The industrial activities developed in the atmospheric basin of Tula, Gentlemanhave an impact on Mexico City, says the Management Program to improve air quality in the state of Hidalgo proair (2016-2024).
Meanwhile, the Management Program to improve air quality in the Metropolitan Area of the Valley of Mexico (ZMVM), detects two sources that, due to the magnitude of their emissions, can have a significant impact on local air quality: the Tula-Vito-Apasco industrial corridorin the state of Hidalgo and the Popocatépetl volcano in the eastern limit of the ZMVM with the state of Puebla.
In the metropolitan area of Tula, Hidalgo, northwest of the ZMVMan important industrial activity is concentrated that results in the emission of considerable amounts of criteria pollutants.
Specifically, two fixed sources under federal jurisdiction stand out: The Miguel Hidalgo refinery in Pemexthe second largest in the country, which in 2016 processed approximately 202,000 barrels of crude oil per day and the Francisco Pérez Ríos de la CFE, which has a combined cycle generation plant and a conventional thermoelectric generation plant. Together, the two plants have a total installed capacity of 2,095 megawatts and in 2018 they contributed a gross annual generation of 9,874 gigawatt-hours, according to information from the Ministry of Energy.
Proaire Hidalgo states that the dynamics of winds, as well as studies carried out by the Mario Molina Center and the Mexican Petroleum Institute (tax), reveal that the emissions generated in the Tula-Tepeji region, due to the direction of the wind and other meteorological conditions, are transported to the metropolitan area of the Valley of Mexico.
He cites, for example, that of the events of high concentration of sulfur dioxide recorded by the monitoring network of Mexico City, 18% have their origin in this region.
In that basin there are dominant winds from the north and northeast during almost the whole year, with weak winds of 2.8 to 8.3 meters per second of average speed. It is in the free atmosphere where westerly winds intensify significantly during winter and summer, because the winds in this region are dominated by easterly winds of moderate intensity 16.7 to 18 meters per second.
Likewise, according to the results of the research called “Impact of the Tula Thermoelectric Plant on the quality of the air in the Valley of Mexico” carried out by Adolfo Hernández Moreno, research professor at the UAM Azcapotzalcoif there is transport of pollutants between the atmospheric basins of Tula and that of the Valley of Mexico, there are also impacts in the Valley of Mexico.
The academic made maps for the concentration of sulfur oxides from May 11 to 15, 2019, where it is observed that the clouds of sulfur oxide concentrations cover a large part of the metropolitan area; He clarified that fuel oil is not used in Mexico City, but diesel with low sulfur content.
Emissions and concentrations of sulfur oxide in the Valley of Mexico are usually low, he commented. however, when the winds blow over the Tula atmospheric basin towards the Valle basin, “they drag all those masses of sulfur oxide and PM2.5 particles here, which impact not only the northern area of Mexico City, but also the They can reach the south zone.
kg