Air Pollution Prevention

Management and Control

Strategies
Dr. Shahid Amjad
Institute of Business Management
(IoBM)
Air Pollution Effects
Adversely affects human health
Damages crops and forests
Highly corrosive
Industrial Emission
Emission from an industry may pass into the air
environment through the stack/chimney (stack emission).
It can also be fugitive in nature (fugitive emission), that is, it
can come out from various leakage points or from an open
system and not from any dedicated duct.
While the impact of stack emission can be felt at long
distances, the fugitive emissions are confined to the work
environment and the areas of close vicinity of the plant.
Good house keeping, maintenance of joints, hoods, etc.
and small measures of trapping emissions at the sources of
generation (like water spraying at transfer points of coal
handling) can greatly reduce fugitive emissions.
Since fugitive emissions are difficult to measure, regulatory
agencies often tend to ignore such emissions in their
authorizations, consents, etc. Nevertheless, control of
fugitive emissions is very important, at least for protection
of workers' health.

Episodic emissions always draw public attention.
These emissions occur in upset conditions, often
resulting in release of toxic gases and thus causing
loss to life and property.
The Bhopal gas tragedy is probably the worst
incident of episodic emissions experienced so far.
Preventive maintenance, close monitoring, etc. are
some of the measures the management should
take to prevent episodic emissions.
Once such an emission occurs, immediate
mitigative measures are required for which
contingent action plans must be ready.
On-site and off-site disaster management plans are
requirements under the law for major hazardous
installations.
Gaseous Pollutant Control Techniques
Two techniques are generally followed for the
control of gaseous pollutants. They are
(i) Sorption of the pollutant (absorption in a
liquid or adsorption on a solid surface
(ii) Chemical Alterations (the pollutant is
converted to innocuous substances).

Absorption by a liquid The pollutant is brought
into contact with an appropriate liquid or solution
by counter current methods whereby the gaseous
impurity is transferred from the gaseous phase to
the liquid phase.
The gas absorption devices are similar to the wet
collection devices for particulate control
(scrubbers, spray towers, Venturi scrubber, etc.)
with minor modifications wherever necessary.
The different absorbent liquids or solutions used
for various pollutant gases are shown in Table

Adsorption on solid surface. In this method, the polluted
air is passed through a column of absorbent solid, usually
activated carbon, activated alumina, silica gel and organic
polymeric compound (molecular sieve), etc. whereby the
pollutant in the air stream is held on the solid surface. This
method, though not very common, is useful for odour
removal.
The following lists some adsorbents and their common use.

Activated carbon : Used for odour removal, purification of
industrial gases, hydrocarbons, pesticides etc.
Silica gel : Used for dehydration of gases
Activated alumina : Used for dehydration of gases and for
removal of HF in aluminum smelter
Molecular sieves : Wide application, selective adsorption of
gases like NH
3
, SO
2
, etc.

Air Pollution Control Strategies
Air pollution control methods can, in general, be
grouped into the following categories:
(i) Pollution control at source,
(ii) Installation of control devices and equipments
(End-of-the pipe cleaning),
(iii) Plantation of trees and creation of green belt,
(iv) Construction of high stacks and chimneys.

All these methods, however, propose good
maintenance and house keeping in the factory.

POLLUTION CONTROL AT SOURCE
The ideal approach to pollution control is to
prevent or minimize the formation of
pollutants at the source itself, i.e., in the
manufacturing process.
This should be done at an early stage of
process design and development. Any
modifications at the later stage may become
costly.
Source correction methods include: raw
material changes, process changes and
equipment modification or replacement.


Raw Material and Process Changes

Pollutants have their origin in the raw materials. They are
either present in the raw materials as such or are byproducts
of those materials. Thus use of purer grade raw materials
may be beneficial in producing less pollutants.
Use of low-sulphur fuels instead of high-sulphur ones in
power generation produces less oxides of sulphur as
pollutant. Desulphurization of the fuel is an option available
for cleaner production, but economics of this often prevents
this option.
Nevertheless there is no escape from this if a power plant is
to be established using high-sulphur coal in an area.
Ore handling operations in steel plants causes dust pollution.
Much of this nuisance can be removed by using dust
suppressors or by replacing ordinary ores with pelleted
sintered ones.

Equipment Modification or Replacement
Loss of hydrocarbons by evaporation in the
storage tanks of refineries can be controlled,
to a very large extent, by designing the tanks
with floating roof covers or by pressurizing the
tanks.


