Air Pollution Control

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 1-Settling Chamber

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 2-Cyclones Separator

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 Cyclones

 Cyclones are the most common dust removal devices

used in industry.
 Simple designs with no moving parts and ability to
collect fine particles
 Collection efficiencies of 90% or higher are possible
with particle diameters as small as 2 µm.
 Operation at elevated temperatures possible
 Low capital, operating and maintenance cost
 Prone to internal erosion / corrosion
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 How cyclones work

 Particulates are separated from the gas stream by centrifugal

force.
 Incoming feed (gas + particles) are rotated in decreasing
diameter pathway at a high velocity
 Larger particles have too high inertia to follow the rotational
curve of gas stream
 Particles strike the wall and fall to the bottom, while clean gas
 Centrifugal force on stream is given by: F = M.U 2/r; where M =
particle mass, U = tangential velocity & r = radius of circular
path of travel

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 Factors affecting cyclone operation

 Inlet velocity
– Centrifugal force increase with increase in velocity
 Cyclone diameter
– Less gravitational force on particles travelling along the large
radius circle
 Gas viscosity
– Less viscosity of the gas would increase the centrifugal force on
the particles

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 Factors affecting cyclone operation

 Particle density
– As the particle density increase, so does velocity at which it
travels through the gas, and hence cyclone collection efficiency
increase.
 Dust loading
– Cyclone collection efficiency increase with increase in dust
loading
 Cyclone geometry
– L/D ratio, outlet pipe diameter, length & shape, inlet design, cone
shape etc.

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 Types of cyclone

 Reverse flow cyclone

– The gas on exit reverses its
direction and exits the outlet tube
located at the same end as the inlet
tube.
 Straight flow cyclone
– The gas maintains the same
direction of flow while spinning
without reversing direction.

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 3-

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 Bag Houses

 Bags are tightly packed into a housing wherein the dust

laden air moves across the bag fabric thereby removing it
from the gas stream and building up a filter cake which
further enhances air cleaning. The filter cake is removed to
hoppers by shaking means.
 High collection efficiencies
 Over-temperature limitations
 Need for internal inspection / access
 Unexpected bag failure due to changes in operating
parameters
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 How media filters work

The major forces causing fabric filtration are:

Interception
– When particles come in contact with filter media, Vander Waal
forces keep the two bodies in contact, effecting capture.
Inertia
– Air flowing through fibrous media follow a tortuous path due to
random pattern of fibers. The multiple directional changes allow
inertia to aid the interception process by overcoming the laminar
flow pattern (permitting contact and capture of primarily larger
particles moving at high velocities

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 How media filters work

 Diffusion
– The concentration of the particles in the immediate vicinity of the fiber
becomes less than that in the air stream in general. The diffusion force
would attempt to reestablish the uniformity of concentration by bringing
other particles into closer proximity to the fiber.
 Brownian motion
– Random motion of the particle suspended in the gas, is the primary force that
causes diffusion.
 Agglomeration
– As the particles continue to collect on filter media, they also tend to build on
themselves, generating matrices or chain like growth. As it continues, the
agglomerated particles form a layer covering the media, which does most of
filtration.
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 Cleaning mechanisms for filter media

 Manual cleaning
– Brushed down by hand / filter tubes with one end closed with a
zipper are opened and emptied
 Mechanical shaker
– Multiple shake cycles, allowing time for solids to drop away
between cycles. The dust cake breaks and agglomerated particles
fall into hoppers.
 Impulsive cleaning
– Combination of two mechanisms: reversing the air flow direction
+ physical movement of media to break the solid cake

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 Basic selection criteria

 Particulate characteristics
– Particle size range, density, shape, loading, chemical and physical
characteristics greatly affect the equipment type.
 Physical space constraints
– Bag houses require more space than the compact cartridge filters
 Duty cycles
– Continuous duty v/s intermittent duty
 Fire and explosion risk
– The flammable nature of the particles or the air stream. E.g. aluminum,
magnesium, titanium are very explosive.

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 4-Particle scrubbing
 The goal in wet scrubbing equipment is
the removal of gases and particulate
matter from an exhaust stream by causing
the gaseous contamination to become
dissolved into the liquid stream and the
solids to be entrained in the liquid.
 The rate of gas/mass transfer into the
liquid is dependent upon the solubility &
mass transfer mechanisms.
 Wet scrubbers remove dust particles by
capturing them in liquid droplets
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 Particle scrubbing

 Advantages
– High temperature gases are economically cleaned
– Least expensive in initial capital cost than bag houses and
electrostatic precipitators
– Gaseous and particulates are collected in the same device
– Combustibles and explosives are safely collected
– Systems are more compact in size

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 Particle scrubbing

 Disadvantages
– The cost of treatment of liquid and solids prior to discharge may
be high
– Energy consumption higher
– Excessive corrosion problems

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 Applications

 Coal fired utility boilers

 Lime and limestone flue gas desulfurization

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 a. Spray Tower

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 b. Venturi Scrubber

Venturi effect occurs when gas or

fluid is pushed through a throat, or
choke, to increase the velocity of
the fluid or gas stream passing
through. 

