Analysis of the migration and sedimentation patterns and factors of pollutants in incineration flue gas.

Analysis of the migration and sedimentation patterns and factors of pollutants in incineration flue gas - PMC Skip to main content An official website of the United States government Here's how you know Here's how you know Search Log in Primary site navigation Search Log in Search PMC Full-Text Archive Search in PMC Journal List User Guide As a library, NLM provides access to scientific literature. Inclusion in an NLM database does not imply endorsement of, or agreement with, the contents by NLM or the National Institutes of Health. Learn more: PMC Disclaimer | PMC Copyright Notice Sci Rep . 2026 Apr 13;16:17247. doi: 10.1038/s41598-026-40150-0 Analysis of the migration and sedimentation patterns and factors of pollutants in incineration flue gas Wenwu Zhou 2 , Guanyi Chen 3, 4 , Peng Zhou 1, 4 , Zeng Dan 1, 4, ✉ Author information Article notes Copyright and License information 1 School of Ecology and Environment, Tibet University, Lhasa, 850000 China 2 College of Chemistry and Environmental Engineering, Sichuan University of Science & Engineering, Zigong, 643000 China 3 School of Mechanical Engineering, Tianjin University of Commerce, Tianjin, 300134 China 4 Key Laboratory of Plateau Environmental Engineering and Pollution Control of Xizang Autonomous Region, Tibet University, Lhasa, 850000 China ✉ Corresponding author. Received 2025 Sep 19; Accepted 2026 Feb 10; Collection date 2026. © The Author(s) 2026 Open Access This article is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License, which permits any non-commercial use, sharing, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, as long as you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons licence, and indicate if you modified the licensed material. You do not have permission under this licence to share adapted material derived from this article or parts of it. The images or other third party material in this article are included in the article’s Creative Commons licence, unless indicated otherwise in a credit line to the material. If material is not included in the article’s Creative Commons licence and your intended use is not permitted by statutory regulation or exceeds the permitted use, you will need to obtain permission directly from the copyright holder. To view a copy of this licence, visit http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/ . PMC Copyright notice PMCID: PMC13234406  PMID: 41974757 Abstract In order to understand the migration and deposition patterns of pollutants from urban solid waste incineration in the atmosphere on the plateau, we measured the emissions of pollutants (acidic gases, heavy metals) from the waste incineration plant in Lhasa, Qinghai Tibet Plateau. Additionally, we analyzed heavy metal concentrations in the surrounding atmospheric, soil, and vegetation environment. Subsequently, the Gaussian plume model is used to simulate and analyze the pollutants. The survey revealed that pollutant concentrations during incineration is higher at locations closer to the effective source height (198.55 m). Without being affected by terrain during diffusion, pollutants mainly concentrate at distances from 1 km to 3 km, with migration distances extending up to 10 km. Under the influence of terrain conditions during pollutant diffusion, pollutants emitted from waste incineration into the atmosphere are mainly concentrated within a range of 1 to 2 km, and the main impact range of diffusion and migration is also reduced. Overall, pollutant deposit occurred primarily within approximately 2 km of the source and began to declined beyond this distance. Supplementary Information The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1038/s41598-026-40150-0. Keywords: Municipal solid waste, Gauss mist-plume model, Smoke pollutants, Incineration fly ash, Meteorological influencing factors Subject terms: Ecology, Ecology, Environmental sciences Introduction The Qinghai Tibet Plateau, renowned as the “third pole” of the world, is a barrier to Asian security, a sensitive area of global change and a vulnerable area affected by human activities. Due to the unique terrain and climate of the plateau region, the impact of environmental pollutants has attracted widespread attention. Frequent human activities have intensified atmospheric burden of heavy metals and led to significant deposition in distant areas. The toxicity, bioaccumulation, persistence, and irreversibility of heavy metals pose a threat to ecological health as their the levels of in soil and vegetation increase 1 – 3 . Xizang, as the main