CONTROL DEVICES AND EQUIPMENTS (END-OF-THE
PIPE CLEANING)
The strategy for this method is to remove the
particulate and gaseous pollutants after they are
formed. The earlier methods, described, aim at
reducing the pollutants. If, however, pollutants cannot
be adequately removed or reduced by source control,
it becomes necessary to install control equipments
along the main gas stream.
Normally it will be economical and more convenient to
install these equipments close to source where the
volume of the gas is less and the concentration of the
pollutant is high. But in many cases, there are space
constraints to install such equipments near the source.
The cleaning devices can be broadly classified into 2
groups (i) Particulate Control and (ii) Gaseous Pollutant
Control.

Particulate Control
Particulate Matters (PMs) are common pollutants present
in the emission of an industry. They are formed in wide
range of sizes, diameter varying from 0.0002 to 500 micron
(1 micron = 10
-6
m).
Their life-time in the atmosphere depends on the settling
range. Larger size particles settle faster than the smaller
ones. Different devices are available for the collection of
particulate matters from the gaseous stream.
These can be broadly divided into 3 categories, viz., Internal
Separators, Wet Collection Devices and Electrostatic
Precipitators.
Internal separators. Three types of devices are commonly
in use as internal separators. They are (i) Gravitational
settling chambers, (ii) Cyclone separators and (iii) Bag filters
or fabric filters. and wet scrubbers.

Gravitational settling chambers are generally
used to collect larger particles of size greater
than 50 micron. A stream of dust-laden gas is
passed into the settling chamber where the
velocity of the gas is suddenly reduced.
As a result, the dust particles settle down and
collected through a hopper at the bottom.
There are various types of settling chambers.
Figure 5.1 shows a horizontal flow type
settling chamber.
The collection efficiency can be increased by
installing a series of settling chambers in
parallel.

Cyclone separator utilizes centrifugal force to separate the
particulate matters from the carrier gas. The particle laden gas
receives a rotating motion as it enters the cyclone cylinder. A
centrifugal force is developed due to the vortex formed which throws
the particles towards the wall. These particles get collected at the
conical bottom of the cyclone cylinder.
The spinning gas stream spirals downward to the bottom of the cone.
At this point the flow reverses to form an inner vortex and finally
leaves the cylinder through the outlet pipe situated at the top (Figure
5.2).
High efficient cyclones are designed. A series of cyclones, called the
multiclone, are used in many industries to increase the efficiency of
collection.
The settling efficiency of cyclone separator is higher than that of
gravity separator because the centrifugal force is added to the
gravitational force to settle the particles.
An ordinary conventional cyclone can have an efficiency of 95-99%
collection for particles greater than 40 micron diameter. At the other
end, for particles of size greater than 5 micron, the collection
efficiency can be 50-80% with cyclones of very high efficiency

Bag filters are devices by which gas is purified through
various filtering cloths (cotton, wool, chemical filters, fibre
glass, etc.) or fabric filters (filters made of granular materials
like ceramics, porous plastics, etc).
A typical bag house consists of a tubular bag or an envelope
mounted in such a manner that the particle laden gas
passing through the filter bags get deposited on the
inside/outside surface of the bags which are dusted of by
shaking in intervals.
The dusts are collected in a hopper at the bottom. The
collection of the dust particles on the surface of the filters
take place
Bag filters have high efficiency but the filters are required to
be cleaned and changed in regular intervals. Many filters
made of clothes, plastics, etc. cannot work at high
temperatures. Figure 5.3 shows the arrangement of a typical
bag house.
However though bag filters are highly efficient, these are
more expensive and require frequent maintenance.

Wet collection devices.
In the wet collection methods, various types of
scrubbers are used by which the particulate matters
are brought into contact with the scrubbing liquid,
usually water, and the wetted particles settle down.
This is similar to the natural process of cleaning of the
atmosphere by the water cycle Wet collections have
the advantage of collecting.
not only particulates but also gaseous impurities by
suitable choice of the scrubbing liquid (which can
absorb the gases). But wet scrubbers have the
problems of corrosion.
The scrubbed water (slurry) is required to be treated
before disposal. In this system, air pollution problem is
passed on to the water environment.
The collection efficiency of spray towers can
be increased by the use of centrifugal
scrubbers in which the water spraying nozzles
are fitted inside a conventional dry cyclone.
The water spray acts on the particles in the
outer vortex and the particulate matters are
collected at the bottom as in dry cyclones but
in the form of slurry
Packed beds and plate columns
are well-known absorbers in chemical
industries. These can also be used as wet
scrubbers. These are distinguished by their
simple design and operation, stability in
service, low hydraulic resistance and low
energy consumption.
In a simple packed bed scrubber, the polluted
air stream moving upwards comes in contact
with the scrubbing liquid stream moving
downward over the packing (Figure 5.5).

