UNIT 6

Control of Particulate Matter

What is Particulate Matter?

Particulate matter (PM) describes a wide variety of airborne material.
PM pollution consists of materials (including dust, smoke, and soot), that
are directly emitted into the air or result from the transformation of
gaseous pollutants.

Particles come from natural sources (e.g., volcanic eruptions) and human
activities such as burning fossil fuels, incinerating wastes, and smelting
metals.

Characteristics of Particles
The most important characteristic of particulate matter (PM) is
the particle size.
This property has the greatest impact on the behavior of
particulate matter in control equipment, the atmosphere, and
the respiratory tract.
Particles of importance in air pollution control span a broad
size range from extremely small (0.01 micrometer) to more
than 1,000 micrometers.

As a frame of reference, a human hair has a diameter of

approximately 50 micrometers.

 The chemical composition of the particulate matter is also

important.
Absorption and heterogeneous nucleation of vapor phase
pollutants onto existing particles can create toxic particulate
matter.

Other characteristics like stickiness and explosiveness,

besides size and chemical composition should be considered
when selecting an appropriate particulate control device for a
gas stream.

Formation Mechanisms
Physical attrition occurs when two surfaces rub together.
The composition and density of the particles formed are identical to the
parent material and range in size from less than 10 micrometers to almost
1,000 micrometers.
Combustion particle burnout occurs when fuel particles are injected into
the hot furnace area of a combustion process, as the combustion
progresses, they are reduced to ash and char particles that are primarily in
the 1- to 100-micrometer size range.
Homogeneous nucleation and heterogeneous nucleation involve the
conversion of vapor phase materials to a particulate form.
Homogeneous and heterogeneous nucleation generally create particles
that are very small, often between 0.1 and 1.0 micrometer.

Industrial Sources of Particulate Emissions

Iron & Steel Mills, the blast furnaces, steel making furnaces.

Petroleum Refineries, the catalyst regenerators, air-blown asphalt

stills, and sludge burners.

Portland cement industry

Asphalt batching plants

Production of sulfuric acid

Production of phosphoric acid

Soap and Synthetic detergent manufacturing

Glass & glass fiber industry

Instant coffee plants

Source Control Technology

Air quality management sets the tools to control
air pollutant emissions.
Control measurements describes the equipment,
processes or actions used to reduce air pollution.
The extent of pollution reduction varies among
technologies and measures.
The selection of control technologies depends on
environmental, engineering, economic factors and
pollutant type.

Control Techniques

Gravity settling chamber

Cyclones
Particulate wet scrubbers
Electrostatic precipitators
Fabric filters

Gravity 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. 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.

Figure: Settling chambers

The advantages of settling chambers

Low initial cost,

Simple construction
Low maintenance cost
Low pressure drop
Dry and continuous disposal of solid particles
Use of any material for construction, and
Temperature and pressure limitations will only depend
on the nature of the construction material.

The disadvantages of this device are

large space requirements and

only comparatively large particles (greater than 10 micron) can be
collected.
Because of the above advantages and disadvantages,
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 equipment, which is
more

subject

to

abrasive

deterioration.

Applications of settling chambers

Industrial application is limited.

Used widely for removal of large solid
particulates from draft furnace, kilns.
Sometimes used in process industry, food
and metallurgical industry.
Used as pre-cleaners for high efficiency
collectors.

Cyclones
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

 The advantages of cyclones are:

i) low initial cost,
ii) simple in construction and operation,
iii) low pressure drop,
iv) low maintenance requirements,
v) continuous disposal of solid particulate matter, and
vi) use of any material in their construction that can withstand the
temperature and pressure requirements.
The disadvantages of cyclones include:
i) low collection efficiency for particles below 5 10 in diameter,
ii) severe abrasion problems can occur during the striking of
particles on the walls of the cyclone, and
iii) a decrease in efficiency at low particulate concentration.

Applications of cyclone separator

For the control of gas borne particulate matter in

industrial operations such as cement manufacture,
food and beverage, mineral processing and textile
industries.
To separate dust in the disintegration operations,
such as rock crushing, ore handling and sand
conditioning in industries.
To recover catalyst dusts in the petroleum industry.
To reduce the fly ash emissions.

Scrubbers

Scrubbers
are
devices
that
remove
particulate matter by contacting the dirty
gas stream with liquid drops.
Generally water is used as the scrubbing
fluid. In a wet collector, the dust is
agglomerated with water and then separated
from the gas together with the water.

