Determination of volatile organic compounds emissions of Turkish iron-steel and cement industries

Cement and iron-steel sectors are significant sectors in Turkey, and these sectors are major pollution sources and major energy consumers. Studies on volatile organic compounds (VOC) emissions emitted from these sectors are scarce in number, although VOCs are significantly toxic. Hence, this study aims to estimate the VOC emissions from cement and integrated iron-steel production plant data using acknowledged emission factors (EFs) worldwide and plant-specific operational data gathered for cement and iron-steel plants. 2020 is the base year of this study, and plant-specific data for the year 2020 and the two sectors, are gathered. While CO, SO2, NO2 and PM10 emissions are dominant in the cement industry, volatile organic compounds (VOCs) are also released due to the organic feeds to the processes, alternative fuel and raw material adoption and leaks from the process furnaces if required combustion conditions are not met. Fifty-six integrated cement plants and three-integrated iron and steel plants are covered in this study. Cement and iron-steel industries are preferred because they have a very high share of energy consumption and greenhouse gas (GHG) emission intensity in Turkey. The focus of this thesis is VOCs because VOCs can be lethal even in small amounts and there are limited studies in the literature on VOC emissions from the major industries of Turkey on a national and on global scale. CO, SO2, NO2 and PM10 emissions are also studied to determine if these pollutants directly or indirectly impact the VOC emissions.