A

SHORT
PRESENTATION
ON
AIR POLLUTION CONTROL DEVICES (APCDs)
BY
MANISH KUMAR SWAIN (519MN1003)

NATIONAL INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY , ROURKELA

NATIONAL INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY, ROURKELA PRESENTATION OUTLINE

Introduction
Nature of air pollutants
Process to control
Particulate Matter and its control
Gaseous Emission and its control
NATIONAL INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY, ROURKELA
Introduction
Air Pollution Control Devices (APCD) are the series of devices that works to
prevent a varieties of different pollutants, both gaseous and solid, from
entering the atmosphere primarily out of industrial smokestacks.
The selection of the appropriate control technology is determined by :
The pollutant collected.
The stationary source conditions.
and the control efficiency required.
In some cases, pollutant emissions can be reduced significantly through
process modifications and combustion controls.
NATIONAL INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY, ROURKELA
Nature of Air Pollutants
Particulate Matter Gaseous Emissions
This separation uses physical means of Here generally different chemical methods
separation for the control of particulate are required in order to separate polluting
matters and no such chemical separation gases from the flue gas. However, this
techniques is used because size of extraction is important as many acidic
particulate matters are large enough. gases in flue gas contribute to acid rain.
Some techniques are Gravity Techniques,
filtration Techniques and Precipitation Methods/Processes are
Techniques. a) Absorption
Devices are b) Adsorption
a) Gravity settling Chambers c) Condensation
b) Cyclone Separators d) Combustion
c) Bag Filters
d) Electrostatic Precipitators
e) Wet Scrubbers
NATIONAL INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY, ROURKELA
Process to Control

Combustion: In this process the air pollutants are

totally destroyed.
Conversion: Basically, the process is responsible Combustion
for conversion of air pollutants to less harmful
compounds using different chemical methods.
Collection: This process follows up of removing
different air pollutants from the waste air release Conversion
through chimneys, stacks etc. before it releases into
the atmosphere.

Collection
NATIONAL INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY, ROURKELA
Particulate Matter and its Control
Gravity Settling Chambers
Mechanism:
The dust laden air is allowed to enter from
one end. The horizontal velocity of the
gas stream is kept low (less than 0.3 m/s)
in order to give sufficient time for the
particles to settle by gravity.
The particulates having higher density
obey Stoke’s law and settle at the bottom
of the chamber from where they are
removed ultimately. The several horizontal
shelves or trays improve the collection
efficiency by shortening the settling path
of the particles.
NATIONAL INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY, ROURKELA
Cyclone Separators
Mechanism:

Instead of gravitational force, centrifugal force is

utilized by cyclone separators, to separate the
particulate matter from the polluted gas.
The dust laden gas enters tangentially, receives a
rotating motion and generates a centrifugal force due
to which the particulates are thrown to the cyclone
walls as the gas spirals upwards inside the cone (i.e.
flow reverses to form an inner vortex which leaves
flow through the outlet). The particulates slide down
the walls of the cone and are discharged from the
outlet.
NATIONAL INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY, ROURKELA
Fabric Filters (Bag house Filters)
In a fabric filter system, a stream of the polluted
gas is made to pass through a fabric that filters
out the particulate pollutant and allows the clear
gas to pass through.
The particulate matter is left in the form of a
thin dust mat on the inside of the bag. This dust
mat acts as a filtering medium for further
removal of particulates increasing the efficiency
of the filter bag to sieve more sub micron
particles.
For efficient filtration and a longer life the filter
bags must be cleaned occasionally by a
mechanical shaker to prevent too many
particulate layers from building up on the inside
surfaces of the bag.
NATIONAL INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY, ROURKELA
Electrostatic Precipitator (ESP)

Mechanism:
The electrostatic precipitator works on the principle of
electrostatic precipitation where particulates present in the
polluted gas are electrically charged and separated from
the gas stream under the influence of the electrical field.
The polluted gas enters from the bottom and flows
upwards .The high voltage in the wire ionises the gas. The
negative ions migrate towards the grounded surface and
pass on their negative charge to the dust particles also.
Then these negatively charged dust particles are drawn
towards the positively charged collector surface, where
they finally get deposited.
The collecting surface is rapped or vibrated to periodically
remove the collected dust-particles so that the thickness of
the dust layer deposited does not exceed 6 mm.
NATIONAL INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY, ROURKELA
Wet Scrubbers
In wet scrubbers, the particulate contaminants are removed from the polluted gas
stream by incorporating the particulates into liquid droplets.

