Air Pollution and Control

7th Sem
Dr. Raghava Aditya

UNIT 4.
CONTROL OF AIR POLLUTION
Introduction
 There are various sources of air pollution
 1. Industrial / power sector
 2. Transportation
 3. Construction
 4. Residential
 5. Indoor air pollution

 Types of pollutants
 1. Gaseous and volatile organic compounds (VOC)
 2. Particulate pollutants
Air pollution control methods
 There are four main means of controlling air pollution :
 Reducing pollutant discharge by application of control equipment
 Reducing pollutant discharge at source by modifying the fuel, raw material or
equipment (engines)
 Dilution of source discharge, by using tall chimneys etc.
 Dispersion of pollutant by choosing proper locations and planning (Zoning)

 Minimizing air pollution is an active area of research among civil,

mechanical, electrical and chemical engineering fields.
Equipment used for air pollution control

 The following equipments are commonly used for removal of

particulate and gaseous pollutants arising from industrial sources:
 Settling chambers
 Filters
 Cyclones
 Electrostatic precipitators
 Scrubbers or wet collectors
 Removal of gaseous pollutants by absorption/adsorption.
 Burning / combustion of gases
Settling chambers
 It is a technique used for removal of solid particulates .
 It consists of a box like chamber in which the carrier gas velocity is
reduced. In this process, the heavier particulates settle down under
the action of gravity. They are removed through hoppers.
 The velocity of the gas must be reduced to lower than 3 m/s.
 Settling chambers
 If L is the length of the chamber, V is velocity of the gas, h is the
height of the chamber, then the settling velocity of the particles is
given as
Vs = hV/L
L

h
Gas out
Gas in.

Collectors
(Hoppers)
Settling chambers
 Settling chambers are cheap and simple to construct
 They can be constructed from any material that does not corrode
easily
 It takes up a large space
 Suitable only for removal of larger particles (larger than 10 μ)
 Settling chambers are generally used for dust control from furnaces,
kilns and metallurgical industries.
Baghouse filters
 These are one of the most reliable and efficient methods for removal of
particulate air pollutants (Even particles smaller than 10 um)
 They consist of cloth or fabric filters that are used for removal of
particulates.
 Up to 99% of the PM can be removed using bag house filters.
Baghouse filters
Baghouse filters
 The filters consist of long tube like bags that are around 120-400
mm in diameter and 2-10 m long. They are suspended from the top
of the filter.
 The dirty gases enter through the bottom of the filter and flows
through the fabric tubes. In this process the larger particles either
settle down or get filtered out by the fabric.
 Clean gas exits from the top from an outlet pipe.
 The collected particulate matter forms a layer or coating of
particles on the fabric.
Baghouse filters
 Because of the accumulation of these particles, the filters have to be
cleaned frequently.
 Cleaning of the filters is generally done by:
 Shaking the filters vigorously
 or passing high pressure air in the reverse direction
 The dust particles then fall to the bottom and are removed from the
hoppers.

 The filters are made of material like cotton, wool, nylon or polypropylene.
 These filters cannot be used when the pollutant gas temperature is very
high, because they can get damaged or catch fire.
Cyclone separators
 Cyclone separators or simply cyclones are separation devices that
use the principle of inertia to remove particulate matter from
flue gases.
 The flue gases are fed into a conical chamber that is between 1.5 to
9 m tall.
Cyclone separators
 The inside of the chamber creates a spiral vortex, similar to a cyclone.
 Due to this vortex a centrifugal effect is created. The lighter particles or
gases can move up, but the heavier particles hit the walls of the chamber
and settle down.
Cyclone separators
 The particles that have settled down can be removed from the
hoppers.
 Cyclones have an efficiency of 90-95% and can remove particles
larger than 5 um easily.
 They can also operate under high gas temperatures and pressures.
 Cyclones are simple, economical and easy to use.
 However, they require regular maintenance.
Electrostatic precipitators
 Electrostatic precipitators (ESP) are devices which use electrical
energy for separation of particulates and aerosols from polluted
gases.
 They are very efficient and can remove particles as small as 0.1 um.
Electrostatic precipitators
 In an ESP, there are two oppositely charged electrodes. A high potential
difference of between 40-60 kV is maintained between these electrodes.
 The negative electrode is called ‘discharging electrode’ and positively
charged electrode is called ‘ collector electrode’.