region of the Qinghai Tibet Plateau, has generated a large amount of domestic and tourism waste due to economic development, tourism growth and population increase in recent years. According to official statistics from the National Bureau of Statistics, waste collection and transportation volumes in Xizang reached 692,200 tons by 2021. Landfilling is still the main method for treating household waste, but the landfill process generates large amounts of pollutants, such as gases and leachate, which can have a secondary impacts on the surrounding environment, including the atmosphere, groundwater, surface water, and soil. Therefore, in 2014, Lhasa began construction of the only waste incineration power plant in the Xizang plateau area, and in 2018, Lhasa began receiving municipal domestic waste. Therefore, incineration and landfill are also two treatment methods for domestic waste in Xizang 4 – 6 . Incineration has the advantages of reducing volume, decreasing quantity, eliminating bacteria, and energy recovery and utilization. Due to the high moisture content, low calorific value, and incomplete incineration of waste, it can cause secondary pollution, including acidic gases (HCl, SOx, NOx, HF, etc.), heavy metals, organic toxic pollutants, etc 4 , 7 – 9 . At present, many studies examine on the impact of burning pollutants on the surrounding environment and organisms, including soil 10 , atmosphere 11 , 12 , plants 13 , animals 14 , etc. Among them, research on the impact of pollutant emissions from waste incineration on the atmosphere primarily focuses on the pollutant migration and deposition patterns . Most studies mainly use ADMS model, AERMOD model, CALPUFF model, GAUSS model and integrate GIS technology with atmospheric diffusion model to study the diffusion of pollutants in the atmosphere, such as NOx, Hg, Mn, PM 10 , SO 2 , VOC, CO 2 , N 2 O, CH 4 , CO, Polychlorinated biphenyls(PCBs), 4-Bromobiphenyl, Dichloro-diphenyl-trichloroethane(DDT), and Hexachloro-cyclohexane 15 – 19 . In addition, some researchers have used Gaussian plume models to predict pollutant concentrations in atmospheric diffusion, mainly by simulating and analyzing the migration and diffusion of pollutants using software such as MATLAB and GIS 20 – 25 . However, currently in China, research on the characteristics of smoke emissions from household waste incineration mainly focuses on the smoke emissions from waste incineration in plain areas, and there is relatively little research on the characteristics of smoke emissions from waste incineration in high-altitude and oxygen-deficient environments. Due to the unique natural environmental characteristics of Xizang, especially low air pressure, low oxygen content , low temperatures and other factors, there is an inevitable relationship between waste incineration and the migration and deposition patterns of pollutants in plateau areas 4 . In the plateau, due to the unique characteristics of geographical environment and plateau climate environment, there are differences in the migration and deposition of pollutants generated by waste incineration in the atmospheric environment. Therefore, it is urgent to address practical scientific issues such as the characteristics of the smoke components generated by waste incineration in high-altitude areas, as well as the migration and deposition of pollutants in the environment. In this paper, under the anoxic conditions in the Xizang plateau , smoke pollutants and heavy metals produced by waste incineration in Lhasa under conventional combustion conditions were sampled, and the characteristics of smoke pollutant emissions from waste incineration in the plateau environment were analyzed. The Gauss mist-plume model was used to analyze the migration and deposition characteristics of acidic gases (HCl, NOx, SO 2 ) and volatile and toxic heavy metals (Cd, Hg, Pb) in the atmospheric environment. Finally, the main climatic factors affecting the migration and deposition of pollutants were analyzed. Experiment and method Basic information of the incineration plant The Lhasa Municipal Solid Waste Incineration Power Plant is located in Niedang Township, Qushui County, Lhasa City, covering an area of 110 acres. The longitude of the plant is 90°58′4″, and the latitude is 29°34′3″, so the altitude of the incineration plant is about 3700 m. The factory mainly accepts urban household waste from Lhasa city and surrounding counties, with the first phase of construction aimed at processing 700 tons of household waste per day. The construction goal of the second phase is to process 350 tons of household waste per day. Therefore, the total processing capacity