Air Pollution Control

Approaches to control Air Pollution

1. Confining the pollution at the source

(a) Modifying the process

(b) Reducing the pollutant concentration before release

2. Dilution pf the pollutants to permissible level

(a) Using tall stacks

(b) Controlling process parameters w.r.t local meteorological condition

(c) Community planning

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Air Pollution Control

Method and Equipment used to control particulate emission

The particulate collection devices are based on the properties of the particulates

(1)Size

(2)Shape

(3)Electrical Properties

(4)Hygroscopic properties

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 Method and Equipment used to control particulate emission
Mechanical Devices Gravity Settling
Settling chambers

• Collect particulate matter by gravitational or centrifugal force.

• The carrier gas velocity in the chamber is reduced so as to

allow the particulate matter to settle out of the moving gas
stream under the action of gravity.

• This particulate matter is then collected at the bottom of the

chamber. The chamber is cleaned manually to dispose the
waste.

• Used as pre-cleaners particularly in the food and metallurgical industries as the first step in dust
control.

• Use of settling chambers as pre-cleaners can also reduce the maintenance cost of high efficiency
control equipment, which is more subject to abrasive deterioration.
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 Method and Equipment used to control particulate emission
Mechanical Devices (2) Centrifugal forces

Cyclone collectors

• The cyclone consists of a vertically placed cylinder which has an

inverted cone attached to its base.
• The particulate laden gas stream enters tangentially at the inlet
point to the cylinder.
• The velocity of this inlet gas stream is then transformed into a
confined vortex, from which centrifugal forces tend to drive the
suspended particles to the walls of the cyclone.
• The vortex turns upward after reaching at the bottom of the
cylinder in a narrower inner spiral.
• The clean gas is removed from a central cylindrical opening at the
top
• The dust particles are collected at the bottom in a storage hopper by
gravity.

• Used in iron and steel plants, cement manufacture, food and beverage, mineral processing
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 Method and Equipment used to control particulate emission
Filtration Systems Fabric Filters
Fabric Filter
Remove particulate matter from a gas stream by passing the
dirty air through a layer of cloth. Fabric filters are the
predominant particulate removal device used in industrial Clean gas
processes today Compressed
air or
mechanical
shaker
The raw gas flows
upward into the
tubes and outward
through the fabric
leaving the
particulate matter
as a "cake" on the Raw gas

insides of the bags.

Separated dust

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 Method and Equipment used to control particulate emission
Electrostatic Precipitator
The principle is to give electrostatic charge to particles in a
given gas stream and then pass the particles through an
electrostatic field that drives them to a collecting
electrode.
Particles as small as 0.1 micrometer can be removed with
almost 100% efficiency using electrostatic precipitators
which is not possible by
Gravity settlers or Cyclone separators

The major components of electrostatic

precipitators are:

i) A source of high voltage

ii) Discharge and collecting electrodes.
iii) Inlet and outlet for the gas.
iv) A hopper for the disposal of the collected
material.
v) An outer casing to form an enclosure around
the electrodes. 8
 Method and Equipment used to control particulate emission
Electrostatic Precipitator

In summary, the step by step process of removing

particles is:

i) Ionizing the gas

ii) Charging the gas particles

iii) Transporting the particles to the collecting

surface

iv) Neutralizing, or removing the charge from

the dust particles

v) Removing the dust from the collecting

surface.

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 Method and Equipment used to control particulate emission
Electrostatic Precipitator

iv) Neutralizing, or removing the charge from

the dust particles

v) Removing the dust from the collecting

surface by rapping or washing

Dry ESP Wet ESP

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 Method and Equipment used to control particulate emission
Scrubber

Scrubbers are devices that remove particulate matter by contacting the dirty gas stream with liquid
drops.

Generally water is used as the scrubbing fluid.

There are 2 types of wet scrubbers:

1. Liquid carriage type

Particle laden gas strike liquid surface and the liquid carrying the gas particles moves out of the
collector

2. Wet collector or particle conditioning type

the dust is agglomerated with water and then separated from the gas together with the water.

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 Method and Equipment used to control particulate emission
Scrubber

The mechanism of particulate collection and

removal by a scrubber can be described as a four-
step process.

i) Transport: The particle must be transported to

the vicinity of the water droplets.

ii) Collision: The particle must collide with the

droplet.

iii) Adhesion: This is promoted by the surface

tension property.

iv) Precipitation: This involves the removal of the

droplets, containing the dust particles from the
gas phase.

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 Method and Equipment used to control particulate emission
Scrubber

The various types of scrubbers are:

i) Spray towers

ii) Venturi scrubbers

iii) Cyclone scrubbers

iv) Packed scrubbers

v) Mechanical scrubbers.

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 Method and Equipment used to control particulate emission
Scrubber

The scrubbers are used in chemical, mining and metallurgical industries to trap SO2, NH3 and
metal fumes. Apart from that they are very useful for a variety of situations:

i) In the case of a hot gas that must be cooled for some reason

ii) If the particulate matter is combustible or if any flammable gas is present, even in trace
amounts, in the bulk gas phase, a scrubber is preferred to an electrostatic precipitator

iii) Scrubbers can be used when there are waste water treatment systems available on the site,
with adequate reserve capacity to handle the liquid effluent

iv) Scrubbers are also used when gas reaction and absorption are required simultaneously with
particulate control.

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 Air Pollution Control

Method and Equipment used to control gaseous pollutants

Gaseous pollutants may be removed from the effluent stream by trapping, by chemical change,
or by a change in the process that produces them

Combustion

Incineration or flaring, is used when an

organic pollutant can be oxidized to CO2 and
water, or in oxidizing H2S to SO2.

Catalytic combustion is a variant of

incineration in which the reaction is
facilitated energetically and
carried out at a lower temperature by surface
catalysis

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 Method and Equipment used to control gaseous pollutants
Absorption

The efficiency of the gas absorption process depends on

1. Chemical reactivity

2. Surface contact between liquid and gas 3. Contact time 4. Concentration of absorbing medium

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Method and Equipment used to control gaseous pollutants

Adsorption
The efficiency of the gas adsorption process depends on

1. Surface area per unit weight of the adsorbent

2. Physical and chemical characteristics of the adsorbent

3. Nature and concentration of the gas adsorbed

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Industries and Air Pollution

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