 The mechanism of particulate collection and

removal by a scrubber can be described as a fourstep process.
i) Transport : The particle must be transported
to the vicinity of the water
droplets which are usually 10
to 1000 times larger.
ii) Collision :
The particle must collide with
the droplet.
iii) Adhesion :
This is promoted by the surface
tension property.
iv) Precipitation: This involves the removal of the
droplets, containing the dust
particles from the gas phase.

Scrubber Operating Principles

The ability of a particulate wet scrubber to remove particles
depends on two or more of the following variables:
The size (aerodynamic diameter) of the particle
The velocity of the particle
The velocity of the droplet.

Particulate Wet Scrubbers

The various types of scrubbers are:

i) Spray towers.
ii) Venturi scrubbers.
iii) Cyclone scrubbers.
iv) Packed scrubbers.
v) Mechanical scrubbers.

Spray Tower Scrubbers

A typical spray tower scrubber is
shown in Figure. This is the simplest
type of particulate wet scrubber in
commercial service.
Sets of spray nozzles located near

the top of the scrubber vessel

generate water droplets that impact
with particles in the gas stream as
the gas stream moves upwards.

Venturi Scrubbers
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.
This constriction causes the
gas stream to speed up
when the pressure is
increased.

Figure: Venturi scrubber components

 The difference in velocity and pressure 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.

 Each of the categories of particulate wet scrubbers listed

earlier has a large number of different design types.
For example, venturi scrubbers include the following different
design types: (1) fixed throat, (2) adjustable throat.
Spray tower scrubbers include these design types: (1) open,
(2) cyclonic.
The scrubber categories listed above comprise more than fifty
different types of scrubbers in common commercial use.
Scrubbers are by far the most diverse group of air pollution
control devices used for particulate control.

 The evaporative cooler, located before the

venturi scrubber in the system, cools the gas
stream, which serves the following purpose:
1- It protects the construction materials of the
venturi throat
2It
helps
to
homogeneously
and
heterogeneously nucleate vapor phase
material emitted from the process before it
reaches the scrubbing system.
3-It prevents the water droplets from evaporating
and inhibiting inertial impaction.
Located after the venturi scrubber, the cyclonic
separator removes entrained water droplets
from the gas stream leaving the venturi.
The cyclonic separator consists of a cyclonic
vessel and a horizontal mist eliminator.
The overall scrubbing system includes pumps
for liquid recirculation, a tank to treat the liquid
being recirculated, an alkali addition unit to
control the liquid pH, a purged liquid treatment
unit, a fan for gas movement, and a stack.

Advantages and Disadvantages of Scrubbers

The advantages of scrubbers are:
i) Low initial cost.
ii) Moderately high collection efficiency for small particles.
iii) Applicable for high temperature installations.
iv) They can simultaneously remove particles and gases.
v) There is no particle re- entrainment.
The disadvantages of scrubbers are:
i) High power consumption for higher efficiency.
ii) Moderate to high maintenance costs owing to corrosion and abrasion.
iii) Wet disposal of the collected material.
Iv) One of the main disadvantages of particulate wet scrubbers is that they
require make-up water to replace the water vaporized into the gas stream
and lost to purge liquid and sludge removed from the scrubber system.

Applications
The scrubbers are used in a variety of applications. Some of the
situations are:

Theyre particularly useful in the case of a hot gas that must be

cooled for some reason.
If the particulate matter is combustible or if any flammable gas is
present, even in trace amounts, in the bulk gas phase, a scrubber is
preferred to an electrostatic precipitator.
Scrubbers can be used when there are waste water treatment
systems available on the site, with adequate reserve capacity to
handle the liquid effluent.
Scrubbers are also used when gas reaction and absorption are
required
simultaneously
with
particulate
control.

Electrostatic Precipitators (ESPs)

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

Conti.
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.
If same pair of electrodes serves both the particle
charging and collecting functions, the precipitator is
referred as single stage precipitator. If two pair of
electrodes are used, one pair for particle charging and
one pair for particle collection, then the precipitator is
called two stage precipitator.

 A typical electrostatic precipitator used at a coal-fired boiler.

Advantages and Disadvantages of ESPs

Electrostatic precipitators can have very high efficiencies due to the strong
electrical forces applied to the small particles.
These types of collectors can be used when the gas stream is not explosive and
does not contain entrained droplets or other sticky material.
The composition of the particulate matter is very important because it influences
the electrical conductivity within the dust layers on the collection plate.