is 1050 tons per day. At present, the daily processing capacity is 700 tons, and the daily electricity generated is 210,000 kWh. The power generation process of this power plant is the same as the domestic waste incineration process, mainly including waste the receiving process, waste incineration process, waste heat boiler power generation process, flue gas purification treatment process, leachate treatment process, slag and fly ash treatment process, and odor control process. The waste incinerator is a grate-type incineration system. The flue gas purification treatment system includes a denitrification system, a desulfurization system, an activated carbon adsorption system, a bag filter, etc. Collection and analysis of samples Collection of pollution source samples Pollution source sampling is mainly conducted at the waste incineration plant in Lhasa, where the main samples collected include exhaust gas and fly ash. The sample collection and analysis methods are detailed in Table S1 . Environmental sample collection According to the investigation of the surrounding environment of the incineration plant, environmental samples were mainly collected from soil, atmosphere, and plants. However, due to the lack of water sources near the incineration plant, no water samples were collected. The detailed sampling method is shown in Table S1 . During the sampling process, the latitude and longitude were determined using GPS, and then point drawing was performed using ArcGIS. The sampling points for soil and vegetation are shown in Fig. 1 . Fig. 1. Open in a new tab Layout diagram of sample sampling points. Sample analysis The contents of Cd, Cr, Cu, Ni, Pb and Zn were determined by the method mentioned in “Determination of 12 metal elements in soil and sediment by aqua regia extraction inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry” (HJ803-2016) 26 . Inductively coupled plasma is mainly used in this method. ICP-MS used in the analysis is a NexION 300 inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometer produced by the PerkinElmer company. This method comes from the national environmental protection standard of the People’s Republic of China. The contents of As and Hg are determined by the method mentioned in the regional geochemical sample analysis method (DZ/T0279-2016) 27 . Atomic fluorescence spectrometry is the main method. AFS used in the analysis is the AFS-820 atomic fluorescence spectrometer produced by Beijing Jitian company. This method is based on the geological and mineral industry standard of the People’s Republic of China. During the analysis process, national standard soil samples and ultrapure water were mainly used as quality control samples and blank samples. The sample recovery rate ranges from 89.6 to 110%, with an average RSD value of 0.07, indicating relatively good stability in the experiment. Research method Migration settlement model The main models used to simulate the migration and deposition of pollutants in the atmosphere include the Gauss mist-plume model, the ground gas concentration model, the wet deposition model, and the dry deposition model. Among them, these formulas mainly refer to the formulas used in Wei 23 and Xiao’s 24 research, as shown in Eqs. ( 1 – 6 ): Gauss mist-plume model : 1 Ground gas concentration model: 2 Wet deposition model : 3 4 Dry deposition model : 5 6 The x , y , and z in the formula are the coordinate axes; The Q is the emission rate,mg/s; The σy and σz are the standard deviations of the y-axis and z-axis, respectively; The μ is the wind speed,m/s; π is 3.14; The He is an effective source of height,m; The X is the downwind distance of the receiving point,m; The U is the wind speed at the chimney outlet,m/s; is the clearing coefficient; The α is the reflection coefficient of particulate matter on the ground, as shown in Table S2 ; The V g is the settling velocity of particulate matter: Using the location of the incineration plant as the pollution source point, simulate the impact of acidic gases (SO 2 , NOx, HCl) and volatile heavy metals (Cd, Hg, Pb) in the downwind direction of the area. The simulated range is 10 km in the downwind area. The simulated ground heights are 10 m, 50 m, 100 m, 150 m, 200 m, 250 m, and 300 m, respectively. The simulated meteorological conditions were mainly calculated based on the annual average of the corresponding weather parameters from 2020 to 2022. According to the downwind terrain slope map in Fig. S1 , it is understood that the downwind direction of the incineration plant is greatly affected by the terrain. Therefore, the influence of terrain factors was considered in the simulation, and a