Research Papers

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Influence of As, Sb, Bi and O on Copper Anode Behaviour – Part 2: Anode Dissolution Behaviour and Anode Sludge Generation
(Researchgate, 2009) Claudia A. Möller; Myagmarsuren Bayanmunkh; Bernd Friedrich
This article is the second of a three articles series of results from a three year research project funded by the “Sponsor Group Copper Electrorefining”. Investigated were dissolution/passivation behaviour, anodic current efficiencies, anode sludge formation and distribution coefficients of impure anodes with varying Sb, As, Bi and O contents processed at three current densities. Main focus of this article is the influence of As, Sb, Bi, O and the current density on the dissolved anode mass respectively the anode current efficiency and the generated amount of anode sludge. For a better assessment of the experimental results literature about the mineralogical structure of anodes depending on their chemical composition was reviewed and the significant aspects related to the tested anodes were summarized. The anode current efficiencies varied between 100.4 % and 103.7 % dependent on the anode composition. The factor with the highest impact is oxygen, which influence is approximately four times higher than the influence of As respectively As⋅O. Investigating the factors influencing the amount of anode sludge revealed that it is influenced by a lot of factors, but mainly by As and partly by O and the current density. Several prediction charts were designed forecasting the dissolution of anodes and the amount of node sludge produced within the parameter set.
Forest Management In Mongolia – A Review Of Challenges And Lessons Learned With Special Reference To Degradation And Deforestation
(2019) Alexander Gradel; Gerelbaatar Sukhbaatar; Daniel Karthe; Hoduck Kang
The natural conditions, climate change and socio-economic challenges related to the transformation from a socialistic society towards a market-driven system make the implementation of sustainable land management practices in Mongolia especially complicated. Forests play an important role in land management. In addition to providing resources and ecosystem functions, Mongolian forests protect against land degradation. We conducted a literature review of the status of forest management in Mongolia and lessons learned, with special consideration to halting deforestation and degradation. We grouped our review into seven challenges relevant to developing regionally adapted forest management systems that both safeguard forest health and consider socio-economic needs. In our review, we found that current forest management in Mongolia is not always sustainable, and that some practices lack scientific grounding. An overwhelming number of sources noticed a decrease in forest area and quality during the last decades, although afforestation initiatives are reported to have increased. We found that they have had, with few exceptions, only limited success. During our review, however, we found a number of case studies that presented or proposed promising approaches to (re-)establishing and managing forests. These studies are further supported by a body of literature that examines how forest administration, and local participation can be modified to better support sustainable forestry. Based on our review, we conclude that it is necessary to integrate capacity development and forest research into holistic initiatives. A special focus should be given to the linkages between vegetation cover and the hydrological regime.
Pollution reduction potential by implementing electrostatic dust precipitators on mongolian small-scale stoves (a pilot study in Ulanbaatar)
(2020) Daniel Karthe; Tim Hafer; Byambasuren Battulga; Lodoysamba Sereeter; Gunther Stehr
The Mongolian capital of Ulaanbaatarexperiences some of the world’s worst air pollution during the winter months, most of it being caused by small coal- and wood-fired stoves which are used for heating and cooking purposes in peri-urban parts of the city. A recent pilot study in Songinokhairkhan District of Ulaanbaatar City evaluated the feasibility of electrostatic dust precipitators (ESP) for reducing particulate matter (PM) emissions from small stoves. This paper focuses on the pollution reduction potentials that would result from a large-scale implementation of ESPs. Using a locally developed low- cost ESP system (which is currently in the process of further improvement), reduction rates ranging between 10 to 50% of the PM emissions (depending on the fuel and combustion conditions) could be achieved. Fitting all or at least a major fraction of the small stoves with such ESPs could reduce PM emissions by an order of several thousand tons per heating season for the whole city. The avoided particle emissions would simultaneously prevent atmospheric pollution by various trace metals and metalloids including As, Cd, Pb and Zn, which are known to be major soil and water pollutants locally, and several other toxic substances. However, this also means that safe disposal strategies must be developed for the fly ash precipitated during ESP operation.
