Air Pollution Control:

Control of Particulate matter (PM)

Introduction
Upon their release in the atmosphere, pollutants may be found in any of the three
phases of matter, i.e., solid (particles, e.g., cement dust, pharmaceuticals, tobacco); liquid
(e.g., mist), or vapor (e.g., volatile organic compounds, VOCs), or gases (e.g., SOx or NOx).

The first priority is to minimize (or better, prevent) the pollutant emission. If, however,
this was not sufficient to reduce the pollutant emission below the maximum permissible
limits of the environmental laws in force, treatment of the pollutants after they have been
formed becomes essential.

Pollution control techniques are available to deal with all types and phases of
pollutants. The appropriate technique is selected according to: 1) efficiency; 2) price; and 3)
environmental impact.

Characteristics of Particulate Matter

The important characteristics of the particles that affect the design of a particulate
matter removal system include: size, size distribution, density, stickiness, corrosivity,
resistivity and toxicity. Gas stream characteristics of importance are temperature, humidity,
chemical composition, volumetric flow rate, and particulate loading (mass concentration of
particles in the gas). Because it is costly, pollution control is always driven by legislation.
Therefore, design parameters also include the maximum permissible concentrations of PM in
the design area.
Particle sizes cover a wide range. Figure 4.1 illustrates the large range of sizes of various
types of particles.

Figure (4.1) shows the size range of particles that can be found in the atmosphere together
with the techniques used for both their measurement and their removal from the atmosphere.

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 Figure 4.1: Sizes of Particles and Examples of Particle-in-Gas

As seen in Figure 4.1, particles that must be collected can be much smaller than the
diameter of a human hair (which is ~ 50 to 150 µm), and even smaller than the diameter of a
red blood cell from an adult human (which is ~ 7.5 µm).

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 Most collection devices work better on larger particles than on smaller ones. This is the
size distribution of particles is an important characteristic.

Thus, if the PM being emitted consist of mostly particles larger than 20 µm, the
collection task is much easier than if the PM distribution is heavily weighted towards
particles less than 5 µm. In the two cases, we probably can use two different types of control
devices. Also, if the temperatures and humidities of the two gas streams are quite different,
then different control devices are probably needed.

Therefore, a single device generally works better on larger, denser particles and
collects them with a higher efficiency than smaller lighter particles. That is, the device will
exhibit a higher efficiency on those larger sized particles than on the smaller ones. To
determine the overall collection efficiency of the device, it is usually important to know
something about the size distribution of particles.

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 Different Techniques in Particulate Removal

I- Settling Chambers:

 Are used ONLY to remove large particles ( > 100 m in diameter)

Figure 4.2: Schematic of a settling chamber.

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 II- Cyclone Separators:

Are used when:

 Particles are coarse (> 5 m in diameter)

 Concentrations are fairly high (> 1 gr/ft3)
 High efficiencies are not required
 Inexpensive, easy to make and to maintain

Figure 4.3: Schematic of a cyclone

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 Cyclone Dimensions:

Figure 4.4: Cyclone dimensions

High Efficiency Standard High

Throughput
Inlet height H/D 0.44 0.5 0.8
Inlet width W/D 0.21 0.25 035
Gas exit diameter De/D 0.4 0.5 0.75
Body length Lb/D 1.4 1.75 1.7
Cone length Lc/D 2.5 2.0 2.0
Vortex Finder S/D 05 0.6 0.85
Dust outlet diameter Dd /D 0.4 0.4 0.4

Typical Cyclone Dimensions

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 III- Fabric Filters (bag house):

 Expensive, but used when:

 Very high efficiencies are required
 Gases are dry and always above the dew point.
 Volumes are low; Temperatures are relatively low
 Capable of removing 99% of particles down to 3 m.
 Can remove very small particles (> 0.01 um)
 Valuable materials is to be collected dry
 Applicable to a wide variety of dusts
 Reasonably low pressure drop
 But: Require large area; Bags can be damaged by corrosion
 Can not operate in moist environment

Figure 4.5: Schematic of Fabric Filters

Figure 4.6: The filter medium and the filter cake

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 The different mechanisms for particle collection in filters are impaction, interception
and diffusion (top, middle and bottom figures, respectively)

Figure 4.7: Different filtration mechanisms.

When selecting bag-house filters, consider:
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• Temperature (operating above the fabric maximum temperature can rapidly degrade
the bag. Low temperature can cause condensation of acid and/or blinding of the fabric
with wet dust. Wet PM can bridge over in hoppers. As temperature increases, the gas
viscosity and flow rates increase causing the pressure drop to increase)

• Chemical nature of gas

• Fire/Explosion (some fabrics are flammable, some dusts are explosive)

• Bag arrangement (plan for maintenance)

• Dust handling (dust removal rate, conveyer system pneumatic tube or screw conveyer,
hopper slope)

• Fan location (a clean-air-side fan pulls the air through saves on fan maintenance but
requires an airtight structure and generally a stronger structure is required.

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 IV- Scrubber (Spray Tower)

 Expensive
 Will remove soluble gases as well (SO2, NOx)
 May use chemicals other than water

Are used when:

 Fine particles are to be removed at relatively high efficiency

 Cooling may be desirable and moisture is not objectionable
 Gases are combustible
 Gases as well as particles need to be removed

Figure 4.8: Schematic of a Scrubber

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 V- Electrostatic Precipitators

Are used when:

 Very large volume of gas to be handled

 Fine particles to be removed at high efficiency (efficiency 98 – 99.9 %)
 Valuable material to be recovered

Figure 4.9: Schematic of an electrostatic precipitator

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Figure 4.10: Typical collection efficiency curves for various types of particulate
collectors: A, high-throughput cyclone; B, high-efficiency cyclone; C, electrostatic
precipitator; D, venture scrubber; E, bag-house.

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 Final Notes on Choosing a Collector

In choosing a primary particle collection device one must consider the size of the
particles to be collected, the required collection efficiency, the size of the gas flow, the
allowed time between cleanings, and details of the nature of the particles.

The following rules may be helpful:

1. Small or occasional flows can be treated by throw-away devices, e.g., cigarette and motor
oil filters, in which the collected particles remain in the device. Large and steady flows
require collection devices that operate continuously or semi-continuously, and from which
the collected particles can be removed continuously or semi continuously. A throw-away
device may be used as a final cleanup device. e.g., a high-efficiency filter may remove the
last few particles from the air flowing to a microchip production clean room.

2. Sticky panicles (e.g., tars) must be collected either on throwaway devices or into a liquid,
as in a scrubber or cyclone, or wet ESP whose collecting surfaces are continually coated
with a film of flowing liquid. There must be some way to process the contaminated liquid
thus produced.

3. Particles that adhere well to each other but not to solid surfaces are easy to collect. Those
that do the reverse often need special surfaces, e.g., Teflon-coated fibers in filters that
release collected particles well during cleaning.

4. Electrical properties of the particles are of paramount importance in ESPs, and they are
often significant in other control devices where friction-induced electro-static charges on the
panicles can aid or hinder collection.

5. For non-sticky particles larger than about 5 µm, a cyclone separator is probably the
only device to consider.

6. For particles much smaller than 5 µm, one normally considers ESPs, bag-filters, and
scrubbers. Each of these can collect particles as small as a fraction of a micron.

7. For large flows the pumping cost makes scrubbers very expensive; other devices are
chosen if possible.

8.Corrosion resistance and acid dew point must always be considered.

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