mountainous hilly mode was added, as shown in Eqs. ( 7 – 8 ):. Mountainous hilly mode 22 : 7 8 The h(x) is the vertical height of the downwind surface. The smaller the K value, the closer the pollutant axis is to the ground at that height. When K is equal to 1, it indicates that the height between the smoke axis and the ground is equal to the effective source height. The emission source parameters used in the simulation calculation process are shown in Table S3 . According to the meteorological analyses, Lhasa is mainly influenced by southerly winds, as shown in Fig. S2 . Analysis method Correlation analysis was used to examine the relationships between environmental samples and pollution sources, as well as between migration and deposition simulation results and climate factors. The validation analysis of the migration settlement model mainly used regression analysis methods. In addition, the software used in the drawing process mainly includes GIS and Origin. Results and discussion Burning waste gas During the process of waste incineration, waste such as smoke, fly ash, and bottom slag are emitted. Smoke is mainly composed of gaseous pollutants, including particulate matter, acidic gases, heavy metals, CO, CO 2 , organic toxic pollutants, etc 11 , 28 . The results of heavy metal detection in flue gas are shown in Table S4 . From the table, it can be seen that the concentration of heavy metals in the flue gas is lower than the ‘Pollution Control Standards for Municipal Solid Waste Incineration’ (GB18485-2014) 29 . Real-time monitoring of the concentration of gaseous pollutants emitted from incineration plants, mainly including flue gas flow rate, particulate matter HCl, SO 2 , NOx, CO, CO 2 . The result is shown in the Figs. 2 and 3 . From Figs. 2 and 3 , it can be seen that pollutants SO 2 , NOx, and HCl are generally below the standard values, with only a few outliers above the standard values. And the particulate matter is completely below the standard value of 20 mg/m 3 . Then, the combustion efficiency value CE was calculated using the values of CO and CO 2 in Table S5 according to formula ( 9 ) to reflect the effectiveness of waste incineration. According to the combustion efficiency, the average range of combustion efficiency for boiler 1 is between 51 and 89%, while the average range of combustion efficiency for boiler 2 is between 61 and 89%. 9 Fig. 2. Open in a new tab The concentration value of flue gas emissions from boiler 1. Fig. 3. Open in a new tab The concentration value of flue gas emissions from boiler 2. Here, CE refers to the combustion efficiency(%). The ρ (CO 2 ) symbol in the formula represents the mass concentration of CO 2 in the flue gas after incineration, mg/m 3 . The ρ (CO) symbol in the formula was expressed as the mass concentration of CO in the flue gas after incineration, mg/m 3 . Through elemental analysis of waste and calculation of pollution sources, as well as detection of heavy metal content in flue gas, the results are shown in Table 1 . As shown in the table, the emission concentration value obtained by calculating the removal rate based on the concentration value is lower than the standard value. Table 1. Analysis of pollutant emission inventory. Pollution category Emission rate(mg/s) Generate concentration (mg/m 3 ) Emission concentration (mg/m 3 ) Standard value(1 h/24 h) (mg/m 3 ) Whether it exceeds the standard value Particulate matter 105.81 1902.48 19.02 30/20 No CO 2.625 – – 100/80 No CO 2 128.26 – – – No NOx 12.78 231.62 150.55 300/250 No SO 2 12.96 152.96 22.94 100/80 No HCl 1.24 22.23 4.84 60/50 No Hg 0.000041 – 0.000003 0.05 No Cd 0.011 – 0.0008 0.1 No As 0.0014 – 0.0001 1 No Pb 0.028 – 0.002 No Cr 0.22 – 0.016 No Cu 0.015 – 0.0011 No Ni 0.028 – 0.002 No Zn 0.041 – 0.003 No Open in a new tab Fly ash The fly ash and bottom slag generated during the incineration process are also important wastes, and heavy metal pollutants also attach to the waste, such as fly ash and bottom slag. Scholars studying fly ash generated by waste incineration in waste cities have found that its the heavy metal content is higher than that in the bottom slag. Therefore, fly ash is classified as hazardous waste 30 , 31 . Therefore, samples of the fly ash generated during incineration in the study, and the heavy metal content was analyzed. The results are shown in Table 2 . From the table, it can be seen that among the eight heavy metals in fly ash, only Zn and Pb have relatively high contents compared to other heavy metals. Compared to other cities in China, the heavy metals in fly ash generated by waste incineration are relatively low, such as in southern regions such as