Technologies to reduce air

pollution
Group 12
Kumbirai Mbavarira n0181576j
Vimbai Mutukwa n0182012L
Professor Ncube n0188589k
Nicholas Mwembe n0181910p
Dedusting 
• Dust can be broadly defined as small solid particles created as
a consequence of the breaking up of larger particles.
• Depending on their size, these particles can become hazardous to worker health,
particularly when suspended in air.
• Smaller airborne particles of dust, which can remain suspended in air for hours, pose a
greater risk to the respiratory system when inhaled.
•  Dedusting techniques include exhaust systems and hoods systems.
• Air cleaning devices are gravity seperators, Centrifugal Collectors or Cyclones, Baghouse
Collectors, Mechanical Shaker Collectors, Reverse Air Collectors, Electrostatic
Precipitators (ESPs), Wet Scrubbers, Venturi Scrubbers, spray tower scrubbers etc

 
Example of an exhaust system
Hierarchy of dealing with dust
Decarbonisation
• In this process the flue gas flows through a large tower called an
absorber or scrubber. In this absorption process, the gas comes into
contact with absorption fluid (amines mixed with water)fixing the
CO2 in a relatively weak chemical bonding.
• The bound CO2 is transported to another tower, called a stripper,
where the solvent is heated. This seperates the CO2 from the amines
in a process called regeneration. The amines are then reused to
absorb more CO2.
• Flue gas from gas power plants has a temperature of about 80 – 100
degrees celcius. The flue gas should be cooled to about 40 degrees
celcius before absorption.
Denitrification
Desulphirisation
• Desulfurization removes elemental sulfur and its compounds from
solids, liquids, and gases. Predominantly, desulfurization involves the
removal of sulfur oxides from flue gases, compounds of sulfur in
petroleum refining, and pyritic sulfur in coal cleaning.
• Biocatalytic desulfurization offers mild processing conditions and
reduces the need for hydrogen.
• Both these features would lead to high-energy savings in the refinery.
Further, significant reductions in greenhouse gas emissions have also
been predicted if biocatalytic desulfurization is used.
Methods used in desulphurisation
• Two main methods for cleaning flue gases from coal combustion at
electric generating stations: dry scrubbing and wet scrubbing.
• Lime is used in both systems. Dry scrubbing is also used at municipal
waste-to-energy plants and other industrial facilities
• Removal efficiencies range between 50% to 98%. Typically the highest
removal is achieved by wet scrubbers and the lowest by dry scrubbers.
• Equation demonstrating desulphurisation :
• Ca(OH) 2(s) + SO 2(g) → CaSO 3(s) + H 2O.
• When wet scrubbing with a magnesium hydroxide slurry, the reaction
produces MgSO 3 (magnesium sulfite) and may be expressed in the
simplified dry form as: Mg(OH) 2(s) + SO 2(g) → MgSO 3(s) + H 2O.
Flue gas condensing (FGC)
• The Flue Gas Condenser (FGC) technology aims to recover the surplus heat
from the flue gases in between the Air Pollution Control equipment and the
stack.
• The condensers work when the warmer vapor stream contacts a cooling
medium.
• The heat from the warm gases is transferred to the cooler medium.
• Then, as the warm gas stream begins to cool, the kinetic energy of the gas is
reduced.
• Condensation occurs because the pollutant molecules are slowed and crowded
so close together that the attractive forces between the molecules cause them
to condense into a liquid.
• This is done to reduce the total gas volume treated or to selectively remove
certain organic compounds from the gas stream for re-use in the process 
Flue Gas Condenser
Mercury control
• Mercury is controlled by the Sorbent Injection System.
• It works by injecting a sorbent into a flue gas stream. The GMCS
inverts this concept, pushing the gas past the sorbent. the major
difference is that the sorbent is not a throw away item, but is
embedded in a specially developed, long life material called Sorbent
Polymer Catalyst (SPC).
• The SPC filled with a certain type of fabrics, is arranged in an open
channel design and affixed in modules measuring approximately 2ft
*2ft* 1ft high. These can be stacked in parallel or in series depending
on the gas volume and mecury reduction requirements, respectively.
cont'
• Put simply, the more modules that are installed, the greater the
mecury reduction achieved.
• The gas flows through the system at velocities as high as 18ft/sec,
giving the mercury considerable contact time with the sorbent.
• Critically, the SPC is designed to capture both elemental and oxidised
mecury and sequester it in the form of stable mercury compounds.
• The unique structure of the SPC gives it a storage capacity that can be
measured in years, not hours.
Case Study : Changzhou, China
• Evaluation of flue-gas treatment technologies for municipal waste
incineration MWI flue gas: A case study in Changzhou, China
• A model of treatment of incineration MWI was established using
three combinations of technologies
• (a) Spray semi dry reactor + activated carbon + filter bag (Scenario 1)
• (b) Spray semi dry reactor + dry deacidification reactor + activated
carbon + filter bag (Scenario 2)
• (c) selective non-catalytic reduction (SNCR) + spray semi dry
reactor + dry deacidification reactor + activated carbon + filter bag
(Scenario 3).