AIR POLLUTION AND

CONTROL ENGINEERING
MITHUN SANTHOSH Y
III IT
UNIT 3 – CONTROL OF PARTICULATE
CONTAMINANTS
GRAVITY SETTLING CHAMBERS
GRAVITY SETTLING CHAMBERS:

 Oldest and simplest means of removing suspended particulate matter from the air.
 Pollutants are removed by reducing the velocity of the gas stream sufficiently to allow
particles to settle out under the influence of gravity.
 The simplest chamber is merely a horizontal duct in which large particles settle out on the
floor.
 High-efficiency settling chambers are often fitted with baffles or deflectors to change the
gas flow direction.
 Gravity settling chamber is used to remove large and abrasive particles greater than 50 µ from a
gas stream.
 This is a simple particulate collection device using the principle of gravity to settle the
particulate matter in a gas stream passing through its long chamber.
 The primary requirement of such a device would be a chamber in which the carrier gas velocity
is reduced so as to allow the particulate matter to settle out of the moving gas stream under the
action of gravity.
 This particulate matter is then collected at the bottom of the chamber.
 The chamber is cleaned manually to dispose the waste.
 This type of technologies are a part of the group of air pollution controls collectively referred to
as “Precleaners”, because they are of 10 times used to reduce the inlet loading of particulate
matter to downstream collection devices by removing larger abrasive particles.
 Multi layer tray settling chamber impurities are settled down up to 80-90%.
Collection Efficiency:

 The collection efficiency of settling chambers varies as a function of particulate size and
settling chamber design.
 Settling chambers are most effective for large and dense particles.
Merits:

 Low capital cost

 Very low energy cost
 No moving parts, therefore few maintenance requirements
 Low operating costs
 Low pressure drop through device.
 Excellent reliability.
Demerits:

 Low PM collection efficiencies, particularly for PM less than 50 micrometre in size.

 Unable to handle sticky or tacky materials.
 Large physical size and trays in multi-tray settling chamber may warp during high
temperature operations.
 Large space requirement
Applications:

 Settling chambers are mostly used as pre-cleaners.

 They are sometimes used in the process industries, particularly in the food and
metallurgical industries as the first step in dust control.
 Use of settling chambers as pre-cleaners can also reduce the maintenance cost of high
efficiency control requirement.
CYCLONE SEPARATOR/
CENTRIFUGAL SEPARATORS
CYCLONE SEPARATOR:

 A centrifugal separator is a stationary mechanical device that utilizes centrifugal force to

separate solid or liquid particles from a carrier gas.
 Cyclones have no moving parts and available in many shapes and sizes .

FORCES:
 Inertia
 Centrifugal force
 Centripetal force
Inertia:
 A property of matter by which it continues in its existing state or rest or uniform motion in a straight
line, unless that state is changed by an external force.

Centripetal Force:
 A force that acts on a body moving in a circular path and is directed towards the centre around which
the body is moving.

Centrifugal Force:
 A force arising from the body’s inertia, in which appears to act on a body moving in a circular path
and is directed away from the centre around which the body is moving.
Working principle:

 The flow enters near the top through the tangential inlet, which gives rise to an axially
descending spiral of gas and a Centrifugal force field that causes the incoming particles to
concentrate along and spiral down, the inner walls of the cyclone separator.
 The collected particulates are allowed to exit out an underflow pipe while the gas phase
reverses its axial direction of flow and exits out through the Vortex finder
CYCLONE SEPARATOR:
EFFICIENCY:

 It have greater effect on the collection efficiency in cyclone separator.

 Smaller diameter , higher is efficiency because centrifugal actual increases with decrease
in radius of radiation.
Merits:

 Low Capital investment.

 Low maintenance.
 It is very compact
 No moving parts.
 Can handle large volume of gas at high temperature.
 Can separate both solids/liquids.
Demerits:

 Higher pressure loss.

