AIR POLLUTION

CONTROL EQUIPMENT
Air Pollution Legislation (RA 8749) Clean Air
Act
Set emission and ambient air quality limits.
AIR QUALITY CONTROL
Air Pollutant Emission and Control
1)Control Emissions
2)Understand process (transport,
transformation and removal)
3)Monitor concentration
4)Protection from effects
 CONTROL OF PARTICULATES
1) Settling chambers consist of wide
places in the exhaust flue where large
particles can settle out, usually with baffle
to slow the emission stream. Only
particulates > 100 m can be removed.
2) Cyclones most effective means of
controlling particulates. The dirty air is
blasted into a conical cylinder but off
center line. This creates a violent swirl
within the cone and the heavy solids
migrate to the wall of the cylinder where
they slow down due to friction, slide down
the cone and finally exit at the bottom.
The clean air is in the middle of the
cylinder and exits out at the top.
 Cleaned gas

Dirty gas

Does NOT produce

hazardous
materials like other

Dust discharge
Cyclone Separator - Cheap
3) Bag filters (fabric filters) operate like the
common vacuum cleaner. They are used to
collect dust then removed from the bag. This
filter can remove submicron sizes of particulates
but are sensitive to high temperature and
humidity. Filter bags are widely used in many
industrial applications. The dust particles adhere
to the fabric due to entrapment and surface
forces.
 Bags

Cleaned gas

Dirty gas

Dust discharge
Baghouse Filter only one to remove hazardous fine particles
4) Spray Tower or scrubber effective
for removing large particulates.
Drawbacks include producing visible
plume, albeit only water vapor. The
waste is converted to liquid which
needs treatment.
Sieve Tray
Perforated Tray
Valve and Valve Tray
Vapor/Liquid Flow Paths
 TRAY DESIGNS
SIEVE TRAY
BUBBLE CAPS
VALVE TRAYS

http://www.koch-
glitsch.com/koch/products/flexitray_trays.as
p

http://www.jaeger.com/inter
nals-HDbubblecaptrays.htm
Bubble Cap Close Up
5) Electrostatic Precipitators (ESP) widely used
in power plants, because power is readily
available. The particulates are first charged by
electrons jumping from one high voltage
electrode to the other and then migrating to
the positively charge collecting electrode.
Effective in removing submicron particles.
 CONTROL OF GASEOUS POLLUTANTS
1) Wet Scrubbers the gaseous pollutants are
dissolved in water. Alternatively, a chemical
may be injected which reacts with the
pollutants (usually done to remove SO 2 and
SO3)
Cleaned gas Dirty gas

Clean
water

Wet
gas

Dirty water Remove 98% of SO2 and

PM from emissions
2) Adsorption used when it is possible
to bring the pollutant into contact with
an adsorber like activated carbon.
3) Incineration or Flaring used when
organic pollutant can be oxidized to
CO2 and water, catalytic combustion.
 CONTROL OF SOx
1)Change to low sulfur fuel (coal to
natural gas, more expensive)
2)Desulfurize the coal
3)Tall stacks to disperse SO2
4)Flue gas desulfurization reduce SO2
emitted by cleaning the gases
coming from the combustion process
 Solutions

Motor Vehicle Pollutions

Prevention Cleanup
Mass transit Emission control
devices
Bicycles and walking

Less polluting engines

Less polluting fuels

Solutions
Improve fuel efficiency Car exhaust for mobile
Inspections
Get older, polluting
cars off the road
twice a year emissions
Give buyers tax write-
offs for buying low-
polluting, energy-
efficient vehicles

Restrict driving in Stricter emission

polluted areas standards
 Solutions
Air Pollution
Prevention Cleanup

Improve energy efficiency Reduce poverty

to reduce fossil fuel use

Rely more on lower- Distribute cheap and efficient

polluting natural gas cookstoves to poor families in
developing countries

Rely more on renewable

energy (especially solar
cells, wind, and solar- Reduce or ban indoor smoking
produced hydrogen)

Transfer technologies for Develop simple and cheap

latest energy efficiency, test for indoor pollutants
renewable energy, and such as particulates, radon,
pollution prevention to
developing countries. and formaldehyde