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INTRODUCTION
Combustion processes generate various primary and secondary air pollutants such as
carbon oxides (mainly CO), nitrogen oxides (NOx), sulphur oxides (SOx), ozone, along with
organic acid, inorganic acid, petrochemical oxidant gas and hydrocarbons (HC). Different
treatment processes are applied for controlling these and other gaseous emissions. These
processes include adsorption and absorption. Selection of appropriate technique depends in part,
physical and chemical characteristic of specific gas and the vapour phase compounds present in
the gas stream.
For stationary air pollution sources, we can select single or combined air pollution control
technique. Variety of devices are used for controlling gaseous pollutant, and choosing most cost
effective, most cost efficient unit requires careful attention to the particular operation for which
control devices are intended. In order to control the emissions within given standard emissions it
is necessary to monitor emissions carefully after selecting best control technique.
ADSORPTION
In adsorption process the contaminant removal is done by passing a stream of effluent gas
through a pours solid material (adsorbent) contained in adsorption bed. The surface of porous
solid material attracts and holds the gas (the adsorbate) by either by physical or chemical
adsorption. The basic difference between physical and chemical adsorption is the manner in
which the gas molecule is bonded to the adsorbent.
Chemical adsorption
Gas or vapour molecule is weakly held to Gas contaminant and is held strongly to
the
solid
surface
by
attractive forces.
It
is
accompanied
by
Higher the boiling point greater will be Much slower than the physical adsorption.
adsorption.
It is directly proportional to surface area Liberates greater amount of heat and hence
available and multilayer adsorption can requires much energy.
take place.
(2)
Prior to becoming saturated with the solvents, the adsorbent is isolated from the gas
stream and treated to drive the solvent compounds out of the solid adsorbent and into a
small volume, high concentration gas stream.
(3)
The desorbed gas stream is then treated to recover and reuse the solvents.
(4)
(5)
Because the adsorbent is treated and placed back in service, these adsorption processes
are termed regenerative.
(6)
Adsorption processes usually operate at efficiencies of 90% to 98% over long time
periods.
Internal
Surface Area
Pore Volume
Bulk Dry
Mean Pore
Porosity
(m2/gm)
(cm3/gm)
density
Diameter
(gm/cm3)
()
(%)
Activated carbon
55-75
600-1600
0.8-1.2
0.35-0.50
1500-2000
Activated
30-40
200-300
0.29-0.37
0.90-1.00
1800-2000
40-55
600-700
0.27-0.38
0.80
300-900
1080-1100
0.94-1.16
0.34-0.40
alumina
Zeolite(Molecular
sieves)
Synthetic
Polymers
Step 2: The contaminant molecule migrate external surface to the macropores, transitional pores,
and micropores within each adsorbent.
Step 3: The contaminant molecule adheres to the surface in the pore. Following figure illustrates
this overall diffusion and adsorption process.
ADSORPTION-CAPACITY RELATIONSHIPS
Three types of equilibrium graphs are used to describe adsorption capacity, (1) isotherm
at constant temperature, (2) isobar at constant pressure, and (3) isostere at constant amount of
vapour adsorbed.
Isotherm: The isotherm is a plot of the adsorbent capacity versus the partial pressure of the
adsorbate at a constant temperature. Adsorbent capacity is usually given as pound of adsorbate
per 100 pound of adsorbent. These type of graphs are used to estimate the quantity of adsorption.
Isotherms can be concave upward, concave downward, or S shaped [3, 4].
Isostere: The isostere is a plot of the natural log of the pressure versus the reciprocal of absolute
temperature (ln(p) vs. 1/T) at a constant amount of vapour adsorbed. Adsorption isostere lines
are straight for most adsorbate-adsorbent systems. The isostere is important because the slope of
the isostere corresponds to the differential heat of adsorption. The total or integral heat of
adsorption is determined by integration over the total quantity of material adsorbed [4, 5].
Isobar: It is a plot of the amount of vapour adsorbed versus temperature at a constant pressure.
Below figure shows an isobar line for the adsorption of benzene vapours on activated carbon.
Pressure: Adsorption capacity increases with an increase in the partial pressure of the vapour.
The partial pressure of a vapour is proportional to the total pressure of the system. Any increase
in pressure will increase the adsorption capacity of a system. The increase in capacity occurs
because of a decrease in the mean free path of vapour at higher pressures [7, 8].
Gas velocity: The gas determines the contact or residence time between the contaminant stream
and adsorbent. The slower the contaminant stream flows through the adsorbent bed, the greater
the probability of a contaminant molecule reaching an available site.
In order to achieve 90% or more capture efficiency, most carbon adsorption systems are
designed for a maximum airflow velocity of 100 ft/min (30 m/min) through the adsorber. A
lower limit of at least 20 ft/min (6 m/min) is maintained to avoid flow problems such as
channeling. Gas velocity through the adsorber is a function of the cross-sectional area of the
adsorber for a given volume of contaminant gas.
Humidity: Activated carbon has more affinity towards nonpolar hydrocarbons over polar water
vapour. The water vapour molecules in the exhaust stream exhibit strong attractions for each
other rather than the adsorbent. At high relative humidity, over 50%, the number of water
molecules increases to the extent that they begin to compete with the hydrocarbon molecules for
active adsorption sites. This reduces the capacity and the efficiency of the adsorption system [8].
Bed Depth: Providing a sufficient depth of adsorbent is very important in achieving efficient gas
removal due to the rate that VOC compounds are adsorbed in the bed. There are practical
minimum and maximum limits to the bed depth.
REFERENCES
[1]
[2]
http://www.nationmaster.com/encyclopedia/Catalytic-Converter.
[3]
[4]
[5]
Mycock, J. C., McKenna, J. D., Theodore, L. Air pollution control engineering and
technology, Lewis publishers, Boca Raton, Fla, USA, 1995.
[6]
[7]
[8]
http://www.scribd.com/doc/37001353/81836-03b.