Resistivity, an important concept associated with electrostatic precipitators, is a

measure of the ability of the particulate matter to conduct electricity and is
expressed in units of ohm-cm.
As the resistivity increases, the ability of the particulate matter to conduct
electricity decreases.
Precipitators can be designed to work in any resistivity range; however, they
usually work best when the resistivity is in the moderate range (108 to 1010 ohmscm).

 The important applications of ESPs in different industries

throughout the world are given as below:
i) Cement factories:
a) Cleaning the flue gas from the cement kiln.
b) Recovery of cement dust from kilns.

ii) Pulp and paper mills:

a) Soda-fume recovery in the Kraft pulp mills.

iii) Steel Plants:

a) Cleaning blast furnace gas to use it as a fuel.
b) Removing tars from coke oven gases.
c) Cleaning open hearth and electric furnace gases.

iv) Non-ferrous metals industry:

a) Recovering valuable material from the flue gases.
b) Collecting acid mist.

v) Chemical Industry:
a) Collection of sulfuric and phosphoric acid mist.
b) Cleaning various types of gas, such as hydrogen, CO2,
and SO2.
c) Removing the dust from elemental phosphorous in the
vapor state.
vi) Petroleum Industry:
a) Recovery of catalytic dust.
vii) Carbon Black industry:
a) Agglomeration and collection of carbon black.
viii) Electric Power Industry:
a) Collecting fly ash form coal-fired boilers.

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

Figure: Fabric filter (baghouse) components

 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 maximum gas temperature expected and
adequate chemical compatibility with both the gas
and the collected dust.

One disadvantage of the fabric filter is that hightemperature gases often have to be cooled before
contacting the filter medium.

Advantages and Disadvantages of Fabric Filters

Fabric filters are used in a wide variety of applications where
high efficiency particulate collection is needed.

The control efficiencies usually range from 99% to greater

than 99.5% depending on the characteristics of the particulate

matter and the fabric filter design.

Fabric filters can be very efficient at collecting particles in the

entire size range of interest in air pollution control.

 The performance of fabric filters is usually independent of the

chemical composition of the particulate matter.
They are not used when the gas stream generated by the
process equipment includes corrosive materials that could
chemically attack the filter media.
Fabric filters are also not used when there are sticky or wet
particles in the gas stream.
These materials accumulate on the filter media surface and
block gas movement.

 Fabric filters must be designed carefully if there are

potentially combustible or explosive particulate matter, gases,
or vapors in the gas stream being treated.

If these conditions are severe, alternative control techniques,

such as wet scrubbers, are often used.

Applications
Fabric filters can be employed in many processes and, by
using the right filter material, many apparent limitations can
be overcome.
This technique also allows acid components to be removed
or dioxins to be absorbed for this, lime and activated
carbon, respectively, are injected into the fume channel.
Dioxins can also be removed by using catalytic fabric filters .
Used in:

The chemicals industry,

Metal processing industry,
Cattle-feed industry,
Foodstuffs industry,
Waste processing industry

General Applicability of Particulate

Control Systems
Particulate matter control systems are often selected based on the general
criteria listed in Figure 15.

 If there is a high concentration of wet and/or sticky

particulate matter, either a particulate wet scrubber or a
wet electrostatic precipitator is used.
If wet or sticky materials are present with combustible
materials or explosive gases or vapors, the particulate
wet scrubber is most appropriate.
If the particulate matter is primarily dry, mechanical
collectors, particulate wet scrubbers, conventional
electrostatic precipitators, and fabric filters can be used.

 The next step in the selection process is to determine if the

particulate matter and/or gases and vapors in the gas stream
are combustible or explosive.
If so, then mechanical collectors or particulate wet
scrubbers can be used because both of these categories of
systems can be designed to minimize the risks of ignition.
In some cases, a fabric filter can also be used if it includes
the appropriate safety equipment.

 An electrostatic precipitator is not used due to the risk of

ignition caused by electrical sparking in the precipitator
fields.
When selecting between mechanical collectors and wet
scrubbers, mechanical collectors are the more
economical choice.
They have a lower purchase cost and a lower operating
cost than wet scrubbers.
If the dry particulate matter is present in a gas stream
that is not combustible or explosive, the selection
depends on the particle size range and the control
efficiency requirements.

 If a significant portion of the gas stream is in the less than

0.5-micrometer size range, and high efficiency control is
needed, a fabric filter is the most common choice.
If a significant portion of the particulate matter is in the 0.5- to
5-micrometer size range, and high efficiency control is
needed, fabric filters, electrostatic precipitators, or particulate
wet scrubbers (certain types) could be used.
If most of the particulate matter is larger than 5 micrometers,
any of the four main types of particulate control systems could
be used.