Guangdong, Hunan, Xiamen, etc. Table 2. Heavy metal content in fly ash (mg/kg). Heavy metal Zn Cu Pb Ni Cd Cr As Hg References 10 3 10 2 10 3 10 1 10 2 10 1 10 1 1 Experiment 6.74 6.30 1.49 5.65 3.34 13.30 7.38 1.55 Lhasa 3.85 2.75 1.05 1.65 3.03 7.67 5.09 6.55 4 Guangdong 8.49 16.67 2.14 3.03 1.38 13.4 3.58 2.98 32 Hunan 10.20 38.00 0.62 610 7.00 20.00 – 12,700 33 Xiamen 4.19 4.8 0.89 1.30 1928 26.00 1.80 50 34 South China 16.49 18.10 4.36 149.90 6.46 487.00 11.65 – 35 Chongqing 0.46 4.98 0.65 – 1.11 – – – 36 Shanghai 7.72 6.94 4.04 – 2.67 14.00 – – 37 Liaoning 3.83 3.49 – – – 60.19 – – 38 Jiangsu 4.80 9.50 2.622 – 1.11 78.70 – – 39 Open in a new tab Characteristics of heavy metal concentrations in the atmosphere, soil, and plants Analysis of heavy metal concentration in atmospheric environment When collecting atmospheric samples in the study, the local meteorological conditions are shown in Table S6 . The concentration of pollutants such as heavy metals in the atmospheric samples is shown in Fig. 4 and Table S7 . Points 1 and 2 in the figure are downwind points, while points 3 and 4 are upwind points. According to the test results, the concentration of heavy metals in atmosphere is well below the standard value. In addition, it also shows that the concentration in the downwind direction is greater than that in the upwind direction. Fig. 4. Open in a new tab Distribution characteristics of heavy metals in atmospheric environment. Characteristics of heavy metals in the soil environment The acidity and total organic carbon of the soil around the incineration plant are shown in Table S8 . According to the table, the pH value of the local soil ranges from  6.41to 9.5, with an average of 7.60, indicating alkalinity, which is related to the plateau’s geographical environment. The total organic carbon content in the soil ranges from 1.52 to 13.98%, with an average of 5.21%. Person correlation analysis was conducted on pH, TOC, and heavy metal concentration, and the results are shown in Table 3 . It can be seen that there is a negative correlation between pH value and heavy metals Cd, As, and Hg, indicating that an increase in pH value may reduce the concentration of these heavy metals in organisms 40 . Tai 41 also found a negative correlation between Cd and Hg in soil heavy metal concentrations around incineration plants, and a decrease in heavy metal concentrations with increasing pH. There is a correlation between TOC and Cu, Ni, and Cr, which may lead to increased TOC and heavy metal concentrations. If there is a negative correlation between TOC and Zn, Cd, and Hg, the concentration of TOC will increase while the concentration of heavy metals will decrease. The increase or decrease in heavy metal concentration may be due to adsorption, complexation, and chelation of organic matter and heavy metal ions in the soil layer, which reduces the migration and transformation of heavy metals in the soil and cause them to accumulate in the soil 42 . Table 3. Correlation analysis between heavy metal concentration in soil and soil pH and TOC values. Cu Pb Zn Cr Ni Cd As Hg pH 0.009 0.056 0.107 0.005 0.02 − 0.089 − 0.15 − 0.053 TOC 0.299 0.035 − 0.202 0.3 0.271 − 0.188 0.192 − 0.115 Open in a new tab **Significant correlation at the0.01 level (bilateral); *There is a significant correlation at the 0.05 level (bilateral) The statistical results of heavy metal content analysis in the soil around the incineration plant are shown in Table S9 and Fig. 5 . The order of the average content of heavy metals in Table S9 is Zn > Pb > Cr > Cu > As > Ni > Cd > Hg. In addition, the mean values of all heavy metals are lower than the risk screening values in the National Soil Environmental Quality Standards (GB15618-2018) 43 . The strength of the coefficient of variation can reflect the degree of influence of heavy metal elements in soil. If the coefficient of variation of heavy metal elements is large, they are easily affected by human activities. If the coefficient of variation is small, it is less affected by external factors 44 – 47 . According to the analysis of 100% strong variation, 100–40% moderate variation, 40–10% low variation, and 10% weak variation, it can be seen from Table S7 that the coefficient of variation ranges from 0.21 to 1.15. Among them, heavy metals Cu, Zn, Cr, Ni, and As have moderate variation. The heavy metal Pb exhibits high variability. The strong variability of heavy metals Cd and Hg indicates that they are greatly influenced by humans. However, the volatility of heavy metals Hg, Cd, and Pb is strong, which also reflects that the coefficient of variation of these three elements is greater than that of