A significant reduction in pollution from the boiler house in Skerlićeva street in Pljevlja could be reduced six to eight times, if the municipality of Pljevlja was ready to invest around 300.000 euros.
This is claimed by mechanical engineer Milorad Vukotić, with the assessment that the money invested by the Municipality in technology that uses hydrogen to reduce pollution would be repaid in two years.
He says that the president of the municipality of Pljevlja is also aware of this, but that he has not yet responded to such an offer.
About 350 apartments in the city center and a large number of business premises are heated from the boiler house in Skerlićeva Street, for which, in 16 hours of work, about 11,5 tons of coal are consumed daily.
The smoke and gases coming out of the low chimney, attached to the neighboring building, are becoming more and more dangerous not only for the health of the apartment owners, but also for the whole area.
Life near the boiler plant is unbearable and practically impossible due to high pollution, and the tenants of buildings located in the immediate vicinity of the boiler plant have announced that they will file a lawsuit against the Municipality and the company Grijanje, if they do not solve the problem of excessive pollution.
"The citizens of Pljevlja know very well that the priority is to reduce PM10 and PM2,5 particles, sulfur dioxide, carbon dioxide and nitrogen dioxide. That's why their money should not be spent on finding a bad situation, but on improving the quality of exhaust gases from the chimneys in Skerlićeva and from all the others, because the catastrophic situation has been going on for too long. The president of the municipality received a specific offer, and I was present when the experts visited the boiler room - in Skerlić's boiler capacity of 3x2 megawatts and in the Sports Center of 2x2 megawatts," said Vukotić.
He explained that hydrogen, after the electrolysis of water in a device installed next to the boilers, is directly injected into the burner.
"Thus, the temperature in the combustion chamber rises by more than 500 degrees, and this affects the reduction of PM 2,5 and PM 10 by six to eight times, carbon dioxide and sulfur dioxide by up to 30 percent, and nitrogen dioxide by up to 25 percent at the top of the existing chimney. Savings in fuel consumption are from 40 to 50 percent for all fossil fuels, and from 25 to 30 percent for gas. This technology has all EU certificates for use in heating plants. It pays for itself in two years through saving fuel costs, with an immeasurable effect in improving air quality. The offered price for Skerlić's house was 342.000 euros, excluding customs and VAT, with a delivery period of 60 to 70 days, right before the start of the heating season. It was suggested that, upon completion of that work, the devices would be installed in all secondary and primary schools and kindergartens, as well as in the city hospital. It is possible to provide favorable loans from EU funds for individual fireplaces," said Vukotić.
He says that this technology should be applied in other cities that use fossil fuels in heating plants, industry, schools, hospitals and individual fire pits, because it successfully combines ecology, economy and energy.
"Postponing such a high-quality solution means prolonging the agony of the citizens of Pljevlja, because tying pollution reduction to the thermal power plant is a long stick and has a limited duration, if Montenegro wants to become part of the European Union. That is why, in the end, I am asking all environmental activists to support concrete solutions, because merely stating environmental problems will not provide cleaner air for the citizens of Pljevlja", said Vukotić.
In the report on the examination of harmful and dangerous substances in the waste gas produced in the process of burning solid fuel, which was carried out by CETI in the last few years, it is stated that the boiler house in Skerlićeva during operation emitted powdery substances and carbon monoxide above the limit of tolerance, i.e. allowed overruns of 250 percent. In the 2019 and 2017 reports, the average half-hourly particulate matter benefits were 826,1 micrograms per cubic meter, which is 27,5 times higher than the prescribed limit values of 30 micrograms per cubic meter. In those reports, sulfur dioxide was measured at a concentration of over 3200 micrograms per cubic meter, which is over three times the prescribed limit of 1000 micrograms per cubic meter.
And the average half-hourly concentration of carbon monoxide was 1588,8 micrograms per cubic meter, or more than ten times above the prescribed limit value of 150 micrograms per cubic meter. An excess of nitrogen dioxide was also registered, as was the mean half-hourly value of arsenic.
The situation was somewhat more favorable in 2020, but even during those measurements, the measured values were several times above the prescribed limit values.
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