CHE 459 - Lecture 1

SAFETY AND
POLLUTION CONTROL
Lecture 1
Dr. Godfred Ohemeng-Boahen

Department of Chemical Engineering, KNUST
Course Outline
•Plant safety concepts.
•Air pollution: Standards; Removal of particulates; Removal of gases and odors.
•Water pollution: Standards; Physical, Chemical and Biological waste water

treatment; Waste water disposal; Incineration. Solid waste disposal.
•Pollution prevention. New concepts in pollution control: emission trading,

greenhouse gases; clean development mechanism.
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Reference Materials
 Vassilis J. I. (2006) Adsorption, Ion Exchange and Catalysis: Design of Operations and
Environmental Applications, Elsevier.
 Marquita K. H. (2004) Understanding Environmental Pollution, Cambridge University Press.
 Joseph P. R., John S. J., Louis T. (2002) Handbook of chemical and Environmental Engineering
Calculations, John Wiley & Sons, Inc., New York.
 Ranade, V. V. and Bhandari, V. M. (2014) Industrial Wastewater Treatment, Recycling and

Reuse, Elsevier
 West, K. L. (2014) Landfill Waste Pollution and Control, Elsevier
 Academic Press, (2014) Air Pollution V4: Engineering Control of air Pollution, 3rd ed.,
Academic Press.
 Hocking, B. B. M. (2006) Handbook of chemical Technology and Pollution Control, 3rd ed.,
Academic Press.
Learning Outcomes
• Understand the relevance of safety considerations in chemical plants.
• Identify the various forms of pollution.
• Explain the causes of pollution.
• Propose control measures for pollution preventions.
• Explain the mechanisms employed by some of the equipment used in pollution

control.
• Identify greenhouses gases and the associated anthropogenic contributions.
• Understand the new concept for mitigating greenhouse gases.

Mode of Assessment
•Class assignments: 6%
•Take-home assignments: 4%
•Mid-Semester Examination: 20%
•End of term Examination: 70%
Total: 100%

Safety and Pollution Control
Plant Safety Concept
• Plant safety: the prevention of lots of accidents by the identification, control or
elimination of hazards in a chemical process plant.
• Hazards: hazard is any physical situation with a potential for human injury,
damage to property, damage to the environment or combination of these.
• Potential hazards associated with chemical plants include:
Chemical
Mechanical
Electrical
Fire
Biological
Radioactive

Hazards: Chemical hazards
• A hazard involving chemicals or processes, which may realize its potential
through, agencies such as fire, explosion, toxic or corrosive effects.
• The Globally Harmonized System (GHS) defines nine categories of hazardous
chemicals of which five are:
Flammable: Diesel, Gasoline and RFO.

Explosive: Chemical explosions are events where generation of a large volume of
gas and build-up of pressure sufficient to cause an explosion. It is the result of a
chemical reaction.
Oxidizing: They are chemicals which spontaneously evolve oxygen at room
temperature or with slight heating.
Corrosive: acids, base etc.

Summary of Chemical Hazards
Globally Harmonized System of Classification and Labelling
of Chemicals (GHS) Pictograms

Hazards cont.d
Electrical hazards
• Electrostatic discharge is a hazard which causes fire when static generation
through accumulation of electrical charge suddenly discharging as a spark.
• Electrical earthing and more settling time for pumped liquids, minimization of
liquid splashing, Non-synthetic clothing are control mechanisms for this hazard.
Mechanical hazards
• Mechanical hazards are those associated with power-driven machines, whether
automated or manually operated.
• They are created as a result of either powered or manual (human) use of tools,
equipment or machinery and plant.

Hazards: Control of Mechanical hazards
Mechanical Hazards can be controlled by;
• Providing and applying appropriate safeguards; e.g., guarding the point of
operation, exposure of blades safeguards etc.
• Conducting regular checks for any defects in machines as well as regular
maintenance.
• Anchoring/fixing machinery: machines must be anchored or fixed in one location
to stop its movement.

Hazards: Fire hazards
Fire hazards
• Fire hazards are workplace hazards that involve the presence of flame or the risk
of an uncontrolled fire.
• Fire hazards may arise because of accidental release and high-pressure release of
flammable substance such as diesel and petrol in the presence of oxygen and heat
leading to explosion.
So u
Control of fire hazards
rce
o
f ig
or around
• Clearly label all tanks containing flammable liquids and prohibit smoking
niti
flammable substances.
on
• Storage tanks containing fuels can be coated with a heat-reflecting agent to
minimize external heating.
• Premises must have effective systems to detect fire and raise an alarm
Hazards: Alarm in safety defences
The various industrial alarm colours in safety defence are as follows;
• White – Process Design
• Violet – Basic Control
• Indigo – Critical Alarm
• Blue – Automatic Action
• Green – Physical Protection (Relieve Devices)
• Yellow – Physical Protection (Dikes)
• Orange – Plant Emergency Response
• Red – Community Emergency Response.

