A first-order simulator to control dioxin emissions: NMCRC-ATMOS

Dioxins are highly toxic halogenated organic compounds formed as an unintentional by-product of many industrial processes involving chlorine and combustion. At the Negev Monte Carlo Research Center (NMCRC) and the Green Processes Center at the Shamoon College of Engineering (SCE), Israel, we have developed a code for the first-order estimation of dioxin emissions from waste incinerators and the subsequent atmospheric dispersion. The NMCRC-ATMOS (Atmospheric Evaluator) program will allow public planners and facility operators to estimate and predict the effect of current and potential waste incineration facilities on nearby population centres. This information can also be used by plant operators to decide whether to run the facilities at maximum capacity based on weather conditions. With the NMCRC-ATMOS tool, the user has the ability to easily establish location-based fallout from the average conditions (both facility and atmospheric) surrounding the waste incineration plant. This program currently focuses on dioxin emissions from waste incinerators, but can eventually be expanded to include other emission sources and atmospheric effects, as well as internet connectivity for real-time data acquisition. NMCRC-ATMOS is a Windows program that has been tested on Windows XP Service Pack 2 with the .NET Framework 2.0 installed.