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High emission factor of identified air pollutants from the artisanal petroleum refineries in the Niger Delta region may be key to the degrading air quality of the region. This study determined air emission factor for the identified pollutants from the local refining technology in the region. The operational sites of these refineries are inaccessible due to security and proximity to raw material, making air quality evaluation and management impossible. However, Emission Factors are one of the best ways to quantify an activity-related air pollution especially in difficult terrain like those of the artisanal refineries. In this regard, air emissions resulting from the operation of these refineries were characterized/quantified with the use of E8500 Portable Industrial Combustion Analyzer. The measured concentrations were used to calculate the emission factors and emission rates for the identified air pollutants. The overall combined emission factors (g/kg) estimated in percentage of emissions for the pollutants characterized at the various unit operation, showed that; at the Oven Heating/Crude Oil Boiling Unit, HC had 52%, 41% for CO, 3% for NOx (NO + NO2), 2% for SO2 and 2% for H2S. Other process units emitted 53% and 55% for HC, 40% and 38% for CO, all 3% for NOx, all 2% for SO2 and all 2% for H2S for the Vapour Condensation and Refined Products Collection Units respectively. It therefore concluded that the high emission factors observed from the activities of these local petroleum refineries could be a contributing factor to the degraded air quality of the region.

Common charcoals from different wood species were collected, identified and prepared for analysis. Proximate analyses were carried out. The study aimed to characterize the identified charcoal and suggest the best charcoal that will give the minimal pollution effect. The result showed that the moisture content of the charcoal ranges between 3.26 and 8.40 wt% with an arithmetic mean of 5.36 ±1.50 wt%, the volatile content ranges between 3.05 and 13.62 wt% with an arithmetic mean of 7.20 ±3.55 wt%, the fixed carbon ranges between 76.83 and 90.57 wt% with an arithmetic mean of 83.54 ±4.60 wt%, and the ash content ranges between 3.09 and 5.18 wt% with an arithmetic mean of 3.87 ±0.70 wt%. The heating value of charcoal of different wood species were determined using Bomb calorimeter. Afzelia bipindensis has the highest ash content while Hevea brasiliensis has the lowest ash content. The heating value ranges 31.82–39.42 kJ/kg with a mean of 35.375 ±2.673 kJ/kg. This shows that Burkea africana could be best for use as a cooking fuel for households and restaurants because it has the best fuel property in terms of moisture content.

The increase in price of the available refined petroleum products for local consumption in Nigeria had led to the emergence of indigenous technology for petroleum refining in some parts of the Niger Delta region. This study, therefore characterized and quantified artisanal refineries’ gaseous emissions for possible air pollutants based on various unit operations involved and evaluated their impacts. It measured the emissions directly from source using E8500 Portable Combustion Analyzer. It also categorized oven sizes/processing capacity of the refineries into various ranges in order to estimate emissions according to processing capacity. The result revealed that; pollutants emission varied significantly between the unit operations and increased with increase in processing capacity. When the emissions were compared with daily limits set by the Environmental Guidelines and Standard for Petroleum Industry in Nigeria (EGASPIN) 2002, the emissions (CO, NOx, and SO2) breached the available set limits. While with the Federal Environmental Protection Agency (FEPA), 1991 set limits for emissions from stationary source; HC and CO breached their limits. SO2 and H2S breached their lower limits but were below the upper limit, while NOx emissions were found within its set limit. The study concluded that, Nigeria Artisanal Petroleum Refineries are sources of air pollution, as they impact the host environment.