 Low efficiency for particles size below their ‘cut off diameter’.
 Results in erosion for sticky particulate the cylinder and cone.
Applications:

 Power stations.
 Spray dryers.
 Food processing plants.
 Crushing, Separation, grinding in mineral and chemical industries.
 Vacuum cleaning equipment.
 Dust Sampling equipment
 Ship sampling equipment
BAG HOUSE FILTER
BAG HOUSE FILTER:

 A baghouse, also known as a baghouse filter, bag filter, or fabric filter is an air pollution
control device and dust collector that removes particulates or gas released from
commercial processes out of the air.
 Most baghouses use long, cylindrical bags (or tubes) made of woven or felted fabric as a
filter medium. For applications where there is relatively low dust loading and gas
temperatures are 250 °F (121 °C) or less, pleated, nonwoven cartridges are sometimes used
as filtering media instead of bags.
OPERATION:

 Baghouses are very efficient particulate collectors because of the dust cake formed on the surface of the
bags. The fabric provides a surface on which dust collects through the following four mechanisms:
 Inertial collection – Dust particles strike the fibers placed perpendicular to the gas-flow direction
instead of changing direction with the gas stream.
 Interception – Particles that do not cross the fluid streamlines come in contact with fibers because of
the fiber size.
 Brownian Movement – Submicrometre particles are diffused, increasing the probability of contact
between the particles and collecting surfaces.
 Electrostatic forces – The presence of an electrostatic charges on the particles and the filter can
increase dust capture.
 A combination of these mechanisms results in formation of the dust cake on the filter, which eventually
increases the resistance to gas flow. The filter must be cleaned periodically.
BAG HOUSE FILTER
WORKING:

 The gas entering the inlet strikes a baffle plate, which causes larger particulate to fall into a
hopper due to gravity.
 The carrier gas then flows upward into the tubes and outward through the fabric leaving
the particulate matter as a “cake” on the insides of the bag
 A bag house or a bag filter consists of numerous vertically hanging, tubular bags, 12 to 40
cm in diameter and 2 to 10m long
Filter Media:

 Woven and felt materials are used to make bag filters.

 Woven filters are used with low energy cleaning methods.
Properties of the carrier gas bag fabric:

 Carrier gas temperature.

 Carrier gas composition
 Gas flow rate.
 Size and shape of dust particles and its composition.
Filter cleaning mechanisms:

 Rapping
 Shaking
 Reverse air flow
 Pulse jet
Merits:

 High collection, efficiencies for all particle sizes, especially for particles smaller than 10
micron in diameter.
 Simple construction and operation.
 Normal power consumption.
 Demerits:
 Operating limits are imposed by high carrier gas temperature, high humidity
and other parameter.
 Large size of equipment
 Problems in handling dusts which may abrade, corrode or blind the cloth.
 High maintenance.
Operating problems:

 Cleaning.
 Bleeding.
 Rupture of the cloth.
 Humidity
 Chemical attack
Applications of bag house filter:

 Metallurgical industry
 Foundries
 Cement industry
 Food and beverage production.
 Brewing industry
ELECTRISTATIC
PRECIPITATOR
Electrostatic precipitator:

 An electrostatic precipitator (ESP) is a filtration device that removes fine particles, like

dust and smoke, from a flowing gas using the force of an induced electrostatic charge
 minimally impeding the flow of gases through the unit.
 The first use of corona discharge to remove particles from an aerosol was by Hohlfeld in
1824.
 In 1907 Frederick Gardner Cottrell, a professor of chemistry at the 
University of California, Berkeley, applied for a patent on a device for charging particles
and then collecting them through electrostatic attraction—the first electrostatic
precipitator. Cottrell first applied the device to the collection of sulphuric acid mist and 
lead oxide fumes emitted from various acid-making and smelting activities
 Working Principle of Electrostatic Precipitator:

 The working principle of the electrostatic precipitator is quite simple.