other elements 48 , 49 . In addition, Zhang et al.’s 50 study also showed that the coefficients of variation of Hg and As are relatively large and are greatly influenced by human activities. In addition, the graph shows that the high concentrations of heavy metals are mainly observed near roads and incineration plants. Mainly located near the downwind point to the north, the concentration is relatively high. Fig. 5. Open in a new tab Spatial distribution map of heavy metals in the soil around the incineration plant. Characteristics of heavy metal concentration levels in plants Vegetation around the incineration plant was collected for the study, and the results are shown in Table S10 and Fig. 6 . It can be seen from the table that there are significant differences in the content of heavy metals in plants. Heavy metals such as Pb, Cr, and As exhibit strong variability. Zn, Ni, Cd, and Hg are moderately variable. Cu has low variability. From the coefficient of variation, it can be seen that heavy metals in plants are greatly influenced by external factors. In addition, the enrichment coefficient results for plants are shown in Table S11 and Fig. 7 . The enrichment value of the aboveground part of plants exceeds 1 to determine whether they are hyperaccumulating plants or common plants. From the table, it can be seen that the average enrichment values of grass plants are in the order of Cr, Hg, Cd, Cu, Zn, Pb, Ni, and As. The average enrichment values of leafy plants are in the order of Cr, Cd, Hg, Zn, Pb, Cu, Ni, and As. Moreover, the coefficients of Cr, Cd, Hg, and Zn are greater than 1, while the coefficients of other heavy metals are less than 1, indicating that these four heavy metals are relatively easy to accumulate in plants. Xie 51 reported in her research that the enrichment coefficients of heavy metals Mn, Cu, Hg, and Cd in plant leaves were relatively high. The enrichment coefficients of heavy metals Cd, Hg, and As in plant stems are relatively high, indicating that the volatile heavy metal Hg is easily enriched in the plant body. Fig. 6. Open in a new tab Spatial distribution map of heavy metals in plants around the incineration plant. Fig. 7. Open in a new tab Enrichment coefficient of plants. Correlation analysis A Pearson correlation analysis was conducted on the average heavy metal concentrations in exhaust gas, fly ash, soil, plants, and air. The analysis results are shown in Table 4 . From the table, it can be seen that there is a significant correlation (0.917) between incineration fly ash and heavy metals in soil, which also indicates that heavy metals in fly ash have a significant impact on the surrounding soil environment. There is a correlation between plants and heavy metals in exhaust gas (0.828), and the emission of exhaust gas into the environment will have a significant impact on plants. In addition, fly ash and plants (0.51), soil and plants (0.69) also affect the changes in heavy metals in plants. Table 4. Correlation analysis of pollutants in different environmental media. Category Fly ash Soil Plants Exhaust gas Air Fly ash 1 0.917** 0.51 − 0.037 − 0.143 Soil 0.917** 1 0.69 0.205 − 0.004 Plants 0.51 0.69 1 0.828* − 0.232 Exhaust gas − 0.037 0.205 0.828* 1 − 0.314 Air − 0.143 − 0.004 − 0.232 − 0.314 1 Open in a new tab **Significant correlation at the0.01 level (bilateral); *There is a significant correlation at the 0.05 level (bilateral) Simulation analysis of migration and settlement laws Simulation results of the daily variation of pollutants during dry and rainy seasons The simulation results of daily variations during the dry and rainy seasons are shown in Figs. S3 , S4 , 8 , and 9 . From Fig. S3 , it can be seen that, under normal conditons, pollutants have higher concentrations at 2–3 km, with concentrations near the ground at 10–150 m. If the effective source height exceeds 198.55 m, pollutants are mainly concentrated within 1–2 km at above the ground. However, if it is affected by terrain during the migration process, as shown in Fig. S4 . At a height of 10–150 m near the ground, pollutants mainly occur within a 1 km range. At a height of 200–300 m, pollutants mainly exhibit diffusion within a range of 1–2 km. It can be seen that when there is no obstruction at high altitude, pollutants diffuse relatively far, and their diffusion strongly influenced by terrain factors. The height of pollution sources has a significant impact on the height of pollutants. In their study on the prediction of air pollution on different floors using fixed sources, Bo et al 52 . found that the concentration differences of pollutants at different floor heights were relatively small when