Urban Air Quality Studies in Mongolia: Pollution Characteristics and Future Research Needs
(2021) Tseren-Ochir Soyol-Erdene; Gantuya Ganbat; Barkhasragchaa Baldorj
For the last decades, Mongolia has seen an extensive escalation in population growth, urbanization, and industrialization, together with great increase in mining and usage of vehicles. As a result, a substantial increase has taken place in the types and number of emission sources of air pollutants, especially in urban areas. During the cold season, air pollution level in Ulaanbaatar, the capital of Mongolia, is frequently ranked as the highest in the world. However, due to the lack of air quality management, the country is suffering from a deterioration of air quality. Despite the worse air pollution situation, due to insufficient research capacity of the country, to date, research works on characteristics of air pollution have mainly been based on current capability and/or collaboration with foreign institutes. The research gap in this area necessitates numerous investigations, which could have great importance in developing mitigating strategies and minimizing the adverse impact of air pollution on local and regional scales. This paper reviews previously available studies and reports in international scientific journals on air quality in Mongolia. Based on the existing research works, future needs of studies on ambient air pollution in Mongolia are suggested.
Results of Simulations of Atmosphere-lake Interactions Using Numerical Model
(2022) Ganbat Danaa; Gantuya Ganbat
Lakes influence the regional atmosphere through modifying thermodynamic characteristics. This study examines the effects of the Baikal lake on meteorological parameters in summertime using the numerical model. Diurnal variations in the lakes’ impact on the atmosphere are found through changing the surface energy budget, which includes changes in sensible and latent heat fluxes. The changes in heat fluxes cause relatively lower surface temperature which leads to a shallow boundary layer over the lake surfaces. Greater heat capacity in water bodies compared to grasslands causes slower heating and cooling rates in the lakes. The amplitude of air temperature over the lake surfaces is smaller than that over the grasslands. Lakes promote diverging winds near the ground, furthermore, tend to stabilize the overlying atmosphere in the summertime.
Embedded Generative Air Pollution Model with Variational Autoencoder and Environmental Factor Effect in Ulaanbaatar City
(2022) Bulgansaikhan Baldorj; Munkherdene Tsagaan; Lodoysamba Sereeter; Amanjol Bulkhbai
Air pollution is one of the most pressing modern-day issues in cities around the world. However, most cities have adopted air quality measurement devices that only measure the past pollution levels without paying attention to the influencing factors. To obtain preliminary pollution information with regard to environmental factors, we developed a variational autoencoder and feedforward neural network-based embedded generative model to examine the relationship between air quality and the effects of environmental factors. In the model, actual SO2, NO2, PM2.5, PM10, and CO measurements from 2016 to 2020 were used, which were assembled from 15 differently located ground monitoring stations in Ulaanbaatar city. A wide range of weather and fuel measurements were used as the data for the influencing factors, and were collected over the same period as the air pollution data were recorded. The prediction results concerned all measurement stations, and the results were visualized as a spatial–temporal distribution of pollution and the performance of individual stations. A cross-validated R 2 was used to estimate the entire pollution distribution through the regions as SO2: 0.81, PM2.5: 0.76, PM10: 0.89, and CO: 0.83. Pearson’s chi-squared tests were used for assessing each measurement station, and the contingency tables represent a high correlation between the actual and model results. The model can be applied to perform specific analysis of the interdependencies between pollution and environmental factors, and the performance of the model improves with long-range data.
Manganese Pollution in Mining-Influenced Rivers and Lakes: Current State and Forecast under Climate Change in the Russian Arctic
(2022) Vera A. Matveeva; Alexey V. Alekseenko; Daniel Karthe; Alexander V. Puzanov
Mining regions in different parts of the world have been associated with the significant pollution of water, sediments, and soils by manganese and other chemical elements. This study assessed the degree of geochemical transformation caused by open-pit extraction and processing of mineral resources in the Kovdorsky District of Murmansk Oblast, 20 km from the Russia–Finland border. A second objective was to predict further changes co-driven by industrial pressure and high climatic instability in the polar region. The field study involved sampling water and sediments from virgin background streams and from the tailings storage facility, settling ponds, rivers, and lakes affected by ore mining and disintegration. Laboratory analyses included the study of elemental composition, redox potential, alkalinity and acidity, organic matter content, and other geochemical characteristics for a better understanding of pollutant migration patterns. We revealed elevated levels of potentially toxic elements in surface waters and bottom sediments which pose a risk to the human health via the household and drinking water supply. Pollution with manganese (Mn) was found to be the major environmental issue. Its natural presence in the river water was overridden a hundredfold by anthropogenic enrichment. This is problematic as Mn is easily bioaccumulated, which can lead to unwanted ecotoxicological effects, and—in the case of prolonged exposure to high doses of Mn and its compounds—to detrimental human health impacts. We believe that the changing climate may raise the water flow and thus expand the area of the hydrochemical anomaly. On the other hand, the activation of self-purification and dilution processes could lead to decreasing environmental Mn concentrations.