 It has two sets of electrodes one is positive, and another is negative. The negative
electrodes are in the form of rod or wire mesh. Positive electrodes are in the form of plates.
 The positive plates and negative electrodes are placed vertically in the electrostatic
precipitator alternatively one after another.
 The negative electrodes are connected to a negative terminal of high voltage DC source,
and positive plates are connected to the positive terminal of the DC source.
 The positive terminal of the DC source may be grounded to get stronger negativity in the
negative electrodes.
 The distance between each negative electrode and positive plate and the DC voltage
applied across them are so adjusted that the voltage gradient between each negative
electrode and adjacent positive plate becomes quite high to ionize the medium between
these.
ELECTRISTATIC PRECIPITATOR
 Types of Electrostatic Precipitator
 There are different electrostatic types, and here, we will study each one of them in detail. Following are the
three types of ESPs:
 Plate precipitator: This is the most basic precipitator type that consists of rows of thin vertical wires and
stack of vertically arranged large flat metal plates that are placed at a distance of 1cm to 18cm apart. The air
stream is passed horizontally through the vertical plates and then through the large stack of plates. In order to
ionize the particles, a negative voltage is applied between the wire and the plate. These ionized particles are
then diverted towards the grounded plates using electrostatic force. As the particles get collected on the
collection plate, they are removed from the air stream.
 Dry electrostatic precipitator: This precipitator is used to collect pollutants like ash or cement in a dry state.
It consists of electrodes through which the ionized particles are made to flow through and a hopper through
which the collected particles are extracted out. The dust particles are collected from a stream of air by
hammering the electrodes.
 Wet electrostatic precipitator: This precipitator is used to remove resin, oil, tar, paint that are wet in nature.
It consists of collectors that are continuously sprayed with water making the collection of ionized particles
from the sludge. They are more efficient than dry ESPs.
 Tubular precipitator: This precipitator is a single-stage unit consisting of tubes with high voltage electrodes
that are arranged parallel to each other such that they are running on their axis. The arrangement of the tubes
could either be circular or square or hexagonal honeycomb with gas either flowing upwards or downwards.
The gas is made to pass through all the tubes. They find applications where sticky particles are to be removed.
Collection efficiency (R):

 Precipitator performance is very sensitive to two particulate properties:

1) Electrical resistivity
2) Particle size distribution.

Efficiency of Electrostatic Precipitator

η=1−e(−WAQ)
where,
𝜼 is the fractional collection efficiency
W is the terminal drift velocity in ms-1
A is the total collection area in m2
Q is the volumetric air flow rate in m3s-1
Advantages Disadvantages

•Handles very large gas volumes and heavy dust loads •Not very flexible to changes in operating conditions once
with low pressure drop. installed/purchased.

•Very high collection efficiencies, even for very small

•Cannot control gaseous emissions
particles.

•Can handle corrosive materials, wet materials, and high •Very dependent on the electrical resistivity of the
temperatures. particulate.

•Low operating costs, except at very high efficiencies. •High capital (equipment) costs

•Durable - has long service life requiring little

•Very large footprint - takes up a lot of space.
maintenance.
Applications:

 Two-stage plate ESPs are used in the engine rooms of shipboard as the gearbox produces
oil mist which is flammable in nature. The collected oil is reused in gear lubricating
system.
 Dry ESPs are used in thermal plants to clean the air in ventilation and air conditioning
systems.
 They find applications in the medical field for the removal of bacteria and fungus.
 They are used in zirconium sand for detaching the rutile in plants.
 They are used in metallurgical industries to clean the blast.
PARTICULATE SCRUBBERS
 Particulate scrubbers:
 Many industries like chemical and building materials industries may be required to reduce the
amount of particulate they release into environment.
 Scrubber are devices to control air pollution and used to remove some particulate and gases
from industrial exhaust streams.
TYPES:
 Wet Scrubbers
 Dry Scrubbers
WET SCRUBBERS:

 Wet scrubbers are air pollution control devices for removing particles and gases from
industrial exhaust stream.
 It is operated by introducing the dirty gas stream with a scrubbing liquid as water or wet
limestone slurry which traps sulphur particles. Then particles are collected in the scrubbing
liquid.
TYPES:
 Venturi Wet Scrubbers.
 Packed Tower Wet Scrubbers.
 Impingement Wet Scrubbers.
 Venturi Wet Scrubbers:
 The Venturi Scrubber uses the differential between high velocity gases and free-flowing water
to create droplets which entrap contaminants, hold them in suspension and deliver them as a
highly concentrated slurry.