the pollution source height was between 120–240. Shan et al 53 . studied the atmospheric diffusion and environmental risk simulation of nuclear leakage: taking the Shandong Peninsula as an example, they also indicated that pollutants are mainly affected by the dominant winds in the region, and the diffusion of pollutants is related to terrain factors. Fig. 8. Open in a new tab The dry deposition and wet deposition of pollutants at different heights and distances during the dry season. Fig. 9. Open in a new tab The dry deposition and wet deposition of pollutants at different heights and distances during the rainy season. It can be seen that pollutants begin to settle within a range of 600 m to 700 m from the pollution source. Overall, the trends of dry settlement and wet settlement are the same. The deposition of pollutants is mainly concentrated in the 1 km to 2 km range, with higher concentrations, and the concentration gradually increases before this range. However, the concentration began to decline after 2 km and reached a lower value at 10 km. Overall, the main concentration range of pollutant deposition is around 2 km. In Xiao’s 24 study on the diffusion dilution of atmospheric pollutants, it was shown that the maximum diffusion range of SO 2 in pollutants from a certain oil plant was 1350 m. The concentration increased from 0 to 1350 m and gradually decreased as it diffused further away after 1350 m. Wang’s 54 research on the distribution characteristics of dioxins in different directions showed that the maximum concentration of dioxins occurred in the range of 700 m to 1000 m downwind, indicating that this study is similar to his research. Shan et al. 55 also showed in their study of nuclear leakage using the CALPUFF model that pollutants are mainly influenced by the main guide wind. Therefore, these pollutants are mainly related to the terrain and meteorological factors in which they spread 56 – 59 . From Figs. 5 and 6 , it can be seen that the concentrations of heavy metals in soil and plants are higher at the northern point. The north side of the research area is mainly dominated by the downwind direction of the dominant wind. According to the simulation results, the concentration of pollutants simulated is mainly higher within a 1 km range in low-lying areas due to terrain effects. It can be seen that the closer to the incineration plant, the greater the impact. Simulation verification In order to verify the difference between the results of the model and the monitoring values, regression analysis was conducted between the simulated migration and deposition of acidic gases (SO 2 , HCl, NOx) and heavy metals (Cd, Hg, Pb) within a 200 m range and the corresponding monitoring values obtained from sampling analysis. The confidence interval in regression analysis is set to 95% to verify the simulation’s accuracy. The larger the value of R in regression analysis, the better the simulation results. The results of the regression analysis are shown in Table 5 . From the table, it can be seen that if the R value obtained from the regression analysis of acidic gases is 0.918, it indicates that the model simulation effect is good and can explain the simulation results of migration and sedimentation. The F-value in the test is 106.224, and the significance Sig value is less than 0.05, indicating a significant linear relationship with statistical significance. The R value in heavy metal regression analysis is 0.537. The simulation results show general performance. The F-value of the test is 17.416, and the significance (Sig) value is less than 0.05, indicating that the simulation results are significant and statistically significant. In their study, Zhang et al. 59 used CALPUFF to predict lead deposition in the surrounding soil of smelters. During model validation, they found that the correlation between simulated and monitored Pb values was also 0.45. And when the numerical model CALPUFF simulates the correlation between settlement and soil monitoring values between 0.29–0.85, the simulation results have a certain degree of feasibility 57 . Table 5. Regression analysis results. Category SO 2 HCl NOx R F Sig Acidic gases SO 2 1 0.952 0.721 0.918 106.224 .000 HCl 0.952 1 0.824 NOx 0.721 0.824 1 Heavy metal Category Pb Cd Hg R F Sig Pb 1 0.695 0.423 0.537 17.416 .000 Cd 0.695 1 0.288 Hg 0.423 0.288 1 Open in a new tab Analysis of the impact of meteorological factors Meteorological factors during the rainy and dry seasons are variables. Pearson correlation analysis was conducted between the simulated settlement values and meteorological factors. To describe the favorable and unfavorable factors of