Common wet scrubbers are

Spray Tower Venturi Scrubber Cyclone Scrubber

NATIONAL INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY, ROURKELA
Gaseous Emission and its Control
Absorption
In this process effluent gases are passed through the absorbers which
contains liquid absorbents that removes the gaseous air pollutants from the
gas stream.
The efficiency of this process depend upon
Amount of surface contact between gas and liquid.
Contact time.
Concentration of absorbing medium.
Speed of the reaction between absorbent and gases.

Some of the absorbing solutions

SO2 - Ammonium sulphate, sodium sulphite, calcium sulphate , alkaline water.
H2S - NaOH and phenol mix, sodium alamine , ethanolamine etc.
 HF - water, sodium hydroxide.
Oxides of nitrogen – water, nitric acid.
NATIONAL INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY, ROURKELA
Packed Bed Tower

The packed bed scrubbers are basically

designed to remove liquid that absorbs or
chemically reacts with pollutants.
The packing is randomly filled with small
objects like Raschig rings or catalyst
absorbents such as zeolites pellets , granular
activated carbons.
NATIONAL INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY, ROURKELA
Bubble Cap Plate Scrubber

Plate scrubbers are counter-flow devices in

which liquid moves downward and gas moves
upward. Liquid-gas contact is obtained in a mixing
zone consisting of a plate with some type of
openings on it.
Openings can be perforations, valves, or slots.
Liquid flows downward from plate to plate.
The velocity of the air stream is sufficient to
prevent weeping (liquid flow) through the
openings.
NATIONAL INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY, ROURKELA

Adsorption
In this process the effluent gases are passed through adsorber which contains the solid of
porous structure. The commonly used adsorbers are activated carbons, silica gel,
activated alumina, zeolites etc.
The following points are important in the effective removal of gaseous pollutants are
Contact of gaseous pollutants with solid adsorbent.
Separation of adsorbed gaseous pollutants from the solid adsorber by replacement of
adsorbent.
Recovery of gas from final disposal.
Some of the adsorbent used are
SO2 - Limestone
H2S - Iron oxide.
 HF - Lump limestone
Oxides of nitrogen - Silica gel
Organic solvent vapours- Activated Carbons
NATIONAL INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY, ROURKELA
Fixed Bed Absorber

It consists of an absorbent bed (granulated

activated carbon) through which the polluted
gas is passed from the top, which then travels
downwards and leaves through the bottom. The
single bed absorber may be operated to the
breakthrough point and then must be
regenerated.
NATIONAL INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY, ROURKELA
Moving Bed Absorber

It consists of a cylindrical bed which slowly

rotates about its axis. The absorber bed moves
from polluted fluid to the regeneration fluid to
the drying & cooling fluid. There are three
sections: adsorption section, a regeneration
section and a drying & cooling section.
NATIONAL INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY, ROURKELA

Combustion
Incineration, also known as combustion, is most used to control the emissions of
organic compounds from process industries.
This control technique refers to the rapid oxidation of a substance through the
combination of oxygen with a combustible material in the presence of heat. When
combustion is complete, the gaseous stream is converted to carbon dioxide and water
vapour. Equipment used to control waste gases by combustion can be divided in three
categories: -
Direct combustion.
Thermal incineration.
Catalytic incineration.

Direct combustor-Direct combustor is a device in which air and all the combustible
waste gases react at the burner. Complete combustion must occur instantaneously
since there is no residence.
NATIONAL INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY, ROURKELA
Thermal Incineration

In thermal incinerators the combustible waste gases pass over or around a

burner flame into a residence chamber where oxidation of the waste gases
is completed. Thermal incinerators can destroy gaseous pollutants at
efficiencies of greater than 99 percent when operated correctly.
NATIONAL INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY, ROURKELA
Catalytic Incineration

Catalytic incinerators are very similar to thermal incinerators. The main

difference is that after passing through the flame area, the gases pass over a
catalyst bed. A catalyst promotes oxidation at lower temperatures, thereby
reducing fuel costs. Destruction efficiencies greater than 95 percent are
possible using a catalytic incinerator
NATIONAL INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY, ROURKELA

Condensation

Condensation is the process of converting a gas or vapour to liquid. Any gas can be reduced
to a liquid by lowering its temperature and increasing its pressure.
Condensation is typically a pre-treatment devices. They can be used in place of absorbers,
adsorbers or incinerators to reduce the total gas volume to be treated by more expensive
control equipment.
Condensers used for pollution control are
Contact Condensers
Surface Condensers
References

https://www.cplink.com/blog/air pollution control technology.

https://energy education.ca/air pollution control devices.
www.slideshare.com /control of gaseous pollutants.
www.researchgate.net/publication/Particulate_sources.
www.sciencedirect.com.
www.ispatguru.com.
NATIONAL INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY, ROURKELA

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