Air pollution control

Control strategies
• Complete source shutdown: most effective strategy, but only practical in
emergency situations. It causes economic loss and can only be a temporary
solution.
• Source location: locate the source of pollution where fewer people will be
affected. This may protect local air quality, but the pollutants are still
produced and can be transported to neighboring communities by air.
• Tall smoke stacks: take pollution high into the atmosphere, allowing
mixing and dispersal to dilute them. However, what goes up must come
down…
• Encourage or require industries to make fuel substitutions or process
changes with less pollution emissions (e.g. new energy sources like solar
power, hydroelectric and so on)
• Use fuel substitutions in machines, like electric cars to work towards zero
emission.

Settling chamber with enlarged flue section

Settling chambers use the force of gravity to remove solid particles. The gas
stream enters a chamber where the velocity of the gas is reduced. Large
particles drop out of the gas and are recollected in hoppers. Because settling
chambers are effective in removing only larger particles (d>40µm), they are
used in combination with a more efficient control device.

Cyclone collector

Cyclones provide a low-cost, low-maintenance method of removing larger

particulates from a gas stream. The general principle of inertia separation is
that the particulate-laden gas is forced to change direction. As gas changes
direction, the inertia of the particles causes them to continue in the original
direction and be separated from the gas stream. The walls of the cyclone
narrow toward the bottom of the unit, allowing the particles to be collected in
a hopper. The cleaner air leaves the cyclone through the top of the chamber,
flowing upward in a spiral vortex, formed within a downward moving spiral.
Cyclones are efficient in removing large particles but are not as efficient with
smaller particles (d>15µm). For this reason, they are used with other
particulate control devices.

The settling chamber and the cyclone only capture the pollutants but don't
destroy them, therefore proper disposal of the collected material is needed.
Collected solid particles are most often disposed of in a landfill. Wastewater
generated by scrubber must be sent to a wastewater treatment facility. When
possible, collected particle matter is recycled and reused.
Spray tower
Effective for particles of d>8µm. A spray tower is a cylinder where dirty gas
is usually injected at the bottom. As the gas moves upwards the cylinder,
many small nozzles spray water or some other fluid down towards the gas.
Theoretically, the smaller the droplets formed, the higher the collection
efficiency achieved for both gaseous and particulate pollutants. However, the
liquid droplets must be large enough not to be carried out of the scrubber by
the scrubbed outlet gas stream. Therefore, spray towers use nozzles to
produce droplets that are usually 500 to 1,000 µm in diameter. The reason for
using many nozzles is to maximize the number of fine droplets impacting the
pollutant particles and to provide a large surface area for absorbing gas. The
pollutants get attached to the droplets, which sinks to the bottom of the
cylinder due to gravity. The dirty wastewater is then collected and disposed.

Fabric filters (bag house)

Effective for particles of diameter larger than 1µm. Dust enters the baghouse
compartment through hoppers. Larger particles drop out while smaller dust
particles collect on filter bags. When the dust layer thickness reaches a level
where flow through the system is restricted (called pressure drop or delta P),
the bag cleaning process is initiated. Cleaning can be done while the baghouse
is still online (filtering) or in isolation (offline). Once cleaned, the
compartment is placed back in service and the filtering process starts over.

Electrostatic precipitator
Effective for particles of d>1µm. Removes particles from a flowing gas using
the force of an induced electrostatic charge. Electrostatic precipitators are
highly efficient filtration devices that minimally impede the flow of gases
through the device, and can easily remove fine particulate matter such as dust
and smoke from the air stream. In contrast to wet scrubbers which apply
energy directly to the flowing fluid medium, an ESP applies energy only to
the particulate matter being collected and therefore is very efficient in its
consumption of energy.

The most basic precipitator contains a row of thin vertical wires, and followed
by a stack of large flat metal plates oriented vertically, with the plates
typically spaced about 1 cm to 18 cm apart, depending on the application. The
air or gas stream flows horizontally through the spaces between the wires,
and then passes through the stack of plates. Today, the use of discharge
electrodes is more widely used. A negative voltage of several thousand volts
is applied and an electric discharge ionizes the gas around the electrodes.
Negative ions flow to the plates and charge the gas-flow particles. The ionized
particles, following the negative electric field created by the power supply,
move to the grounded plates. Particles build up on the collection plates and
form a layer. The layer does not collapse, thanks to electrostatic pressure. The
collection efficiency of an electrostatic precipitator is strongly dependent on
the electrical properties of the particles. Automatic plate-rapping systems and
hopper-evacuation systems remove the collected particulate matter while on
line, theoretically allowing ESPs to stay in operation for years at a time.