Web-Based Decision Support System for Managing the Food–Water–Soil–Ecosystem Nexus in the Kolleru Freshwater Lake of Andhra Pradesh in South India
(2022) Meena Kumari Kolli; Christian Opp; Daniel Karthe; Nallapaneni Manoj Kumar
Most of the world’s freshwater lake ecosystems are endangered due to intensive land use conditions. They are subjected to anthropogenic stress and severely degraded because of large-scale aquafarming, agricultural expansion, urbanization, and industrialization. In the case of India’s largest freshwater lake, the Kolleru freshwater ecosystem, environmental resources such as water and soil have been adversely impacted by an increase in food production, particularly through aquaculture. There are numerous instances where aqua farmers have indulged in constructing illegal fishponds. This process of aquafarming through illegal fishponds has continued even after significant restoration efforts, which started in 2006. This underlines the necessity of continuous monitoring of the state of the lake ecosystem in order to survey the effectiveness of restoration and protection measures. Hence, to better understand the processes of ecosystem degradation and derive recommendations for future management, we developed a web mapping application (WMA). The WMA aims to provide fishpond data from the current monitoring program, allowing users to access the fishpond data location across the lake region, demanding lake digitization and analysis. We used a machine learning algorithm for training the composite series of Landsat images obtained from Google Earth Engine to digitize the lake ecosystem and further analyze current and past land use classes. An open-source geographic information system (GIS) software and JavaScript library plugins including a PostGIS database, GeoServer, and Leaflet library were used for WMA. To enable the interactive features, such as editing or updating the latest construction of fishponds into the database, a client–server architecture interface was provided, finally resulting in the web-based model application for the Kolleru Lake aquaculture system. Overall, we believe that providing expanded access to the fishpond data using such tools will help government organizations, resource managers, stakeholders, and decision makers better understand the lake ecosystem dynamics and plan any upcoming restoration measures.
Natural rehabilitation potential in two distinct mining areas in Mongolia
(2023) Oyun-erdene Tsogtsaikhan; Gantuya Ganbat; Martin Knippertz
Soil erosion in Mongolia has intensified, and the general level of soil fertility has decreased. The effects of global warming, and human activities such as grazing pastureland, mining operation, intensification of agriculture, urbanization, and road damage are the main causes of soil cover degradation. Due to the ecosystem characteristics of the geographical landlocked location within continental harsh, arid climatic conditions, there is clearly a different identification requirement in rehabilitation potential of mining areas. So, it is necessary to dig in to differentiate the possible rehabilitation characteristics on the most suitable ecosystems. And discrimination of the potentiality by the ecosystem and location makes how to achieve optimized mining rehabilitation results. In this work, the focus is to concentrate on the natural healing process and weigh into potentiality using pyramid concept [1]. Study area and soil characteristics are considered on 2 distinct mining areas located in 2 different ecozones of Mongolian, one is in sub northern area, Ecozone III, which covers both sandy Katsanoses soil and gravelly sandy kastanozem soil. The other comparison study area is Ecozone VI, which within the desert zone the soil specially forms in gravelly and sandy features, and the vegetation becomes scarce with its both species and biomass due to its hot, dry characteristics. Kastanozem soil has more fertile components and thicker humus layer than the desert gravelly and sandy features. Natural features consist of climatological features (precipitation, temperature, wind), soil types and vegetation index data were collected and analyzed using ArcGIS software. These mining areas followed up with verification areas weighted in Khuvsgul and Southgobi areas appointed 180 and 120 points respectively. However, the potential scores on rehabilitation expenses explain active regions that the chance of adjustable value on those planned rehabilitation budget, where sustaining the soil rehabilitation stick into long term natural healing process. These concludes that the pyramid concept should be applied to the other areas of Mongolian mining sites to enable natural rehabilitation potentiality into long term, sustainable mining rehabilitation plan.
Analysis of harmonic behavior in power grids with induction melting furnaces
(2023) Ariunbolor Purvee; Ankhbayar Vandandorj
This research paper investigates the impact of an 800 kW induction furnace on power quality within a connected power grid. The performance and lifespan of induction furnaces can be negatively affected by harmonic voltages and currents. The degree of harmonic distortion in an induction furnace is influenced by the melting load, and excessive distortion can result in the generation of higher frequencies in the power distribution system. This phenomenon poses significant challenges to power systems, including power quality issues and equipment failures. Therefore, it is crucial to closely monitor and control the level of harmonic distortion to ensure optimal system performance and longevity. In this study, power quality and its parameters are assessed following the Mongolian MNS 1778:2007 standard, which outlines twelve parameters for evaluating single-phase or three-phase 50 Hz AC power systems. However, particular emphasis is placed on the analysis of total harmonic distribution (THD) as a key parameter impacting power quality. Our analysis demonstrates that substantial distortion in the furnace current waveform can lead to THD voltages in 6/10 kV transmission lines and substations, resulting in energy efficiency losses.