Three sections:
1.Converging section
2.Diverging Section
3.Cyclone separator

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 2. Venturi Scrubber

 The first section is a converging section; it is shaped liked a

funnel. This is where the gas inlet stream enters.
 As the space decreases in the throat, or choke of the funnel, the
gas velocity increases.
 Then liquid is introduced at the entrance of the converging
section or near the throat of the funnel. The now fast-moving gas
generates turbulence; the high energy turbulence and velocity
causes the gas and liquid to mix and atomize it into tiny droplets.
 Then the gas and atomized liquid go through the second section
of the equipment, a diverging cone.

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 b. Venturi Scrubber

 Here most of the gas slows down and goes into the third
section, the cyclonic separator, where its separated from
the remaining liquid.
 The Cyclonic separator is a vessel where the gas travels in
a “cyclone” fashion through the walls removing liquids
and particles in a phenomenon called “vortex separation”.

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 c. Cyclone Scrubber

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 Cyclone Scrubber

 As the water droplets introduced by the spray pass downward through

the gas stream, they sweep away and wash out smaller radioactive
aerosols being carried by the gas.
 Contaminated gases are introduced via tangential inlets at the top of the
cyclone and the rotation of these gases in the body of the system
induces a vortex.
 Gases rotate downward along the wall of the cyclone, and back up
through the center of the vortex, and while gases are migrating through
the system, the water spray that is introduced from the top is able to act
and clean the gases by washing out the suspended radioactive aerosols.

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 d. Packed Scrubber

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 d. Packed Scrubber

 A counter-current single stage packed tower scrubber at

bench scale was constructed from black iron painted with
anti-corrosion paint.
 Packed tower scrubber was comprised of a column shell,
liquid distributor, packing material and packing support.
 a demister is only used when the gas velocity in the tower
is higher than 18 m/s (60 ft/s).
 Mist eliminators were placed in the gas outlet to prevent
any liquid droplet carry-over from bed to the outlet stack.

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 e. Mechanical Scrubber

  This type of technology is a part of the group of air

pollution controls collectively referred to as wet
scrubbers.
 There are fewer mechanically aided scrubber designs
available than liquid- and gas-phase contacting collector
designs.
 Two are more common: 
1. centrifugal fan scrubbers
2. mechanically induced spray scrubbers.

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 Centrifugal Fan Scrubber

 A centrifugal-fan scrubber can serve as

both an air mover and a collection
device.
 Water is sprayed onto the fan blades
concurrently with the moving exhaust
gas.
 The rotating blades force the liquid and
collected particles off the blades. The
liquid droplets separate from the gas
stream because of their centrifugal
motion.

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 Mechanically Induced Spray Scrubbers

 The induced-spray, consists of
a whirling rotor submerged in a
pool of liquid.
 The whirling rotor produces a
fine droplet spray. By moving
the process gas through the
spray, particles and
gaseous pollutants can
subsequently be collected.

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 5-Electrostatic precipitators

 An electrostatic precipitator (ESP) removes particles from a

gas stream by using electrical energy to charge particles either
positively or negatively.
 The charged particles are then attracted to collector plates
carrying the opposite charge.
 The collected particles may be removed from the collector
plates as dry material (dry ESPs), or they may be washed from
the plates with water (wet ESPs).
 ESPs are capable of collection efficiencies greater than 99
percent.

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 5-Electrostatic precipitators

They have been successfully applied with overall collection

efficiencies upto 99.9 % on particles with diameters larger
than 10µm and very effective for PM less than 10µm in
diameter.

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  An ESP is primarily made up
of the following four
components:
1. Gas distribution plates,
2. Discharge electrodes,
3. Collection surfaces (either
plates or pipes)
4. Rappers

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 1. Gas distribution plates consist of several perforated
plates which help maintain proper flow distribution of
the entering gas stream.
2. Discharge electrodes are divided into fields. Most ESPs
have three or four fields in series;. Discharge electrodes
are energized by a single transformer-rectifier (T-R) set
power supply. The energized electrodes create ions that
collide with the particles and apply the electrical charge
to the particles contained in the incoming gas stream.

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 3. Collection plates or pipes provide the collection
surfaces for the charged particulate matter.
4. Rapping system is responsible for removing the
collected particulate matter from the collection surfaces

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 Electrostatic Precipitator

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 Wet electrostatic precipitators

 A wet electrostatic precipitator (WESP or wet ESP)

operates with water vapor saturated air streams (100%
relative humidity).
 WESPs are commonly used to remove liquid droplets
such as sulfuric acid mist from industrial process gas
streams.
 In wet ESPs, the collector plates are cleaned by rinsing
with water. Wet ESPs are typically employed when gas
streams contain sticky particles with low resistivity.

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 Dry Electrostatic Precipitator

 This control device has ionizing section to charge particles

which are then moved through an electric field to be
deposited onto charged collection plates.
 In dry ESPs, the collector plates are cleaned by applying
mechanical impulses or vibration to the plates, which knocks
loose the collected particulate matter (referred to as
rapping).

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 Advantages & Disadvantages

Advantages
 High efficiencies for small particles possible
 High temperature operation possible
 Low pressure drops and air moving costs

Disadvantages
 Large installation space required
 Spark-over problems

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 Applications

 Coal, wood and oil fired boilers

 Cement kilns
 Lime rotary kilns
 Municipal solid waste incinerators
 Blast furnaces
 Sludge incinerators
 Smelting and roasting furnaces

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