Geology, geography and global energy

Scientific and Technical Journal

Petroleum hydrocarbons in a snow-covered land: the lower reaches of the Volga river

2013. №1, pp. 137-145

Bulatkina Yekaterina G. - Engineer, LLC «Gazprom dobycha Astrakhan», 61а Savushkin st., Astrakhan, Russian Federation, 414001, BulatkinaKatya@mail.ru

Andrianov Vladimir A. - D.Sc. in Geography, Astrakhan State University, 20a Tatishchev st., Astrakhan, Russian Federation, 414056, andrianov_v.a@mail.ru

Gulevataya Olga A. - Student, Astrakhan State University, 20a Tatishchev st., Astrakhan, Russian Federation, 414056, geologi2007@yandex.ru

The article states that petroleum hydrocarbons (PHc) – oil, gas and gas condensates – are the principal components of environmental pollutant, particularly in the lower reaches of the Volga River. This pollution is being caused, the critique relates, by the Astrakhan gas complex, the municipality itself and vehicular emissions. At this stage, the paper describes the research methods undertaken in the hydrocarbon industry in that snow-covered environment. The studies, which took place in the 1996–2012 timespan, covered the Volga-Akhtuba water plain and the Volga delta. The results of the work, the paper adds, are presented in the form of distribution maps of petroleum products over the period running from 2006–2012. They claim that PHc evaporations, at use, production, processing and storage sites, play a major role in raising the level of urban air pollution. The research, undertaken in an arid zone, also assesses the effect the snow cover has on the content of pollutants. In regions such as Astrakhan, with its developed petrochemical industry, air pollution is for the most part caused by transport exhaust emissions. In that city, the research states, more than 80 % of all urban contaminants come from vehicles, with a significant proportion of the pollutants being PHc. Their general toxicity increases in the atmosphere, the commentary states, by photochemical processes (most of which involve hydrocarbon compounds). Besides the petrochemical industry, municipal sources and vehicles are blamed for the contaminants. The blueprint states, in conclusion, that the Astrakhan environment is undergoing regular emission monitoring, with the aim of detecting the extent of pollution emissions (from the gas complex, the city and vehicles) and deducing its impact on the regional atmosphere and the subsurface water sources.

Key words: snow cover,petroleum-based hydrocarbons,monitoring,Astrakhan gas complex,distribution map,Volga delta

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