Correction: Sustainability for all? The challenges of predicting and managing the potential risks of end‑of‑life electric vehicles and their batteries in the Global South
(Springer Nature, 2023) Luisa Prates; Daniel Karthe; Lulu Zhang; Lili Wang; Jack O’Connor; Halim Lee; Christina Dornack
Unfortunately the abstract in the original publication is published with errors. This has been now corrected in the original publication.
Reprocessing of tailing from Erdenet copper ores: Optimization of the flotation
(2023) Narangarav Terbish; Ankhchimeg Ganzorig; Dugar Davaajargal; Battsengel Baatar
The Erdenet tailing storage facility (TSF) is one of the largest in the world with a total area of 18.6km2. Over 40 years of history of Erdenet mining, the process tailing has been collected in the tailing dam and now becomes the biggest resource for research. The goal of this research work is to define the optimized condition of the flotation with the highest achievement of Cu recovery from the tailings of the Erdenet Copper Mining (EMC). Series of research and laboratory experimental works including physical and chemical characterization of the tailing samples, flotation experiments and analysis were carried out in order to define the optimized condition of the flotation. The best recovery of tailing sample with 0.1% of Cu was 1.4% of Cu grade and 32.27% of cumulative recovery.
Health Risk Assessment of Volatile Organic Compounds for Children in Indoor Air, Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia
(2023) Oyun-Erdene Otgonbyamba; Gantuya Ganbat; Ser-Od Khuyag; Enkhjargal Altangerel; Bilguun Ganbold; Altangadas Bayanjargal; Altangerel Bat-Erdene; Bataa Chuluunbaatar; Burmaajav Badrakh; Suvd Batbaatar
This study presents levels of volatile organic compounds (VOCs) measured indoors for the first time in Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia, and quantifies the health risk for children emphasizing the urgent need to improve control for indoor VOCs sources. The 583 samples collected at 144 sites, including new buildings, old apartments, schools, workplaces, kindergartens, baishin, and Mongolian traditional gers, hospitals, schools, and shopping centers are analyzed. Formaldehyde was detected in 95.7% of the samples, while benzene was in 24.2%. The levels of benzene, toluene, and xylene in new and old buildings and apartments exceed the recommended values of AGÖF for volatile organic compounds in indoor air. The probabilistic Monte Carlo simulation method was used to estimate the risk exposure of four types of VOCs (benzene, formaldehyde, toluene, and m,p-xylene) to the health of the study population. The risk of cancer for benzene and formaldehyde is high in the age group of 7 months–4 years, m,p-xylene, and toluene show non-cancer risk in this age group.
Morphological and genetic assessment of sympatric lenok species (genus Brachymystax) in the Onon River, Mongolia
(2023) Andrew Kaus; Michael Schäffer; Stefan Michalski; Matthias Pitsch; Daniel Karthe; Dietrich Borchardt
The genus Brachymystax is represented by three putative species that disjointedly inhabit the major river basins of central and northeast Eurasia. Brachymystax lenok and B. tumensis have been regularly misidentified throughout their range, including across sympatric populations in the upper Onon River of Mongolia. This research has focused on Mongolia’s understudied lenok populations by conducting detailed morphometric measurements and genetic analyses to confirm key metrics for accurately distinguishing between these cryptic species. While there are slight differences in colouration and patterns including size and density of their defining black spots, four key metrics were found to be significantly different between the species including gill rakers counts, snout length, lateral line scale counts and body depth. Brachymystax tumensis was also typically heavier than B. lenok at the same length. These results were supported by genetic analyses which clustered the two species into separate clades and displayed unique haplotypes for the Mongolian populations. Initial investigations of diets and gonad maturation indicated an ecological and spatial separation of these sympatric species. The current study is important for these recreationally targeted species which require further research and species-specific management measures to ensure their threatened populations are conserved in Mongolia for the future.