Venturi scrubber
followed by cyclone separator, the venturi
scrubber offers a high performance collection of
fine particles (2-3 micron). The polluted gas
stream is accelerated by the passage through a
narrow throttle (velocity of the order of 60-120
m/sec).
Scrubbing liquid is injected at this throttle
through low pressure nozzles. The gas-liquid
mixture then goes to the cyclone separator.
The separated slurry is removed from the bottom
(Figure 5.6). Venturi scrubbers are particularly
suitable for sticky and flammable particles.

Electrostatic precipitation. The gaseous stream is
passed through a strong electric field where the
particulate matters get electrically charged and are
attracted towards the electrode of opposite charge. In
a typical Electrostatic Precipitator (ESP), the positive
electrode (grounded) is the collecting electrode and
the negative electrode is suspended at the top.
A high voltage DC current through the electrodes
produces a corona. The gas close to the negative
electrode is ionized. The electrons produced in the
ionization process move towards the positively charged
grounded surface.
During this passage, the particulate matters also get
negatively charged by the electrons and get collected
on the positive surface (Figure 5.7).
ESPs are considered as highly efficient particulate
collecting systems and are widely used in industries.

PLANTATION OF TREES AND CREATION OF GREEN BELT
Adequate greenery in industrial establishment helps in creating
better environment in many ways.
It provides a sylvan surrounding to improve the aesthetical
conditions which, in turn, improve the working condition of the
workers.
Tall trees attract birds to roost and also provide shelter to other
small creatures like squirrel, and other reptiles, etc. Thus
biodiversity is restored.
properly designed green belt of adequate width acts as a filter of air
pollutants for outside. Fugitive emissions are mainly controlled by
the green belt. Plantation of pollution indicating species at strategic
locations can indicate the air pollution status of the area. These are
plant species which are sensitive to specific air pollutants. Such
species serve as 'bioindicators'.
Green belt acts as a noise barrier for outside.
Treated wastewater of an industry is always recommended for
maximum utilization within the premises. If the wastewater is
utilized for irrigation of the green
.
belt and other plantations within,
the objective is partially achieved.

CONSTRUCTION OF HIGH STACKS/CHIMNEYS
With all the control devices, it may not be always possible to
effectively remove the pollutants from the emission. Sometimes
the available technology for complete pollutant removal may be
cost-prohibitive.
The next best approach for control of pollution is to allow the
pollutant to be diluted to the maximum and dispersed to minimize
its adverse effect. This can be done by releasing the emissions at a
high altitude with long stacks. The height and the diameter of the
stack should be designed to keep the ground level concentration
within the permissible limits.
The concentration of the pollutant at the ground level decreases
exponentially with the height of the stack and is found to be
maximum at a distance of about 5 to 10 times the stack height at
normal meteorological condition.
The coal used in thermal power plants contains sulphur, weak acid
rain can be except in small pockets.
Installation of desulphurization unit requires heavy capital
investment. The sulphur dioxide control thermal power plants is
mostly done by maintaining long stack heights
Exercise
Before the installation of an Electrostatic
Precipitator (ESP) the stack of a power plant
contained 6.0 gms particulates per m
3
of gas. The
Gas flow rate is 300 m
3
/minute. The new
Precipitator can remove 2591 kg particulates/day.

What is the emission rate of particulates before
and after pollution control in Kg/day?
What is the efficiency (%)of the ESP.?
Will the new system meet the emission
particulate standards of 500g/m
3



Solution: Data
a) w=6gms/m
3
; flow rate Q=300m
3
; m=2591 kg/day.
300x6=1800gms/min or 1800x10
-3
kg/min.
1800x10
-3
x24x60 = 2592kg/day (Before).
New ESP 2591 kg/day
2592-2591=1 kg/day
b) n=Quantity of dust collection x100
Quantity of dust in flowing gas
2591 x100 =99.96%
2592
c) Total particulates at source=6gms
ESP efficiency= 99.96%
Particulates removed 6x0.9996 = 5.9976gms.
Particulates remain 6.0 5.9976 = 0.0024gms/m(2400g)

So the new ESP system cannot meet emission standard of 500g/m
3