ALTERNATIVE ENERGY

MEC4205
ATMOSPHERIC POLLUTION CONTROL MEASURES

Balgobin
13-03-2020
INTRODUCTION
Atmospheric pollution is the release of a harmful chemical or material into the atmosphere. The
consequences can be devastating - carbon dioxide, for example, is one of the major causes of  climate
change, while nitrogen oxide and sulphur dioxide combine to form harmful acid rain. Not all pollution is
directly man-made, however, such as the release of ammonia from livestock. Ammonia is toxic to many
aquatic animals and can lead to soil acidification and smog.[ CITATION Pro08 \l 9225 ]

Atmospheric pollution is also harmful to human health. It has driven cancer to be the main cause of death
in China, the poster country for smog, and more than half of Americans are breathing unacceptable
standards of air. In the UK alone it is thought that air pollution causes 29,000 deaths every year.
Chemicals discharged into the air that have a direct impact on the environment are called primary
pollutants. These primary pollutants sometimes react with other chemicals in the air to produce secondary
pollutants.[ CITATION CHR19 \l 9225 ]

Diagram shows sources of air pollution

Source: [ CITATION Jer20 \l 9225 ]
BRIEF HISTORY
Air pollution, particularly in cities, is certainly not a new problem. Back in the Middle Ages the use
of coal in cities such as London was beginning to escalate. The problems of poor urban air quality even as
early as the end of the 16th century are well documented.
In the UK, the Industrial Revolution during the 18th and 19th centuries was based on the use
of coal. Industries were often located in towns and cities, and together with the burning of coal in homes
for domestic heat, urban air pollution levels often reached very high levels. During foggy conditions,
pollution levels escalated and urban smog were formed. These often brought cities to a halt, disrupting
traffic but more dangerously causing death rates to dramatically rise. The effects of this pollution on
buildings and vegetation also became obvious. The 1875 Public Health Act contained a smoke abatement
section to try and reduce smoke pollution in urban areas.[ CITATION Jes \l 9225 ]

During the first part of the 20th century, tighter industrial controls lead to a reduction in smog pollution in
urban areas. The 1926 Smoke Abatement Act was aimed at reducing smoke emissions from industrial
sources, but despite the declining importance of coal as a domestic fuel, pollution from domestic sources
remained significant.[ CITATION Jes \l 9225 ]
THREE CONTROL MEASURES
1) VEGETATION:
Plants contribute towards controlling air-pollution by utilizing carbon dioxide and releasing oxygen in the
process of photosynthesis. This purifies the air (removal of gaseous pollutant—CO2) for the respiration of
human and animals[ CITATION Puj18 \l 9225 ].

Gaseous pollutants like carbon monoxide are fixed by some plants, namely, Coleus Blumeri, Ficus
variegata and Phascolus Vulgaris. Species of Pinus, Quercus, Pyrus, Juniperus and Vitis depollute the air
by metabolising nitrogen oxides. Plenty of trees are planted especially around those areas which are de-
clared as high-risk areas of pollution.[ CITATION Puj18 \l 9225 ]

2) SOURCE CORRECTION METHODS:

Industries make a major contribution towards air pollution. Formation of pollutants can be prevented and
their emission can be minimised at the source itself. By carefully investigating the early stages of design
and development in industrial processes e.g., those methods which have minimum air pollution potential
can be selected to accomplish air-pollution control at source itself.[ CITATION Puj18 \l 9225 ]

These source correction methods are:

(i) Substitution of raw materials:
(a) Low sulphur fuel which has less pollution potential can be used as an alter native to high Sulphur
fuels, and,
(b) More refined liquid petroleum gas (LPG) or liquefied natural gas (LNG) can be used instead of
traditional high contaminant fuels such as coal.[ CITATION Puj18 \l 9225 ]
(ii) Process Modification:
(a) If coal is washed before pulverization, then fly-ash emissions are considerably reduced.
(b) If air intake of boiler furnace is adjusted, then excess fly-ash emissions at power plants can be
reduced.[ CITATION Puj18 \l 9225 ]

