UKRAINIAN MINERAL FERTILIZERS TO REPORT ONLINE THE QUALITY OF AIR IN ITS PRODUCTION FACILITY’S AREA
Ukrainian Mineral Fertilizers (UMF) has joined EcoCity, a Ukrainian social initiative for community monitoring of air quality. An Air Fresh Max air quality monitoring station has been already installed at the facility, and its data is now available online on the project’s website (station id UMF).
The device enables real-time monitoring and logging of ambient air properties, such as temperature, humidity, and concentration of undifferentiated PM 2.5 and PM 10 particles, ammonia, nitrogen dioxide, and carbon monoxide. The PM 2.5 level shows the concentration of hard particles up to 2.5 μm in diameter, and the PM 10 one of those up to 10 μm. Analyzing these indicators in aggregate, the station automatically calculates the overall air quality index. The index below 100 means acceptable air quality, and that above 100 the presence of pollutants.
‘Our corporate culture is about protecting the environment as well as innovating. From the very inception, we have been after European cutting-edge technology that is environmentally friendly to the point of enabling virtually zero-emission production. Also, we are committed to staying open, and cooperating with local communities. We have been among the first companies in Kryvyi Rih to offer public access to the data on air quality in the production location. Hopefully, other industrial enterprises in our city will support the initiative, too’, said the UMF CEO Oleksandr Kravets. ‘We are currently looking into cutting our facility’s greenhouse emissions by transitioning to a dryer charge material for compaction, partially replacing the transport fleet, and exploring other options. Continuous improvement is at the core of everything we do.’ The complex uses an energy-efficient and environmentally safe granulated ammonium sulphate production technology that involves no substance-producing chemical reactions. The facility does dry granulation and bagging of finished ammonium sulphate, and its aspiration systems capture 99.9% of dust, returning it into the production cycle.
The air quality monitoring station will measure the overall impact on atmospheric air at its location, taking into account the emissions from industrial plants, cars and public transport, residential areas, and any natural or human activity within the coverage of its sensors. The resulting data will reflect the aggregate footprint of human and natural activity within the Kolomiytsevskyi industrial area.
In view of the sensors’ technical limitations, the device’s output can be relatively imprecise during the misty weather or even go somewhat beyond its sensors’ measurement capacity.