As a Chemical Engineer, you are
responsible FIRST for your Safety and
then that of others.

POLLUTION
Definition of terms
• Pollution: is the introduction of harmful substances or products into the
environment.
• Pollutants: are substances that contaminate the air, water and land in some
manner.
• Control: is the act of exercising restraint or direction to eliminate or prevent from
spreading.
• Pollution prevention: comprises of source reduction and in-process recycling
leading to waste minimization or waste reduction. It includes changes in
technology, materials, processes, operations and procedures and in-process, in-
line or closed-loop recycling.

Types of pollution
The various types of pollution are:
• Air Pollution
• Water pollution Typically associated with chemical processes
• Land pollution
• Noise Pollution

Air Pollution
• Air pollutants: Substances introduced into the atmosphere and which produce
adverse health or environmental effects.
Classification of air pollutants:
• Primary pollutants: released directly into the air in a harmful way. Examples are
Carbon monoxide (CO), Carbon dioxide (CO2) Sulfur dioxide ( Nitrogen oxides (),
Particulate matter (PM) and Volatile Organic Compounds (VOCs).
• Secondary pollutants: are formed in the atmosphere due to chemical reaction.

Example is Ozone (, SO3, H2O2 etc.

Classification of Air pollutants
Peroxyacetyl nitrate
(PAN)
Source: https://www.askiitians.com/revision-notes/class-8-science/pollution-of-air-and-water/
Classification of Air Pollutants
Air pollutants can be classified into one of three main categories based on
their physical characteristics namely:
• Coarse PARTICULATE MATTER (PM): Comprises solid particles or liquid

droplets which have an average diameter of 2.5µm or less (PM2.5) and
average diameter of 10µm or less (PM10).
• AEROSOL CLASS: This can also comprise fine solid particles or liquid
droplets, but they are limited to a size range generally less than 1µm
average diameter .
This class has particles or droplets small enough in size that there is a
strong tendency for them to stay in suspension in air.
 A suspension of a finely divided solid in air is referred to as a ‘‘fume,’’
and that of a finely divided liquid as a ‘‘fog.’’ others include dust, mist,
etc.
• GASES: Comprise the third major classification of air pollutants, which includes
any contaminant in the gaseous or vapor state.
• These comprises the more ordinary ‘‘permanent’’ gases, such as sulfur dioxide
(SO2), hydrogen sulfide (H2S), nitric oxide (NO), nitrogen dioxide (NO2), ozone (O3),
carbon monoxide (CO), carbon dioxide (CO2) etc., as well as the less common
ones such as hydrogen chloride, chlorine gas (Cl2), etc.
• These are with diameters that are averagely 2.5µm or smaller.

Table 1. Gravitational settling velocity for spheres of unit density in air at 20 OC.

Particulate Matter (PM)
• PM constitutes a major class of air
pollution. They can be either droplets or
dry dusts with a wide range of physical
and chemical properties.
• They are emitted from both combustion

and non-combustion processes in
industry, mining and/or construction
activities, motor vehicles and refuse
incineration.
• Natural sources of particulates include

volcanoes, forest fires, windstorms etc. Source:
https://www.epa.gov/pm-pollution/particulate-
matter-pm-basics
Characteristics of Particles
• The important particulate characteristics include:
1. Size
2. Size distribution
3. Shape
4. Density
5. Stickiness
6. Corrosivity
7. Reactivity
8. Toxicity

• Early society’s total demands and wastes were easily assimilated by the
biosphere.
• Advances in technology and population today provide an ever-increasing levels of

waste or pollutants.
• Human activities now contribute similar volumes of some minor gaseous

constituents of the atmosphere as do natural processes.

Natural Contaminants
• Natural sources of many common air contaminants make a contribution to the
overall atmospheric pollutant loading.
Examples:
• Oceans contribute large masses of saltwater spray droplets to the air as a result of
wave action. 13 million tonnes of sulfate ion and similar masses of chloride are
contributed to the atmosphere annually in this manner.
• Volatile organic compounds are contributed to the atmosphere by many forms of

plant life such as aromatic plants eg. lavender, mint and sage.
• The world’s deserts contribute significant masses of dust and particulate matter to
the atmosphere, some transported across considerable distances.
• More than 900 tonnes of meteoritic dust is estimated to be collected by the
atmosphere annually.
Natural contaminants cont.d
• Active volcanoes contribute many orders of magnitude more than the deserts.
• Sulfur dioxide and hydrogen sulfide from volcanic activity also contribute
pollutants to the atmosphere on the scale of 1–2 million tonne/year. Other
contaminating gases such as metal vapors are also discharged in significant
quantities during these events.
• Biological contaminants: Bacteria, viruses, and the living spores of some of the
common molds are distributed through air and can cause problems, particularly
when a rapid, localized rise in numbers of the organism occurs. For example,
marine waters near sewer outfalls can become contaminated by microorganisms.

