Thesis Discussion
The College of Science for Women / University of Baghdad examined the thesis entitled (Potential Environmental Impact of Rumaila Gas Power Plant (Unit of Combined Cycle)/ Basrah – Iraq) of the student (Maryam Salah Naser), in Partial Fulfilment of the Requirements for the Degree of Master in Biology / Environmental science.
The thesis was conducted to evaluate the potential environmental impact of the Rumaila Combined Cycle Power Plant (RCCPP) in Basra Governorate, Iraq, which uses natural gas to generate electricity in addition to using steam turbines.
The study includes a research study on assessment of air, water and soil pollution by the Rumaila Combined Cycle power plant.
The study concluded that air pollutants (CO, SO2 , NO and PM) evaluated by using Gaussian dispersion model at three sites far from the RCCPP were all below the limits. Water assessment analyzed physiochemical parameters and biological indicators at three sites were the inlet (Abu Abdullah Canal), RCCPP ‘s effeluent before discharged and outlet (Shatt Al-Basrah Canal). Most of the results were the Salinity and total dissolved solids recorded 5‰ and 3,000 – 5,000 mg. L-1, in which the RCCPP ‘s effeluent were similar at inlet. Iraqi Water Quality Index (IWQI) specified unsuitable water at all sites. Note that the lowest values were RCCPP’s effluent. As confirmed by the Pollution Index (PI), all sites were strongly to seriously affected by all heavy metals. Also Biologically, Total Coliform counting exhibited the lowest count at RCCPP’s effluent (130 MPN/100 mL). Additionally, 96 phytoplankton species from 46 genera were identified at inlet and outlet sites showed Bacillariophyceae dominating 36.5%, a common phenomenon in Iraqi waters. Soil measurements exhibited Ni and Cu were 15.5-16 and 1.65-2.1 ppm, respectively. PAH concentrations measured only, with Anthracene Fluorenone Chrysene and Dibenzo recorded at 46, 36, 25 and 13 ppm, respectively due to the power plant in polluted area (North Rumaila) there are many oil wells. So, the results showed that the Rumaila power plant had no impact and it is a revolutionary electric power plant in terms of environmental sustainability
Very Good.