---
++++ ++++
Electrostatic precipitators
 Because of the high potential difference, the incoming pollutant gas gets
ionized and charged.
 The particulate matter becomes negatively charged and get attracted
towards the positive electrode and get deposited on it.
 The particle-free gas come out of the top of the ESP.
 The particles deposited on the positive electrode can be removed by
shaking, vibrating or washing the electrode. They can be collected in a
hopper below.
Electrostatic precipitators
 Pipe type ESP
These types of ESPs are generally used for removal of aerosols.
The collecting electrode is a cylindrical pipe of about 30 cm diameter and 2- 5 m
length.
Inside the cylinder, there is a wire suspended, which acts as the discharge electrode.
A number of such pipes are generally used as a group.
Electrostatic precipitators
 Plate type ESP
 These are more suitable for separation of solid particulate matter from gases.
 Here the collecting electrodes are a series of parallel metal plates.
 Discharge electrodes are wires made of Tungsten, steel or copper. These wires are
suspended midway between the metal plates.
 The plates are 1-2 m wide and 3-6 m long. The gas is made to flow parallel to the
plates.
Electrostatic precipitators
 The efficiency of ESPs depends on the area of the collector
electrode and the type of particles to be separated.
 ESPs are widely used in cement factories, chemical plants, steel
plants, paper mills and petroleum industries.
 They are efficient and easy to use, but can sometimes produce
harmful gases like ozone, because of the ionization of the pollutant
gases.
Scrubbers
 These are devices that use a liquid for the removal of particulate matter
from gases. The most commonly used liquid is water.
 The way the solid particles are removed is similar to how rainwater removes
dust from the atmosphere.
Scrubbers
 The basic working principle of scrubbers (also called wet scrubbers) is as
follows:
 When a carrier gas is passed through a spray of water, the particles come in
contact with the water and get adhered or attached to the water droplets.
 As the water droplets move down, the particles are also separated from the gas.
 The dirty water is collected at the bottom and is removed. Clean gas exits from the
top.
Clean gas gas

Water spray

Polluted gas
Types of scrubbers
 1. Spray towers
 These are the simplest type of gas scrubbers.
 They are in the form of round or rectangular tanks, in which water is
sprayed from nozzles.
 The polluted gas enters from the bottom, comes in contact with the water
spray and gets removed.
Types of scrubbers
 2. Venturi scrubber
 It is a high energy scrubber in which, polluted gas is directed from the top, through
a Venturi tube at a high velocity of 60-100 m/s.
 Water spray is introduced just before the venturi throat.
 The impact between the water and the particulates, separates the particles from the
gases. The dirty water is collected at the bottom and clean gas exits from the
bottom.

Water spray
Scrubbers
 Scrubbers have a particle removing efficiency between 70%-99%.
 Scrubbers can also partially remove gaseous pollutants by absorption.
 Scrubbers can be used as cooling towers for reducing the temperature of
the gases.
 Scrubbers are safer than ESP’s because there is no risk of explosion if
combustible gases are present.
 They are easy to use, but require a lot of maintenance.
 Consume more power for operation.
Removal of gaseous pollutants
 Gaseous pollutants are generally removed by using the
following techniques
 Absorption
 Adsorption
 Combustion/ Incineration
 Carbon sequestration
Removal of gaseous pollutants
Absorption versus Adsorption

 Absorption is a bulk process in which a liquid or a gas is completely

soaked up into the body of a solid material. Eg, a piece of cotton
absorbs water when put inside water.

 Adsorption is a surface phenomenon. In this case, the liquids or

gases, attach themselves only to the surface of the solid body. A
piece of charcoal will adsorb any gases on its surface.
Removal of gases by absorption
 Removal of gases by absorption
 In this case, pollutant gases are passed through scrubbers which contain liquid
absorbents.
 This process can be used to remove gases like SO2, NO2, H2S etc.
 Water mixed with Ca(OH)2, NaOH, Potassium Phosphate etc are some examples of
liquids used as absorbents.
 Gases react with these absorbents and can be removed.
 This method has an efficiency of up to 95%.
 It depends on factors like the time of contact, concentration of the absorbing
chemicals etc.
Removal of gases by absorption
 Packing tower (Scrubber)
 This is similar to a scrubber. In this case, the absorbent liquid is made to pass through a
layer of inert (non-reactive) packing material. This helps in better distribution of the
liquid. The gases enter from the bottom and pass through the layer of packing material .
Clean gas exits from the top.

