Module B:

Air Quality
Sources,Transport/Transformation,
Receptor & Control Technology

Manoranjan Sahu
ESED, IIT Bombay
Email: mrsahu@iitb.ac.in
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 Today’s Learning Objective !
6. To learn about current air pollution control
methods and emerging control technologies.
INTRODUCTION

Overall Air Pollution

Control Strategies

Source control Air pollution control

technologies

Changing of fuels Air quality

regulations End-of-pipe control
and raw materials.
equipment.

Modification or
elimination of Capture of particulate
process steps. matter and gaseous
pollutants.

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Air Pollution Control: Stationary Sources
• Pre-combustion Control
o Switching to less S and less N fuel
• Combustion Control
o Improving the combustion process
o New burners to reduce NOx
o Integrated Gasification combined cycle
• Post-Combustion Control
o Particulate collection devices
o Flue gas desulfurization

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 Air Pollution Control: PM
Device selection depends on
- Particle size
- Concentration
- Corrosivity
- Volumetric flow rate
- Required collection efficiency
- Cost

A gas-stream specific criteria : particles concentration, particles size

distribution, gas temperature, tendency for agglomeration, chemical
reactivity, flammability and explosiveness, toxicity, wettability, odors.

Equipment specific criteria (fractional collection efficiency,

availability, adaptability to various operating conditions, pressure
drop, maintenance, sensitivity to erosion, corrosion and foam
formation, water requirement, power requirement, operational and
investment costs) .
 Air Pollution Control: PM
• Mechanical
- Gravity based: Settling Chambers > 20 μm
- Inertia based: Cyclones > 10 μm
- Diffusion based:Filters > 0.1 μm
• Electrical
- Electrostatic Precipitators
> 0.1 mm
Gravity settler • Cyclone • Fabric filter •
Electrostatic precipitator • Wet scrubber
 Air Pollution Control: PM
Dry dust removal equipment
include:
– Gravity settling chamber (or gravity settlers),
– Centrifugal settlers (cyclones),
– Electrostatic precipitators (ESP)
– Bag houses (fabric filters)
Wet dust removal equipment:
– Scrubbers
– Packed column scrubber, vortex scrubber, Venturi
scrubber)
– Wet ESPs
 Mechanical Collectors: Gravity Settlers
• A gravity sampler is a long chamber through which the
contaminated gas passes slowly, allowing time for the particles
to settle by gravity to the bottom.


mp g = p d 3g
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Fd = 3  d v

p2
vt = g d
18 
where,
g – gravity acceleration 9.8 m/s2
d – particle diameter (m)
rp – particle density (g/m3)= 2 x 106 g/m3
When Fd = Fg, settling velocity is given by m - air viscosity = 0.0172 g/m.s

• Baffle chamber have baffles within the chamber to enhance particle separation
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and collection. The particle collection is accomplished by gravity and inertial effect.
 Multiple Tray Chamber/Baffle Chamber
• Settling chambers are used to control particulate matter (PM) greater than 10
μm in aerodynamic diameter. Most designs only effectively collect PM
greater than approximately 50 μm.
• Unit are designed for gas velocities of : 0.305 to 3.05 m/sec.

• Baffle chamber have baffles within the chamber to enhance particle separation
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and collection. The particle collection is accomplished by gravity and inertial effect.
Mechanical Collectors: Elutriators in Series

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 Advantage/Disadvantages
Advantages
•No pre-treatment is required
•Low cost of construction and maintenance
•Low operating pressure drops
•Generally, the device is not subjected to abrasion
•Dry disposal of solid particulates
•Provides incidental cooling of gas stream

Disadvantages
•Large space requirements
•Relatively low collection efficiency
•Unable to handle sticky materials
•Trays in multiple-tray settling chamber may warp
during high –temperature operations.

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 Mechanical: Cyclone
 Centrifugal acceleration to effect
separation.

 Suspended gas-particle mixture is fed to

the inlet at a high velocity.

 The spiral flow force the suspended

particles towards the wall due to
centrifugal force.