Measurement and 3-dimensional Simulations of Carbon Monoxide (CO) Distribution in Mongolian Ger
(2023) Byambakhorol Battsetseg; Gantuya Ganbat; Battulga Nasanjargal
Ulaanbaatar is one of the most polluted cities in the world, especially in wintertime. During the past two decades, several national and internationally funded projects have been put in place to reduce air pollution. One of the implemented projects is the Government of Mongolia has decided to substitute household raw coal consumption with upgraded briquette fuels in Ulaanbaatar since 2019 in order to combat air pollution. Concentrations of particulate matter (PM2.5 and PM10) in wintertime from November 2019 to February 2020 were reduced by around 40% compared previous five years, respectively. Unfortunately, there are some negative impacts, for example, an increased number of incidences of carbon monoxide (CO) poisoning along with the coal substitution. Indoor CO poisoning causes risks to people living in Mongolian gers and houses. In this study, we performed a numerical simulation of CO distribution by using the COMSOL Multiphysics. The study enables us to understand the CO distribution in Mongolian ger. The numerical simulations show, that when ger is assumed empty, the CO concentration is the largest around the stove, then becomes less from stove to crown, and is minimum near the lattice wall. In addition, CO concentration in gers and houses were recorded during the heating period. The results of this study offer important information that can be used to develop recommendations for enhancing indoor air quality in gers. By understanding the dynamics of CO distribution within traditional dwellings, strategies can be advised to improve ventilation, stove, and CO detector placements, reduce the risk of CO poisoning, and promote healthier living conditions for residents.
A Collaborative Approach for Triggering Environmental Awareness: The 3Rs for Sustainable Use of Natural Resources in Ulaanbaatar (3R4UB)
(2023) Gabriella Esposito De Vita; Cristina Visconti; Gantuya Ganbat; Marina Rigillo
Current environmental challenges invite us to deeply revise policies, governance models, and resource management toolkits towards a circular approach, in order to meet Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) requirements. In this framework, circular waste management is one of the pillars of responsible and foresighted planning for territorial sustainability. The “3Rs for a sustainable use of natural resources in Ulaanbaatar” (3R4UB) project aims at transferring a sustainable approach to urban solid waste management, especially focusing on providing effective opportunities for developing circular supply chains locally. In this framework, an integrated approach has been developed in order to adapt the communication/exploitation plan of sustainable waste management within a SWITCH-Asia Country (EU Program) by combining engagement tools and participatory processes for the collaborative design of a waste management masterplan. This paper explores the spatialization of resources/waste flows in the formal and informal settlements, while also considering cultural traditions, social structures, and community habits, in terms of a purposely designed combination of spatial planning, governance modeling, and capacity building activities. Starting from a preliminary communication plan, this paper sets the frame for discussing the role of community engagement tools and protocols in producing an effective and generalizable collaborative waste management masterplan.
Fatigue Strength Estimation Based on the Maximum Likelihood Method
(2023) Sungchil Lee; Odbileg Norovrinchen; Chinguunbileg Sumiyadorj
Fatigue strength is one of the core principles for designing mechanical components. It has been a constant concern for engineers, as mechanical failure occurs due to loading exceeding the fatigue strength. This concern has led to a necessity to develop new approaches to estimate the reliability of mechanical components. The conventional method that is used to test fatigue strength is the staircase method. However, the staircase method’s ability to calculate fatigue strength is potentially unreliable. The bias and scatter associated with fatigue testing shows the limitations of fatigue strength estimation when the staircase approach is used. The conventional methods of fatigue limit determination also have key flaws, in that they are subjective, time consuming, and costly. This research aims to develop a method that would reliably estimate the fatigue strength of materials, whilst using a lower amount of test results. The present study is intended to formulate and analyze a proposed method of estimating fatigue strength by utilizing a smaller number of tests. The aforementioned method that this paper aims to formulate, mainly focuses on a probabilistic estimation based on the Maximum Likelihood Procedure. The proposed method is applied to existing fatigue test data and its effectiveness is compared with other methods.