Wet scrubbing process

In a wet scrubber, the polluted gas stream is brought into contact with the
scrubbing liquid, by spraying it with the liquid, by forcing it through a pool of
liquid, or by some other contact method, so as to remove the pollutants. Wet
scrubbers remove dust particles by capturing them in liquid droplets. Wet
scrubbers remove pollutant gases by dissolving or absorbing them into the
liquid. Any droplets that are in the scrubber inlet gas must be separated from
the outlet gas stream by means of another device referred to as a mist
eliminator or entrainment separator (these terms are interchangeable). Also,
the resultant scrubbing liquid must be treated prior to any ultimate discharge
or being reused in the plant. The wet scrubber typically consists of a tank in
which gases are allowed to mix with liquid. Most scrubbers are used to
remove sulfur dioxide compounds, which is not sufficiently soluble in water.
Thus, the liquid used in such cases is one that will react chemically with the
sulfur dioxide, like sodium carbonate or lime. The reaction between sulfur
dioxide and these liquids forms sodium sulfite or calcium sulfate, which can
be drawn off at the bottom of the tank.

Advantages and disadvantages of wet scrubbers compared to fabric filters

and electrostatic precipitators
Advantages Disadvantages
Small space requirements
Corrosion problems
Scrubbers reduce the temperature
Water and dissolved pollutants can
and volume of the unsaturated
form highly corrosive acid solutions.
exhaust stream.  Smaller machines
Proper construction materials are
than those of other control devices. 
very important. Also, wet-dry
Lower capital costs and more
interface areas can result in corrosion.
flexibility in site location of the
scrubber.
High power requirements
No secondary dust sources
High collection efficiencies for
Once particulate matter is collected, it
particulate matter require high
cannot escape from hoppers or
pressure drops high operating
during transport.
costs.
Handles high-temperature, high-
humidity gas streams
No temperature limits or Water-disposal problems
condensation problems can occur as
in baghouses or ESPs.
Minimal fire and explosion hazards Difficult product recovery
Various dry dusts are flammable. Dewatering and drying of scrubber
Using water eliminates the possibility sludge make recovery of any dust for
of explosions. reuse very expensive and difficult.
 Ability to collect both gases and
particulate matter

Dry scrubbing process (Integrated dry scrubbing plus baghouse

process)
A Dry Scrubber System is comprised of three (3) primary components:
• A Gas Cooling System
• A Reagent Injection System
• A Fabric Filter (Baghouse) System
A dry or semi-dry scrubbing system, unlike the wet scrubber, does not
saturate the flue gas stream that is being treated with moisture. In some cases
no moisture is added; while in other designs only the amount of moisture that
can be evaporated in the flue gas without condensing is added. Therefore, dry
scrubbers do generally not have a stack steam plume or wastewater
handling/disposal requirements. Dry scrubbing systems are used to remove
acid gases (such as SO2 and HCl) primarily from combustion sources.

Activated carbon filters

Carbon filtering is a method of filtering that uses a piece of activated carbon
to remove contaminants and impurities, utilizing chemical adsorption. Each
piece of carbon is designed to provide a large section of surface area, in order
to allow contaminants the most possible exposure to the filter media. 454g of
activated carbon contains a surface area of approximately 100 acres (1
km2/kg). This carbon is generally activated with a positive charge and is
designed to attract negatively charged water contaminants. Carbon filtering is
commonly used for water purification, but is also used in air purifiers.

Carbon filters are most effective at removing chlorine, sediment, and volatile
organic compounds (VOCs) from water or air. They are not effective at
removing minerals, salts, and dissolved inorganic compounds. Typical
particle sizes that can be removed by carbon filters range from 0.5 to 50
micrometres. The particle size will be used as part of the filter description.
The efficacy of a carbon filter is also based upon the flow rate regulation.
When the water or air is allowed to flow through the filter at a slower rate, the
contaminants are exposed to the filter media for a longer amount of time.