 These particles which collide at the wall,

spiral downwards in the gas boundary
layer and are collected at an outlet at
the bottom.

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 Mechanical - Inertia
Cyclones

• For PM > 5 m
• Efficiency > 90%
• Maintenance-free
• Low-cost
Electrostatic Precipitator

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 ESP Principles, Design & Construction
An ESP works because of electrostatic attraction
(like charges repel; unlike charges attract).
 ESP uses a high voltage electrostatic
field to separate dust, fume or mist from
a gas stream.
 A high voltage system provides power to
the discharge electrode to generate an
electrical field. The particulate, entrained
in the gas, is charged while passing
through the electrical field. The
particulate is then attracted to the
grounded collector plate, and forms a
dust layer on the plate.
 Periodic rapping separates the accumulated dust
layer from both the collector plates and discharge
electrodes (in case of wet ESP by spraying it with a
liquid)

In short, charging, collecting and removing is the basic idea of an ESP

 Mechanical - Filtration
Bag filters

Filtration through fibrous

material via:
• Diffusion
• Impaction
• Interception
• (NOT SIEVING)
Mechanical - Filtration
Bag filters

• Efficiency – 100% for

particles >0.01-1 mm
• Cannot operate in moist
environment
• Large & expensive
• Competitive with ESP
APPLICATION OF CONTROL TECHNOLOGIES
IN INDUSTRIES
CEMENT
INDUSTRY
Control
devices

Figure: Process flow chart: cement manufacturing

process.
Source: adopted from Huntzinger & Eatmon, 2009.
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APPLICATION OF CONTROL TECHNOLOGIES
IN INDUSTRIES
 Identification of emission sources within the industry is necessary to
suitably use control devices.

 Mechanical collectors are used as pre-cleaners in industries before

treating flue gas with either ESP, fabric filter or wet scrubber.

 Choice of control equipment is based on particle characteristics.

Characterizati
Identification Use of
on of particle
of source control
properties
equipment

 Most industries including iron and steel production units, pharmaceutical

industry, coal-fired power plants and others use conventional
technologies to control emissions.

 Many countries including India are still not able to achieve emission
standards.
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SUMMARY: CONTROL TECHNOLOGIES
FOR PM
Collection Collection efficiency
Control technology efficiency (PM10)
(PM2.5)
Low Medium High Low Medium High
Gravity settler • •

Cyclone separator • •

Electrostatic precipitator • •

Baghouse filter • •

Wet scrubber • •

Self-priming venturi scrubber • •

Wet electrostatic scrubber • •

Wet electrostatic precipitator • •

HEPA filters • •

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 Wet dust scrubbers: Spray Tower

 Remove PM by direct contact of the

dirty gas stream with liquid drops

 Key parameter in the design of

scrubbers : liquid-to-gas ratio (L/G).

Advantages of scrubbers are:

• Low initial cost, moderately high

collection efficiency

• For small particles and applicability for

the high temperature installations.

• Handle large volume of gases

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 Absorption Tower

• Basic principle:

Selective mass transfer

of gaseous substance
from the gas to liquid
phase, owing to the
preferential solubility of
a gaseous component in
the liquid.

• Substance can be only dissolved in the liquid phase

(physical absorption) or may react with the liquid
or with a specific substance contained in the liquid
(chemical absorption)
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 Example: CO2 Study: MEA Absorption Process
 MEA Process:

 86% increase in cost of

electricity
 60% of total cost contributed by
parasitic power loss
Energy use components
 CO2 desorption (steam use)
 High Heat of absorption (rxn
heat)
 Low working capacity: (high L/G
Reducing Energy
and sensible heat)Consumption
(heat for T is key to lowering the total CO2
between CO2-rich and lean capture cost
solvents)
 Low pressure stripping (high
stripping heat + high
compression work)
US DOE Goal: >90% CO2 removal
<35% COE increase
Hot Carbonate Absorption Process (Hot-CAP): Process
Flow Diagram
Cleaned
K2CO3/KHCO3 SO42- High Pressure
flue gas
lean Solution Removal CO2 (10 atm)
(40%wt PC-eqv.,
15-20% CTB)
KHCO3 slurry
(50%wt)
Absorption
column Cross heat High
(60-80 C) exchanger Pressure
Stripper
Cross heat
Crystallization (140 C)
exchanger
Tank
Flue gas (30-35 C) Steam from
IP Turbine