Natural rehabilitation potential in two distinct mining areas in Mongolia
(2023) Oyun-Erdene Tsogtsaikhan; Gantuya Ganbat; Martin Knippertz
Soil erosion in Mongolia has intensified, and the general level of soil fertility has decreased. The effects of global warming, and human activities such as grazing pastureland, mining operation, intensification of agriculture, urbanization, and road damage are the main causes of soil cover degradation. Due to the ecosystem characteristics of the geographical landlocked location within continental harsh, arid climatic conditions, there is clearly a different identification requirement in rehabilitation potential of mining areas. So, it is necessary to dig in to differentiate the possible rehabilitation characteristics on the most suitable ecosystems. And discrimination of the potentiality by the ecosystem and location makes how to achieve optimized mining rehabilitation results. In this work, the focus is to concentrate on the natural healing process and weigh into potentiality using pyramid concept [1]. Study area and soil characteristics are considered on 2 distinct mining areas located in 2 different ecozones of Mongolian, one is in sub northern area, Ecozone III, which covers both sandy Katsanoses soil and gravelly sandy kastanozem soil. The other comparison study area is Ecozone VI, which within the desert zone the soil specially forms in gravelly and sandy features, and the vegetation becomes scarce with its both species and biomass due to its hot, dry characteristics. Kastanozem soil has more fertile components and thicker humus layer than the desert gravelly and sandy features. Natural features consist of climatological features (precipitation, temperature, wind), soil types and vegetation index data were collected and analyzed using ArcGIS software. These mining areas followed up with verification areas weighted in Khuvsgul and Southgobi areas appointed 180 and 120 points respectively. However, the potential scores on rehabilitation expenses explain active regions that the chance of adjustable value on those planned rehabilitation budget, where sustaining the soil rehabilitation stick into long term natural healing process. These concludes that the pyramid concept should be applied to the other areas of Mongolian mining sites to enable natural rehabilitation potentiality into long term, sustainable mining rehabilitation plan.
Measurement and 3-dimensional Simulations of Carbon Monoxide (CO) Distribution in Mongolian Ger
(2023) Byambakhorol Battsetseg; Gantuya Ganbat; Battulga Nasanjargal
Ulaanbaatar is one of the most polluted cities in the world, especially in wintertime. During the past two decades, several national and internationally funded projects have been put in place to reduce air pollution. One of the implemented projects is the Government of Mongolia has decided to substitute household raw coal consumption with upgraded briquette fuels in Ulaanbaatar since 2019 in order to combat air pollution. Concentrations of particulate matter (PM2.5 and PM10) in wintertime from November 2019 to February 2020 were reduced by around 40% compared previous five years, respectively. Unfortunately, there are some negative impacts, for example, an increased number of incidences of carbon monoxide (CO) poisoning along with the coal substitution. Indoor CO poisoning causes risks to people living in Mongolian gers and houses. In this study, we performed a numerical simulation of CO distribution by using the COMSOL Multiphysics. The study enables us to understand the CO distribution in Mongolian ger. The numerical simulations show, that when ger is assumed empty, the CO concentration is the largest around the stove, then becomes less from stove to crown, and is minimum near the lattice wall. In addition, CO concentration in gers and houses were recorded during the heating period. The results of this study offer important information that can be used to develop recommendations for enhancing indoor air quality in gers. By understanding the dynamics of CO distribution within traditional dwellings, strategies can be advised to improve ventilation, stove, and CO detector placements, reduce the risk of CO poisoning, and promote healthier living conditions for residents.
Measurement and 3-dimensional Simulations of Carbon Monoxide (CO) Distribution in Mongolian Ger
(2023) Byambakhorol Battsetseg; Gantuya Ganbat; Battulga Nasanjargal
Ulaanbaatar is one of the most polluted cities in the world, especially in wintertime. During the past two decades, several national and internationally funded projects have been put in place to reduce air pollution. One of the implemented projects is the Government of Mongolia has decided to substitute household raw coal consumption with upgraded briquette fuels in Ulaanbaatar since 2019 in order to combat air pollution. Concentrations of particulate matter (PM2.5 and PM10) in wintertime from November 2019 to February 2020 were reduced by around 40% compared previous five years, respectively. Unfortunately, there are some negative impacts, for example, an increased number of incidences of carbon monoxide (CO) poisoning along with the coal substitution. Indoor CO poisoning causes risks to people living in Mongolian gers and houses. In this study, we performed a numerical simulation of CO distribution by using the COMSOL Multiphysics. The study enables us to understand the CO distribution in Mongolian ger. The numerical simulations show, that when ger is assumed empty, the CO concentration is the largest around the stove, then becomes less from stove to crown, and is minimum near the lattice wall. In addition, CO concentration in gers and houses were recorded during the heating period. The results of this study offer important information that can be used to develop recommendations for enhancing indoor air quality in gers. By understanding the dynamics of CO distribution within traditional dwellings, strategies can be advised to improve ventilation, stove, and CO detector placements, reduce the risk of CO poisoning, and promote healthier living conditions for residents.

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