Clean gas

Absorbent liquid spray

Inert packing material

Gas in
Removal of gases by absorption
 Flue Gas Desulphurization (FGD)
 It is a technique used for removal of SO2. Flue gases are brought in contact with an
absorbent, which can be either a liquid or a slurry of solid material. The sulfur
dioxide dissolves in or reacts with the absorbent and becomes trapped in it.
 When wet scrubbing with a Ca(OH)2 (hydrated lime) slurry, the reaction produces
CaSO3 (calcium sulfite) and may be expressed in the simplified dry form as:
 Ca(OH)2(s) + SO2(g) → CaSO3(s) + H2O(l)
Removal of gases by adsorption
 In this process, the pollutant gasses are passed through adsorbers which are
porous materials with very large surface areas.
 The gas molecules are attracted and held to the surface of the solid
adsorbent materials.
 Commonly used adsorbers are activated carbon (heated charcoal), silica
gel, alumina gel etc.
 This method is suitable for removal of volatile organic compounds such as
benzene, TCE and odours.
Gases / odours adsorbed here

Gas in. Clean gas out

Bed of adsorbent material

Combustion/ Incineration
 This is a method used for converting volatile organic compounds or
hydrocarbons into CO2 and water.
 It is generally performed using an equipment called ‘afterburner’,
sometimes known as ‘thermal oxidizers’.
Combustion/ Incineration
 Afterburners are chambers made from steel and firebricks that can
withstand high temperatures.
 Inside the chamber, the pollutant gas is oxidized using the flame from
burner.
 With sufficient mixing, reaction time and high temperature (around 650
degree C), the organic compounds and VOCs can be converted to water
and CO2. Eg.
 CH4 + 2O2 = CO2 + 2H2O

 Sometimes a catalyst is used to speed up the combustion process and to

reduce the heat generated from the process. This is called catalytic
combustion.
Combustion/ Incineration
 Afterburners can be used for removing VOCs and odours.
 They are employed in petroleum refining industries, paper mills, food
processing industries etc.
 The energy released from incineration can be used for steam production
and energy generation on a small scale.
 However, since incineration also creates pollution, the use of this method is
sometimes opposed by agencies.
 Incineration technique is also used in solid waste and hospital (medical)
waste treatment.
Carbon sequestration
 Carbon sequestration / carbon capture are a set of methods that can be
used for controlling the amount of CO2 released into the atmosphere.
 The CO2 is captured form the air and stored in some other form on the
earth or inside the earth’s surface.
 This is a new concept and still a lot of research is being carried out in this
area.
Carbon sequestration
 Carbon sequestration or carbon capture is seen as one of the solutions to
reduction of greenhouse effect.
 Common methods of Carbon sequestration can be classified under:
 Physical / geological methods
 Chemical methods
 Biological methods
Carbon sequestration
 Physical processes:
 CO2 is collected from the source (industry) and is compressed to very high
pressure (approx. 100 bars). This converts CO2 into a liquid. The liquid CO2 is
injected and stored deep underground, where it will stay for a very long time.
 The CO2 is sometimes stored deep under the ocean bed.

 Chemical processes:
 In this approach, the CO2 from the industries is reacted with a chemical and
convreted to a carbonate salt. For example CO2 is reacted with CaO or MgO.
 It forms Calcium carbonate or Magnesium Carbonate (Salts)
 These salts are then either stored deep inside the ground or can be used for
other industrial purposes like cement manufacturing.
Carbon sequestration
 Biological processes:
 Afforestation: By planting trees and increasing the forest cover, the CO2 in the
atmosphere can be absorbed by the plants and get converted to organic matter via
photosynthesis.
 This is however a slow process because the plants take a long time to grow and
become trees. A grown tree can capture around 22 kgs of CO2 in a year.
Smoke and its control
 Smoke is mainly unburnt carbon particles resulting from incomplete combustion of
fuels such as coal, petroleum, wood etc.
 It is generally made of fine particles of in the size range of 0.01 um to 1 um.
 Smoke is mostly emitted from automobiles, power plants, generators, trains, burners
and burning of agricultural waste.
 Smoke causes irritation of the eyes and respiratory tract.
 It can also effect the nervous system
 Smoke causes damage to buildings, clothes and effects the growth of plants.
Smoke and its control
 Smoke can be controlled by using some of the following means:
 Using low volatile fuels such as Anthracite coal
 Using smokeless fuels such as Coke.
 Proper design of stacks (chimneys)
 Proper design of combustion equipment and furnaces
 Using proper ignition temperature and proper mixing of air and fuel in engines.
 Enforcing regulations on the burning of municipal and agricultural waste.
 Using particulate control equipment like electrostatic precipitators, scrubbers,
cyclone separators etc.
End