pollutant diffusion, the results are shown in Tables S12 , Table S13 , Figs. 10 , and 11 . It can be observed that acidic gases are positively correlated with wind direction, humidity, air pressure, and temperature during diffusion and deposition, while pollutants are negatively correlated with wind speed and precipitation. The diffusion and deposition of heavy metals Pb and Cd are positively correlated with wind direction, humidity, air pressure, and temperature. The heavy metal Hg shows positive correlations with wind direction, humidity, air pressure, and temperature during diffusion and deposition. In addition, pollutants Pb and Cd are negatively correlated with wind speed and precipitation, whereas pollutant Hg is negatively correlated with both . This indicates that during the migration and sedimentation process of pollutants, changes in wind direction, increases in humidity, and increases in air pressure and temperature will slow down the diffusion of pollutants, which is not conducive to diffusion. However, pollutants are negatively correlated with wind speed and precipitation. This indicates that increased wind speed and precipitation will accelerate the diffusion rate of pollutants, increased to other regions. Wang’s 60 research showed that there is a negative correlation between wind speed and SO 2 and NO 2 , and windy weather is conducive to the diffusion of SO 2 and NO 2 . In addition, Wu’s 61 research also indicated that wind is an important factor in the diffusion of pollutants. Fig. 10. Open in a new tab Correlation analysis between acidic gases and meteorological factors. Fig. 11. Open in a new tab Correlation analysis between heavy metals and meteorological factors. Conclusion It is understood that the concentration of heavy metals in the flue gas emitted by the incineration plant is lower than the national standard. The levels of gaseous pollutants SO 2 , NOx, and HCl are basically below the standard values. The heavy metals in fly ash have relatively high levels of Zn and Pb compared to other heavy metals. Compared with the fly ash generated by municipal solid waste incineration in other low-altitude areas in China, its concentration is relatively low. In addition, levels of heavy metals in both the atmosphere and the soil are below national standards. The enrichment coefficients of heavy metals in plants, mainly Cr, Cd, Hg, and Zn, are greater than 1, making them more easily enriched in plants. There is a significant correlation (0.917) between incineration fly ash and heavy metals in soil, indicating fly ash’s heavy metals have a significant impact on the surrounding soil environment. In the analysis of the migration and deposition laws of pollutants, it is shown that when pollutants diffuse in the atmospheric environment, the closer they are to the effective source height of the pollution source, and the higher the concentration value. Pollutant sedimentation mainly occurs within 2 km and gradually decreases thereafter. According to the degree of influence of climate conditions, an increase in wind speed and precipitation will accelerate the diffusion rate of pollutants. Supplementary Information Below is the link to the electronic supplementary material. Supplementary Material 1 (3.6MB, docx) Supplementary Material 2 (66.4KB, docx) Acknowledgments We sincerely thanked the Lhasa Municipal Solid Waste Incineration Power Plant of the Xizang Autonomous Region for providing the experimental site. Author contributions Zeng Dan and Guanyi Chen provided the research ideas and experimental equipment. Wenwu Zhou, Peng Zhou completed the experimental operation and the arrangement and processing of experimental data. Funding This work was financially supported by National Natural Science Foundation of China (No.52160026; No.22476160), Key R & D projects of Xizang Autonomous Region (No.XZ202301ZY0029G), and Sichuan University of Science & Engineering’s talent introduction projects (No.2024RC068). Data availability All relevant data are within the manuscript and available from the corresponding author upon request. The primary data in the manuscript is stored in a Scientific Data Bank. Declarations Competing interests The authors declare no competing interests. Ethics approval This study mainly focuses on the pollutants and surrounding environment of incineration plants, and does not include research on human and animal health. Consent to participate All authors were participated in this work. Consent to publish All authors agree to publish. Footnotes Publisher’s note Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations. References 1. 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