Ecology & Safety, Volume 19, 2025

Abstract: The Dora Oil Refinery (DOR) located in Baghdad serves as an essential energy provider for Iraq but experiences problems with aging equipment and inadequate environmental protection protocols. The facility emits large amounts of dangerous pollutants including sulfur dioxide (SO₂), nitrogen oxides (NOₓ), volatile organic compounds (VOCs) and particulate matter (PM). The emissions from this area combine to degrade air quality while posing major health dangers to the local population. The refinery requires extensive modernization to align with worldwide environmental standards. This work presents an actionable approach to decrease emissions while enhancing sustainable operations at the refinery. The study evaluated advanced technologies from around the world by implementing selective catalytic reduction (SCR) for NOₓ reduction and sulfur recovery units (SRUs) and high-efficiency electrostatic precipitators (ESPs). The study analyzed the potential benefits of carbon capture and storage (CCS) technology. Sophisticated AI-modeling techniques were implemented to forecast emission patterns and analyze energy conservation methods. The study performed an extensive economic evaluation which assessed Net Present Value (NPV) and Internal Rate of Return (IRR) metrics while analyzing market dynamics. Improvements like adding solar power could reduce SO₂ by up to 99% and NOₓ by about 90%. The SCR unit could pay for itself in about five years under conservative estimates.