Particulate Measurement and Identification
• The particulate class represents particles or droplets which more or less rapidly
settle out of air and is also the easiest class to measure.
• For a source particulate determination, that is, if the particulates in the flue
gases of a chimney or exhaust gases of a vent stack are to be sampled, then
special holes are required in the ductwork.
• Probes with associated equipment and a means of reaching the sampling holes
are necessary.

Particulate determination and Identification
Table 2. Particle size of some common air pollutants.

Quantitative Measurement of Particulate Matter
• A quantitative method for particulate determination uses fallout from ambient
air as an indicator of the particle loading.
• This method can be as simple as a series of glass jars placed in flat collection
areas without obstructions of sites for which dust fall measurements are desired.
• The jars may be used dry, or they may contain a liquid collecting agent to prevent
any fallout from being swept out again by turbulence.
• After an interval of usually 30 days, the collected material is filtered (if wet
collection was used), dried, and weighed.

Quantitative Measurement of Particulate
Matter cont.d
• The weight obtained may be used to calculate a fallout value for each of the areas
in which the collections were carried out.
• Older data was usually specified as short tons per square mile per month.
Currently, mg /m2 day is more common.

Quantitative Measurement of Particulate
Matter cont.d
Table 3. Average values for the particulate fallout experienced by areas of differing
urban activity in the United Kingdom and Canada a

Aerosol Measurement and Identification
• Sampling and measurement of this class requires dynamic sampling equipment
since this class of air pollutants represents particles and droplets too small to fall
out on their own.
• Work has to be done on the gas to force it through the recovery or analytical
equipment to capture the suspended matter.
• The analysis can be a source test for which a stack or waste vent is sampled
directly, or it can be an ambient air survey.

Aerosol Measurement And Identification
Figure 2. Simplified layout of ana impactor sampling train (Pilat et al [13]).

Analysis of Gaseous Air Pollutant
• Frequently, however, the concentration of a gas (or vapour) in air is specified on a

mass (weight) per unit volume basis, common units for which are mg/L, mg/m3
and µg/m3 when 1 mg/L = 1000 mg/m3 = 106 µg/m3.
• Knowing the concentration of an air pollutant specified in these units allows

easier determination of mass rates of emission, which are important for
regulatory purposes and for exposure hazard calculations.

Since both volume for volume and weight for volume units are in common use for
regulations and quoting air pollution results, it is necessary to be able to
interconvert between these units.
Eg. A value in mg/m3 from a value in ppm, one has to multiply the ppm value by the
molecular weight of the component of interest in grams, and divide by 24.46, the
molar volume at 25°C, i.e

• Similarly,
The third gas concentration method is the partial pressure system, which is
occasionally used to specify the concentration of a gas in a gas mixture, i.e.

Gas Stream Characteristics
Gas Stream Characteristics Process Conditions
The important Gas streams These include:
characteristics are: 1. Gas flow rate
1. Pressure 2. Particulate loading (mass
2. Temperature concentration of particles in the gas
3. Viscosity stream)
4. Humidity 3. Removal efficiency requirements
5. Chemical composition 4. Allowable pressure drop
6. Flammability One of the most important
characteristics of a suspension of
particles is the size distribution of the
particles.

Assignment 1
Reading assignment 1. Students are to read and summarize the effects of air
pollution. Present your report in 1 page document and it should cover these
thematic areas; health, economics, environment.
Read on the Effects of

Air pollution

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SAFETY AND

Dr. Godfred Ohemeng-Boahen

•Air pollution: Standards; Removal of particulates; Removal of gases and odors.

•Water pollution: Standards; Physical, Chemical and Biological waste water

•Pollution prevention. New concepts in pollution control: emission trading,

02/18/2024 Safety & Pollution Control_ CHE 459 2

 Marquita K. H. (2004) Understanding Environmental Pollution, Cambridge University Press.

 Ranade, V. V. and Bhandari, V. M. (2014) Industrial Wastewater Treatment, Recycling and

 West, K. L. (2014) Landfill Waste Pollution and Control, Elsevier

• Identify the various forms of pollution.

• Explain the causes of pollution.

• Propose control measures for pollution preventions.

• Explain the mechanisms employed by some of the equipment used in pollution

• Identify greenhouses gases and the associated anthropogenic contributions.

• Understand the new concept for mitigating greenhouse gases.

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Flammable: Diesel, Gasoline and RFO.

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Classification of air pollutants:

• Secondary pollutants: are formed in the atmosphere due to chemical reaction.

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• Coarse PARTICULATE MATTER (PM): Comprises solid particles or liquid

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• They are emitted from both combustion

• Natural sources of particulates include

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• Advances in technology and population today provide an ever-increasing levels of

• Human activities now contribute similar volumes of some minor gaseous

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• Volatile organic compounds are contributed to the atmosphere by many forms of

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Figure 2. Simplified layout of ana impactor sampling train (Pilat et al [13]).

• Frequently, however, the concentration of a gas (or vapour) in air is specified on a

• Knowing the concentration of an air pollutant specified in these units allows

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Read on the Effects of

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