The Development Of An Emissions Inventory Of Selected Air Pollutants Within The Phalaborwa Town, South Africa

Abstract

Resolving the neglect of secondary industrial and mining nodes within South Africa, this study establishes a 2015 high-resolution baseline emissions inventory for the Phalaborwa region. Utilizing a hybrid top-down and bottom-up approach across point, mobile, and area sources, mass emission loads were quantified for six criteria pollutants: sulphur dioxide (SO₂), nitrogen oxides (NOx), carbon monoxide (CO), non-methane volatile organic compounds (NMVOCs), and PM10 and PM2.5. The integrated inventory revealed a total regional atmospheric burden dominated by severe sectoral splits. The industrial sector is the main driver of gaseous pollutants, dictating 77.05% of SO2 (4,650.70 t/a) and 77.22% of NOx (2,004.65 t/a) emissions due to pyrometallurgical processing. Transport sector dominated the regional footprint for CO (50.93% or 1,940.25 t/a) and NMVOC (51.89% or 267.45 t/a), reflecting expanding mining freight corridors. Crucially, the mining and minerals processing sector emerged as the principal source of particulate mass loading, accounting for 87.10% of total PM10 (1,337.02 t/a) and 73.37% of PM2.5 (402.32 t/a) across the basin. This baseline inventory transforms localized environmental management from a passive compliance exercise into a data-driven atmospheric strategy, providing a transferable blueprint for secondary industrial nodes across the region.