Air Pollution

Control
Module 2

Module 2 CE101 Tanushree

Bhattacharya, BIT Mesra

2/11/2022 1
 • Source Correction Methods
Precautionary Approach
• Raw material changes (using purer
grade)
• - use of purer grade raw material
– Fuel desulphurisation

• Process changes through modified

Control •
techniques.
E.g in petroleum refining industries
methods •
VOCs are condensed.
Equipment modification or
replacement.

• Cleaning of Pollutants once formed

(end of the pipe treatment-through
pollution control equipments)
– Particulates
– Gaseous pollutants

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 EQUIPMENTS FOR AIR POLLUTANTS CONTROL
PARTICULATE MATTER

• Gravitational Settling Chambers

: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 allowing sufficient time for
the particles to settle.

• Large particles drop out of the gas

and are recollected in hoppers.
Because settling chambers are
effective in removing only larger
particles, they are used in
conjunction with a more efficient
control device.

• Gas velocity less than about 3 m/s

for particles above 50 μm

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Cyclones
separators
• 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. For this reason, they
are used with other particulate control
devices. Figure: Cyclone Collector

Module 2 CE101 Tanushree Bhattacharya,

2/11/2022 BIT Mesra 4
 CYCLONES

Dust-laden gas is whirled rapidly inside a

collector shaped like a cylinder where,
the swirling motion creates centrifugal
forces that cause the particles to be
thrown against the walls of the cylinder
and drop into a hopper below. The gas
left in the middle of the cylinder after the
dust particles have been removed moves
upward and exits the cylinder.

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 • Fabric filters, or baghouses, remove dust from a gas stream by
passing the stream through a porous fabric. The fabric filter is
Fabric Filters efficient at removing fine particles and can exceed
efficiencies of 99 percent in most applications.

Figure: Fabric filter (baghouse) components

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• Fabric Filters (also called
baghouses and bagfilters)
are air pollution control
devices that remove
particulate matter from a
gas stream by passing the
dirty air through a layer of
cloth. The particulate
matter deposits on the
cloth surface and the clean
air passes through.

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2/11/2022 7
 • The selection of the fiber material
and fabric construction is important to
baghouse performance.

• The fiber material from which the

fabric is made must have adequate
strength characteristics at the

Conti….. maximum gas temperature expected

and adequate chemical compatibility
with both the gas and the collected
dust.

• One disadvantage of the fabric filter

is that high-temperature gases often
have to be cooled before contacting
the filter medium.

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 • Fabric and Fibre Characteristics:
• Fabric filter may be classified according to filtering media:

• Woven fabric or felt cloth.

• Woven fabrics have a definite long range repeating pattern and
have considerable porosity in the direction of gas flow.
• Felted cloth consists of randomly oriented fibres, compressed into
a mat and needled to some loosely woven backing material to
improve mechanical strength.
• Cotton cloth
• Cotton is the least expensive fibre, and is preferably used in low
temperature dust collection service. Silicon coated glass fibre cloth is
commonly employed in high temperature applications.
• Glass fibre
• The glass fibre must be lubricated to prevent abrasion. All fibre
may be applied to the manufacture of woven and felt type fabrics.

• HEPA
• High-efficiency particulate arrestance (HEPA), originally called
high-efficiency particulate absorber but also sometimes called high-
efficiency particulate arresting or high-efficiency particulate air, is a
type of air filter. To qualify as HEPA an air filter must remove (from
the air that passes through) 99.97% of particles that have a size of
0.3 µm.

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 • An ESP is a particle control device that uses electrical forces to
move the particles out of the flowing gas stream and onto
Electrostatic collector plates.

Precipitators
(ESPs) • The ESP places electrical charges on the particles, causing
them to be attracted to oppositely charged metal plates located
in the precipitator.

Figure: Electrostatic precipitator components

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 ESP….

• The most basic precipitator contains a row of

thin vertical wires, 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 stream
flows horizontally through the spaces between the
wires, and then passes through the stack of
plates.
• A negative voltage of several thousand volts is
applied between wire and plate. If the applied
voltage is high enough, an electric corona
discharge ionizes the air around the electrodes,
which then ionizes the particles in the air stream.
• The ionized particles, due to the electrostatic
force, are diverted towards the grounded plates.
Particles build up on the collection plates and are
removed from the air stream

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A corona discharge is an electrical discharge brought on by
the ionization of a fluid such as air surrounding
a conductor that is electrically charged. A corona will occur
when the strength (potential gradient) of the electric field
around a conductor is high enough to form a conductive
region. It is often seen as a bluish (or other color) glow in
the air adjacent to pointed metal conductors carrying high
voltages.

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 Module 2 CE101 Tanushree Bhattacharya, BIT Mesra
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 • The particles are removed from the
plates by "rapping" and collected in a
hopper located below the unit.
• The removal efficiencies for ESPs
are highly variable; however, for very
small particles alone, the removal
efficiency is about 99 percent.