(iii) Modification of Existing Equipment:

(a) For example, smoke, carbon-monoxide and fumes can be reduced if open hearth furnaces are replaced
with controlled basic oxygen furnaces or electric furnaces.
(b) In petroleum refineries, loss of hydrocarbon vapours from storage tanks due to evaporation,
temperature changes or displacement during filling etc. can be reduced by designing the storage tanks
with floating roof covers.
(c) Pressurising the storage tanks in the above case can also give similar results.[ CITATION Puj18 \l 9225 ]

3) POLLUTION CONTROL EQUIPMENT:

Sometimes pollution control at source is not possible by preventing the emission of pollutants. Then it
becomes necessary to install pollution control equipment to remove the gaseous pollutants from the main
gas stream. The pollutants are present in high concentration at the source and as their distance from the
source increases, they become diluted by diffusing with environmental air.[ CITATION Puj18 \l 9225 ]
Pollution control equipment’s are generally classified into two types: Control devices for particulate
contaminants and control devices for gaseous contaminants.

Classification of pollution control equipment

Source: [ CITATION AJH18 \l 9225 ]

(i) Cyclone Separators:

In cyclone separators, centrifugal force is utilized to separate the particulate matter from the polluted gas.
Centrifugal force, several times greater than gravitational force, can be generated by a spinning gas
stream and this quality makes cyclone separators more effective in removing small particulates. A simple
cyclone separator consists of a cylinder with a conical base. A tangential inlet discharging near the top
and an outlet for discharging the particulates is present at the base of the cone.[ CITATION Fes16 \l 9225 ]

(ii) Fabric 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 insides 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 (0.5 µm).
[ CITATION Fes16 \l 9225 ]

(iii) Electrostatic Precipitators:

The electrostatic precipitator works on the principle of electrostatic precipitation i.e. electrically charged
particulates present in the polluted gas are separated from the gas stream under the influence of the
electrical field.[ CITATION Fes16 \l 9225 ]

(iv) Wet Collectors (Scrubbers):

In wet collectors or scrubbers, the particulate contaminants are removed from the polluted gas stream by
incorporating the particulates into liquid droplets.[ CITATION Puj18 \l 9225 ]
(v) Gravitational Settling Chamber:
This device consists of huge rectangular chambers. The gas stream polluted with particulates 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.[ CITATION Puj18 \l 9225 ]

References
Acreman, P. M. (2008, January). Atmospheric pollution. Retrieved from https://www.ceh.ac.uk/:
https://www.ceh.ac.uk/our-science/science-issues/atmospheric-pollution

Adams, J. L. (2005). History of air pollution. Retrieved from www.enviropedia.org:

http://www.enviropedia.org.uk/Air_Quality/History.php

Asaaga, F. (2016, September). Controlling air pollution. Retrieved from Queensland Government:
https://www.qld.gov.au/environment/pollution/monitoring/air/air-pollution/controlling

Haagen-Smit, A. J. (2018). Air polution control measures. Retrieved from BAD AREA AIR QUALITY
MANAGEMENT DISTRICT: https://www.baaqmd.gov/community-health/air-pollution-control-
measures?sc_lang=es-MX&switch_lang=true

Mondal, P. (2018). 5 Effective Methods to Control Air Pollution. Retrieved from

http://www.yourarticlelibrary.com/: http://www.yourarticlelibrary.com/air-pollution/5-
effective-methods-to-control-air-pollution-explained-with-diagram/28360

Nathanson, J. A. (2020). Pollution. Retrieved from Encyclopedia Britannica:

https://www.britannica.com/science/pollution-environment

NUNEZ, C. (2019). Retrieved from https://www.nationalgeographic.com/environment/global-

warming/pollution/