Hydro
cyclone Reboiler
K2CO3/KHCO3 K2CO3/KHCO3
rich Solution semi-lean Solution
(40-50% CTB) (70% CTB)
Slurry pump

• Absorption at 60−80C
• Working capacity of 40wt% PC: ~15−40% carbonate-to-bicarbonate (CTB) conv.
• Crystallization at near room temperature (~30C)
• Stripping of bicarbonate slurry at 10−40 atm
 Major Reactions

Clean CO2-lean Regenerated

gas K2CO3/KHCO3 K2CO3/KHCO3
Bicarbonate
CO2 crystallization High
Absorption pressure CO2/H2O
Liquid-solid stripping
Flue CO2-rich separation KHCO3
gas K2CO3/KHCO3 slurry

CO2 absorption at 60  80C : CO2 desorption at  140C :

CO2  H 2O  K 2CO3  2 KHCO3 KHCO3  CO2 ( g )   H 2O  K 2CO3

Crystallization at 30C :
KHCO3  KHCO3 ( s) 

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 Absorption Test: Bench-scale Column Setup

Specification
Column height 3.0
Packed bed height, m 2.0
Absorber diameter, mm 100
Height of packing element, mm 100
Diameter of packing element, mm 100
Specific surface area (a), m2/m3 800
Void fraction (ε) 0.66

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 Comparison with Benchmark 5M MEA

Top of absorption Bottom of

column absorption
column

-PCB solution with organic promoters resulted higher removal efficiency

in the lean and rich conditions compared to MEA

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 Adsorption

• Involves a gas-solid equilibrium (binding of gaseous and vaporous molecules

to the surface of a solid adsorbent or in the pores or interstices of adsorbent
material.
• Adsorption may be physical or chemical (chemisorption), depending on the
strength of molecules binding to a surface of adsorbent.
• Physical adsorption (reversible process) is used primarily for the control of
organic compounds, while chemical adsorption (irreversible process) is
frequently used for the control of acid gases (hydrogen chloride, hydrogen
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fluoride, hydrogen sulfide) and mercury vapor
 APPLICATION OF NANOPARTICLES IN AIR
POLLUTION CONTROL

Nanocatalysts
• Degradation of NOx
and VOCs using TiO2
nanoparticle by
photo catalysis.
(Christensen et al.,
2017)

Scheme depicting the pollutant removal through the formation of

photoinduced charge carriers (e−/h+) in TiO2 nanoparticle surfaces
(Simeonidis et al., 2016)
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 New Emerging Technology: Air Pollution
Photocatalytic paints for passive air cleaning technology

 treatments can be applied to a range of surfaces, for example

roofing tiles, roofing felt or even the surface or roads.

 Photocatalytic TiO2 appears to be a promising method to

eliminate many air pollutants such as nitrogen oxides (NOx) and
volatile organic compounds (VOCs).

Flue Gas De-sulphurisation (FGD):

• FGD is used for control of SO2 in emission from combustion of

coal and oil.

• FGD generally employs calcium or sodium based alkali for

scrubbing SO2 in flue gases.
 Air Purifier Tower in China

25/11/19
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The Xian Tower – Solar driven flow released from top
 The Upcoming Air Cleaner System at Delhi

Medium scale air cleaner system (MSACS) is especially attractive for populated
cities as:
a) Directly delivers clean air to population living in the vicinity of the facility
b) Limited, defined domain of action, which makes it attractive for the pilot
study.
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 Schematic illustration of working principle

Polluted Air
sucked from top

Filter Filter
Fans assembly Assembl Fans
yy

Clean air to Clean air to

breathing breathing zone
zone

Ground level
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3D VIEW OF SMOG TOWER: VIDEO

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25/11/19
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