Conti…. • Electrostatic precipitators are not

only used in utility applications but
also other industries (for other
exhaust gas particles) such as
cement (dust), pulp & paper (salt
cake & lime dust), petrochemicals
(sulfuric acid mist), and steel (dust &
fumes).

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 Scrubbers

• Scrubbers are air pollution control

devices that use liquid to remove
particulate matter or gases from an
industrial exhaust or flue gas stream.
This atomized liquid (typically water)
entrains particles and pollutant gases
in order to effectively wash them out
of the gas flow.

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 • Venturi scrubbers
use a liquid stream
to remove solid
particles.
• In the venturi
scrubber, gas laden
with particulate
matter passes
through a short tube
with flared ends and
a constricted middle.
Figure: Venturi scrubber components
• This constriction
causes the gas
stream to speed up
when the pressure is
increased.
Venturi Scrubbers
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 Conti….

• The difference in velocity and pressure resulting from the

constriction causes the particles and water to mix and combine.

• The reduced velocity at the expanded section of the throat allows

the droplets of water containing the particles to drop out of the gas
stream.

• Venturi scrubbers are effective in removing small particles, with

removal efficiencies of up to 99 percent.

• One drawback of this device, however, is the production of

wastewater.

Module 2 CE101 Tanushree Bhattacharya, BIT Mesra 2/11/2022 17

 Particulate
collectors
in industry
• Source:
Environmental
Engineering by C S Rao

Module 2 CE101 Tanushree Bhattacharya, BIT Mesra

 Control of gaseous pollutants from stationary
sources

• The most common method for controlling gaseous

pollutants is the addition of add-on control devices to
recover or destroy a pollutant.
• There are four commonly used control technologies for
gaseous pollutants:
– Absorption,
– Adsorption,
– Condensation, and
– Incineration (combustion)

Module 2 CE101 Tanushree Bhattacharya, BIT Mesra 2/11/2022 19

 Absorption
• The removal of one or more
selected components from a
gas mixture by absorption is
probably the most important
operation in the control of
gaseous pollutant
emissions.
• Absorption is a process in
which a gaseous pollutant is
dissolved in a liquid.
• Water is the most commonly
used absorbent liquid.
• As the gas stream passes
through the liquid, the liquid
absorbs the gas.

Module 2 CE101 Tanushree Bhattacharya, BIT Mesra

Typical Packed Column Diagram
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 Conti….

• Absorbers are often referred to as scrubbers, and there are

various types of absorption equipment.

• The principal types of gas absorption equipment include spray

towers, packed columns, spray chambers, and venturi
scrubbers.

• In general, absorbers can achieve removal efficiencies grater

than 95 percent. One potential problem with absorption is the
generation of waste-water, which converts an air pollution
problem to a water pollution problem.

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 Spray towers, spray chambers

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 Spray tower

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Venturi
scrubbers

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 Packed
scrubber
Suitable solvents
for various • Source: Environmental Engineering by C S Rao

gaseous pollutants
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 Adsorption
When a gas or vapor is brought into
contact with a solid, part of it is taken up
by the solid. The molecules that disappear The most common industrial adsorbents
from the gas either enter the inside of the are activated carbon, silica gel, and
solid or remain on the outside attached to alumina, because they have enormous
the surface. The former phenomenon is surface areas per unit weight.
termed absorption (or dissolution) and the
latter adsorption.

Activated carbon is the universal standard

for purification and removal of trace
organic contaminants from liquid and
vapor streams.
 Adsorption

• Physi-sorption
• Chemisorption
• Break through curve
• Carbon adsorption systems are either
regenerative or non-regenerative. Non-Regenerative Carbon Adsorption System

– Regenerative system usually

contains more than one carbon bed.
As one bed actively removes
pollutants, another bed is being
regenerated for future use.
– Non-regenerative systems have
thinner beds of activated carbon. In a
non-regenerative adsorber, the spent
carbon is disposed of when it
becomes saturated with the
pollutant. Regenerative Carbon Adsorption System
 Condensation

• Condensation is the process of converting a gas or vapor

to liquid. Any gas can be reduced to a liquid by lowering
its temperature and/or increasing its pressure.

• Condensers are typically used as pretreatment devices.

They can be used ahead of absorbers, adsorbers, and
incinerators to reduce the total gas volume to be treated
by more expensive control equipment. Condensers used
for pollution control are contact condensers and surface
condensers.

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 Types of condensers

• In a contact condenser, the gas

comes into contact with cold liquid. Surface condenser

• In a surface condenser, the gas

contacts a cooled surface in which
cooled liquid or gas is circulated, such
as the outside of the tube.
• Removal efficiencies of condensers
typically range from 50 percent to
more than 95 percent, depending on
design and applications.
Contact condenser

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 Incineration
• 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 vapor.
• Equipment used to control waste gases
by combustion can be divided in three
categories:
– Direct combustion or flaring,
– Thermal incineration and
– Catalytic incineration.

