided an additional (60,000) BPD. of total refining capacity and was completed in 2011. The third recent expansion consists of two (30,000) BPD. Modular complexes at the same site, as well as a (15,000) BPD. Condensate processing facility. Once this latest phase is complete and becomes operational, the total capacity at Khabat refinery will be over (185,000) BPD.
TABLE 8

OIL REFINING CAPACITIES IN KURDISTAN REGION Oil Refining Capacity ( BPD. ) Year
Khabat Refinery Bazian Refinery Zakho Refinery

Topping Plants BPD 7,500 22,500 30,000 33,750 45,000 52,500 52,500

Total Capacity 7,500 27,500 71,000 95,750 167,000 208,500 277,500

2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013

0 0
20,000 40,000 100,000 130,000 185,000

0 0 16,000 16,000 16,000 20,000 34,000

0 5,000 5,000 6,000 6,000 6,000 6,000

The following figure 8 shows the trend of change of oil refining capacity in Kurdistan with time.

Figure 8 The trend of change of oil refining in Kurdistan with time.

(6)

John Lee, Oil & Gas Comments, Ministry of Natural Resources Web Site, 9.8.2012.

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It is evident that the pollutant gases emissions are directly proportional to the oil refining capacities. A look at the above table and figure indicates that there is an increase in the pollution levels during the last few years ( 2007 2013 ). VIII.CONCLUSIONS 1) Large parts of Kurdistan region have a lack of or inefficient clean water network systems which are not functioning well. In addition to that the solid waste management poses extra environmental concerns. During the past decades the quantity and composition of municipal solid waste in the cities of Kurdistan province and the methods of collection, transport, and disposal are still not up to international standards. 2) Kurdistan Region has witnessed an explosion in the number of vehicles during the past few years leaving a big impact on the environment. Our research has shown an increase in the production of pollutants due to the increase in the number of vehicles by an amount of 13.43 times between the years 2006 and 2011. This overall increase in the pollution rate can be broken down into the following pollutants: i. Carbon Monoxide ( CO ) quantities have increased by an amount of 12.44 times between 2006 and 2011, whereby the total daily amount produced in 2011 was 249.0 tons. ii. Hydrocarbons ( HC ) quantities have increased by an amount of 12.49 times over the same period, whereby the total daily amount produced in 2011 was 29.49 tons. iii. Nitrogen Oxides ( NOx ) quantities have increased by an amount of 12.92 times over the same period, whereby the total daily amount produced in 2011 was 19.76 tons. iv. Mass particulate quantities have increased by an amount of 17.74 times over the same period, whereby the total daily amount produced in 2011 was 2.803 tons. v. Carbon Dioxide ( CO2 ) quantities have increased by an amount of 13.58 times over the same period, whereby the total daily amount produced in 2011 was 4319 tons. 3) The level of cement production in Kurdistan has also increased resulting in a comparable increase in the levels of pollution. This research indicated an increase in the production of cement in the region by an amount of 13.78 times between 2004 and 2010. This is accompanied by a comparable increase in the production of pollutants during the same period. 4) The level of oil production and oil refining in Kurdistan Region has also increased dramatically over the past few years. The results of our research have shown an increase in the amounts of oil refining in the region by 37 times between 2007 and 2013. This was accompanied by the same increase in the amounts of emission of pollutants during that period. IX.RECOMMENDATIONS 1) Finding the appropriate place is one of the most important factors of the landfill waste management system for big cities in Kurdistan with a population of over 4,000,000 inhabitants. The choice of landfill sites has to be based on studies by environmental experts taking every parameter in consideration. 2) Green belts have to be planted around the cities in Kurdistan Region with emphasis on increasing the green areas inside the cities with higher populations in order to improve the environmental conditions. 3) A close collaboration and better cooperation between the ministry of environment and other ministries, institutions, universities, research centres and hospitals has to be established for the purpose of improving the environment in Kurdistan. 4) Establishing a big and an efficient environmental protection programme and encouraging scientific studies and researches in the field of environmental protection and increasing the budget which is allocated for such purposes and organizing more seminars, workshops and international conferences on the environment in Kurdistan. 5) Taking more care of the forests which cool down and clean the air and add moisture in addition to maintain an ecological balance in the region. Extra care must be taken regarding more research on the winds and sand storms which transfer the pollutants from outside to inside Kurdistan Region and from polluted areas to residential compounds.

REFERENCES
[1] Katja Schumacher and Jayant Sathaye, Environmental Energy Technologies Division, U.S. Department of Energy, Indias Cement Industry: Productivity, Energy Efficiency & Carbon Emissions , July 1999. Dr. Kare Helge Karstensen, Cement Production Technology, Report No. 66011-02: Issue 2, Environmental Affairs & Tourism Department, South Africa, September 2007. Hisham Zireeni, Horwath Abou Chakra Co. , Feasibility for Establishing a Cement Plant in Kurdistan Iraq , December 2011. Worrell et al. , Non-fuel emissions from calcination, 1995.

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[5] [6] CEMBUREAU, Long term emission values from European cement kilns, 1999. Aybars Co. , Kar Co. , Seyhan Co. , Environmental Protection & Pollution Control Measures , Report, July 2010. John Lee, Oil & Gas Comments, Ministry of Natural Resources Web Site, 9.8.2012. Alan 131210, Oil Refineries in Kurdistan, Oil & Gas Comments, Ministry of Natural Resources Web Site, 26.5.2012. ATM, Environmental Challenges Overview Facing the Petroleum Industry. William Kovarik, Ethyl-leaded Gasoline, Int. J. Occup. Environmental Health, ( pp. 384 397 ), 2005. N. N. Basak, Environmental Engineering, Fourth Reprint by Tata McGrawhill, New Delhi, 2007. Michael Allaby, Basics of Environmental Science, 2nd. Edition, Published by Taylor & Francis, New York, 2002. Nemerow Nelson L. /Agardy Franklin J. /Salvato Joseph A. , Environmental Engineering, Water, Wastewater, Soil and Groundwater Treatment and Remediation, Wiley Vch. , Hardcover, Germany, 2009. Kriton Curi, Editor, Appropriate Waste Management for Developing Countries, Plenum Press, New York, 1985. M. B. Pescod, Editor, Urban Solid Waste Management, Published on behalf of the World Health Organization by IRIS, 1991.

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