FEATURES:
 Non-plugging, trouble free design for introducing the scrubbing liquid.
 Easily adjustable venturi throat damper.
 Abrasion resistant flooded elbow design to deter scrubber wear.
 Cyclonic separator for mist elimination (no mesh pads or chevrons to clean or replace).
 Adjustable spin damper for optimization of cyclonic separator performance.
 Integral sump or separate recirculation system designs available to minimize total water
consumption.
Venturi Wet Scrubbers
Packed Tower Wet Scrubbers
 Packed tower scrubbers (also referred to as packed bed or packed column scrubbers) are
designed for chemical scrubbing of contaminants from gas streams.
 Internal packing in the scrubber housing provides a large wetted surface area to induce
intimate contact between the contaminated gas and the scrubbing liquid.
 The contaminant is then absorbed into or reacted with the scrubbing liquid.
 Recirculation of the scrubbing liquid, which may contain caustic or acid scrubbing agents, is
often required to achieve the desired outlet emissions.
Packed Tower Wet Scrubbers
IMPINGEMENT WET SCRUBBER:

 Impingement Wet Gas Scrubbers collect particulates, and absorb vapors and gases.
 High collection efficiencies (99% @5 microns) are achieved with low water consumption
and minimum pressure drop.
 This is the most efficient low energy scrubber available. Capacities to 200,000+ CFM.
Impingement Scrubber Benefits:

 99% collection efficiency for 5 microns or larger.

 Optimal performance for cooling, condensing and heat recovery for applications with hot
flue gases
 These high efficiencies are achieved at a low pressure drop.
 Both particle collection and absorption of gases, vapors, etc. can be done at the same time.
 Multiple stages can be provided.
 No moving parts to maintain.
 Extensive experience with many applications available.
IMPINGEMENT WET SCRUBBER:
 Relative advantages and disadvantages of wet scrubbers:

Advantages Disadvantages
 Small space requirements: Scrubbers  Corrosion problems: Water and dissolved
reduce the temperature and volume of pollutants can form highly corrosive acid
the unsaturated exhaust stream. solutions. 
 No secondary dust sources: Once  High power requirements
particulate matter is collected, it cannot  High operating costs.
escape from hoppers or during transport.
 Water pollution problems
 Handles high-temperature, high-humidity
gas streams  Difficult product recovery
 Ability to collect both gases and
particulate matter.
 APPLICATIONS OF WET SCRUBBERS:
 Chemical
 Food / Dairy Industry
 Paper
 Dryer
 Pharmaceutical
 Roofing materials
 Asphalt
 Mining
 Steel
 Brick & Tile
 Fiberglass Insulation
 Power Generation
 Plastic Extrusion
 DRY SCRUBBERS:
 A dry scrubber, or dry scrubber system, is a type of pollution control equipment that is
designed to remove harmful gases and particulates from industrial exhaust streams.
 Dry scrubbers are primarily used to abate acidic gases, like those associated with acid rain.
 This is one of the most common pieces of equipment found in manufacturing plants, because
of its ability to handle high temperature, highly acidic exhaust streams.
 A dry scrubber works by combining carefully chosen chemical reagents with the exhaust
stream at incredibly high speeds, that react with or absorb the compounds in the stream.
DRY SCRUBBERS
MERITS:

 Handles high temperature streams

 Versatile
 Capable of abating very acidic streams
 Spent media can be a source of revenue.
 Smaller space requirements
 Can be retrofitted into current equipment (in some cases)
 Lower cost of purchase
 Able to neutralize highly corrosive gases
DEMERITS:

 Disposal of waste and media can incur higher costs

 The chemicals collected may be too contaminated to be recycled in any way
 APPLICATIONS:
 Asphalt processing
 Pharmaceuticals
 Landfills and Biogas
 Coaters
 Textile Processing
 Tar Removal
 Curing ovens
 Vinyl Manufacturing
 Oil and Gas
 Acid mist control
 Fertilizer Manufacturing
 Wastewater treatment
 Steel Processing
 Electronics
 Food processing
THANK YOU…