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 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 chamber.
• A flare can be used to control
almost any emission stream
containing volatile organic
compounds. Studies
conducted by EPA have shown
that the destruction efficiency
of a flare is about 98 percent.

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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.

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Module 2 CE101 Tanushree
Bhattacharya, BIT Mesra
Catalytic incinerators
are very similar to
thermal incinerators. • Catalytic incinerator
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.

Module 2 CE101 Tanushree Bhattacharya, BIT Mesra 35

 Vehicular emission control

• Phasing out of tetra ethyle lead as anti knocking compound.

• Engines can be made more efficient so that they can ensure more
complete combustion. E.g four stroke engines
• Proper fuel and air ratio should be maintained by the engines and ignition
system, which will ensure complete combustion.
• Filters and catalytic converters should be used in the emission system.
• Efficient carburetor system.
• Recirculation of the exhaust gas.
• Use of cleaner fuel.
• Non emitting vehicles.
• Biodisel/ biofuels.

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 Engine Modification Related to
Emission Control
Lower Compression Ratios
• Use of unleaded gasoline that permits use of catalytic
converters and burns
completely to lower HC emissions.
• Lower combustion temperature = Lower NOx
emissions.
Smaller Combustion Chamber
Surface Volume
• Reduce HC emissions.
• Lowers the amount of heat dissipation out of the
fuel mixture.
• Reduce the chance of fuel condensation.

Reduce Quench Areas in the Combustion Chambers

• Lower HC and CO emissions.
• Quench areas- movement of piston too close to the cylinder head.
• If too close, it tends to quench (put out) combustion and increase
emissions
due to unburned fuel.
 Vehicle Emission Control System
PCV (Positive Crankcase Ventilation System)

• Uses engine vacuum to draw blow-by gases into the intake manifold for
reburning in the combustion chamber.

• Vacuum or electronic controlled, mounted on the valve cover.

 Vehicle Emission Control System
Evaporative Emission Control Systems (EVAP)
• Prevents toxic fuel system vapours from entering the atmosphere.

Parts
• Non-vented fuel tank cap – prevents fuel vapours from entering the atmosphere.

• Air Dome – hump formed at the top of the tank for fuel expansion.

• Charcoal Canister – stores vapours when the engine is not running.

- filled with active charcoal granules.
- charcoal is capable of absorbing fuel vapours.

• Purge Line/Valve – controls the flow of vapours from the canister to the intake
manifold.
- allows flow when engine reaches operating temperature and
is operating above idle speed.

Clean canister filter time to time.

Evaporative Emission Control Systems (EVAP)
Vehicle Emission Control System

• Exhaust Gas Recirculation

(EGR)

• Allows burned gases to

enter the engine intake
manifold to help reduce
NOx

• When exhaust gases are

added to air-fuel mixture,
they decrease peak
• combustion
temperatures.
Vehicle Emission Control System

• Air Injection System

• Forces fresh air into
the exhaust ports or
catalytic converter to
reduce HC/CO.

• Oxygen from the air

injection system
causes the unburned
fuel to burn in the
• exhaust system or the
catalytic converter.
 Catalytic Converters
❖ catalytic converter processes exhaust to remove pollutants, achieving
considerably lower emissions than is possible with in-cylinder
techniques
❖ Reduction catalyst is the FIRST STAGE
2NO => N2 + O2 or 2NO2 => N2 + 2O2
❖ Oxidation catalyst is the SECOND STAGE
2CO + O2 => 2CO2
❖ THIRD STAGE of conversion is a control system that monitors the
exhaust stream, and uses this information to control the fuel injection
system
 Fuel Quality
❖ Adulterated fuel increases tailpipe emissions of hydrocarbons
(HC), carbon monoxide (CO), oxides of nitrogen (NOx) and
particulate matter (PM).

In order to take preventive measures:

❖ Introduce early policies to lower sulfur levels to
50ppm for diesel and 150 ppm for petrol
❖ Encourage to use advanced control technologies for
diesel vehicles.
❖ Increase the use of bio fuels and alternative fuels
❖ Biodiesel
❖ Ethanol
❖ Biogas
❖ LPG
 BIODIESEL
❖ Produced from oils or fats using transesterification
❖ usually used as a diesel additive to reduce levels of
particulates, carbon monoxide, and hydrocarbons from diesel-
powered vehicles
BENEFITS
❖ Greater lubricity, or smoothness, reduces friction
❖ Reduced emissions improve living and working environments
❖ More effective burn at a higher temperature
ETHANOL

BIOGAS

Produced by anaerobic digestion with anaerobic bacteria or fermentation of biodegradable materials

❖ Increased energy security

❖ Fewer emissions

❖ Better economics

❖ Cleaner environment
 Zero-Emission Vehicles

• A zero-emissions vehicle, or ZEV, is a vehicle that emits

no tailpipe pollutants from the onboard source of power
EXAMPLES

❖ Muscle-powered vehicles such as bicycles

❖ battery electric vehicles

❖ fuel cell vehicles powered by hydrogen

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