Monitoring of hydrogen sulfide concentration in the atmosphere near two geothermal power plants of Turkey

Abstract This study was designed to measure H2S concentrations near GPPs in Aydin and Manisa over different time intervals to address potential health hazards and odor problems for human populations. Measurements of H2S concentrations with a Radiello® and Thermo 450i® were carried out in a GPP (25 MWe) in Aydin, Turkey. The exposure times of the Radiello® were selected based on the ambient air quality standards suggested by WHO, Turkey and Iceland legislations. The 30 min average concentration remained below the detection limit of the Radiello®. The 14 days average concentration measured by Thermo®450i was 52.5 μg m−3 while the same concentration measured by Radiello® was 51.40 ± 0.30 μg m−3. H2S concentrations measured by Thermo®450i and Radiello® were lower than the limit reported by WHO (100 μg m−3). Both the passive sampling and continuous measurement values were consistent for H2S and were commonly expressed as concentrations averaged over specific time intervals. However, when the sampling periods exceeded 14 days, differences began to occur between passive sampling and continuous measurements. For monitoring of H2S concentrations near two GPPs, additional sampling was carried out from July 15–29, 2019 in Aydin (6 sites), and during April 12–16, 2019 (1st period) and April 26 to May 10, 2019 (2nd period) in Manisa (10 sites), as well as in a background area (1 site). The air H2S concentrations in Aydin and Manisa, where the power plants are concentrated, ranged 11.2–66.7 μg m−3. The concentrations were determined as 0.61 μg m−3 and 0.60 μg m−3 in the background area.