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Waste Management (HPSC/HPPSC)

Haryana State Pollution Control Board

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Air Pollution Control
Air pollution may be defined as the presence of one or more contaminants in the
air in such quantities and for such durations which may be or tend to be injurious
to human, animal or plant life, or property, or which unreasonably interferes with
the comfortable usage of air.

Figure 1: Air pollution sources

PARTICULATE EMISSION CONTROL BY MECHANICAL SEPARATION

The basic mechanism of removing particulate matter from gas stream is classified
as:

1) gravitational settling
2) centrifugal impaction
3) inertial impaction
4) direct interception
5) diffusion and
6) Electrostatic precipitation.

Equipment presently available, which make use of one or more of the above
mechanisms, fall into the following five broad categories:

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 1) Gravitational settling chambers
2) Cyclone separators
3) Fabric filters
4) Electrostatic precipitator

[A] Gravitational Settling Chambers

 Gravitational settling chambers are generally used to remove large, abrasive

particles (usually >50 µm) from gas stream.
 It provides enlarged areas to minimize horizontal velocities and allow time
for the vertical velocity to carry the particle to the floor.
 The usual velocity through settling chambers is between 0.5 to 2.5 m/s.

Figure 2: Gravitation settling chamber

Advantage:

1) Low pressure loss,

2) Simplicity of design and maintenance.

Disadvantage:

1) Requires larger space,

2) Efficiency is low
3) Only larger sized particles are separated out.

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Design of a gravitational settling chamber

If we assume that Stokes law applies we can derive a formula for calculating the
minimum diameter of a particle collected at 100% theoretical efficiency in a
chamber of length L.

Where vt =terminal settling velocity, m/s

Where,
g=gravitational constant, m/s2 ;
ρp =density of particle, kg/m3 ;
ρa=density air, kg/m3 ;
dp=diameter of particle, m;
µa=viscosity of air, kg/m s;
H=height of settling chamber, m;
vh=horizontal flow-through velocity, m/s; and
L=length of settling chamber, m.

Solving for dp gives an equation that predicts the largest-size particle that can be
removed with 100% efficiency from a settling chamber of given dimension.

All particles larger than dp will also be removed with 100% efficiency, while the
efficiency for smaller particles is the ratio of their settling velocities to the settling
velocity of the dp particle.

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[B] Cyclone Separators

 A cyclone separator consists of a cylindrical shell, conical base, dust hopper

and an inlet where the dust-laden gas enters tangentially.
 Under the influence of the centrifugal force generated by the spinning gas,
the solid particles are thrown to the wall of the cyclone as the gas spirals
upward at the inside of the cone.
 The particles slide down the walls of the cone and into the hopper.
 The operating efficiency of a cyclone depends on the magnitude of the
centrifugal force exerted on the particles.
 The greater the centrifugal force, the greater the spreading efficiency.
 The magnitude of the centrifugal force generated depends on particle mass,
gas velocity within the cyclone, and cyclone diameter.

Where,
Fc =centrifugal force, N;
Mp=particulate mass, Kg;
vi = particle velocity m/s and
R = radius of the cyclone, m.

 From this equation, it can be seen that the centrifugal force on the particles,
and thus the collection efficiency of the cyclone collector can be increased
by decreasing R.
 Large-diameter cyclone have good collection efficiencies for particles 40 to
50 µm in diameter.

Advantage:

1) Relatively inexpensive,
2) Simple to design and maintain;
3) Requires less floor area;
4) low to moderate pressure loss.

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Disadvantage:

1) Requires much head room;

2) Collection efficiency is low for smaller particles,
3) Quite sensitive to variable dust loading and flow rates.

[C] Fabric Filters

 In a fabric filter system, the particulate-laden gas stream passes through a

woven or felted fabric that filters out the particulate matter and allows the
gas to pass through.
 Small particles are initially retained on the fabric by direct interception,
inertial impaction, diffusion, electrostatic attraction, and gravitational
settling.
 After a dust mat has formed on the fabric, more efficient collection of
submicron particle is accomplished by sieving.
 Filter bags usually tubular or envelope-shaped, are capable of removing
most particles as small as 0.5µm and will remove substantial quantity of
particles as small as 0.1µm.
 Filter bags ranging from 1.8 to 9 m long, can be utilized in a bag house filter
arrangement.
 As particulates build up on the inside surface of the bags, the pressure drop
increases. Before the pressure drop becomes too severe, the bag must be
relieved of some of the particulate layer.
 Fabric filter can be cleaned intermittently, periodically, or continuously.

Fabric and Fibre Characteristics:

 Fabric filter may be classified according to filtering media: woven fabric or

felt cloth.
 Woven fabrics have a definite long range repeating pattern and have
considerable porosity in the direction of gas flow. These open spaces must
be bridged by impaction of interception to form a true filtering surface.
 Felted cloth consists of randomly oriented fibres, compressed into a mat and
needled to some loosely woven backing material to improve mechanical
strength.

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  The choice of fabric fibre is based primarily on operating temperature and
the corrosiveness or abrasiveness of the particle.
 Cotton is the least expensive fibre, and is preferably used in low temperature
dust collection service.
 Silicon coated glass fibre cloth is commonly employed in high temperature
applications.
 The glass fibre must be lubricated to prevent abrasion. All fibre may be
applied to the manufacture of woven and felt type fabrics.

Fabric Filter System:

 Fabric filter systems typically consist of a tubular bag or an envelope,

suspended or mounted in such manner that the collected particles fall into
hopper when dislodged from fabric.
 The structure in which the bags are hanged is known as a bag-house.
 Generally, particle laden gas enters the bag at the bottom and passes through
the fabric while the particles are deposited on the inside of the bag.
 The cleaning is accomplished by shaking at fixed intervals of time.

Figure 3: Typical bag-house

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Advantage:

1) Fabric filters can give high efficiency, and

2) can even remove very small particles in dry state.

Disadvantage:

1) High temperature gasses need to be cooled.

2) The flue gasses must be dry to avoid condensation and clogging.
3) The fabric is liable to chemical attacks.

[D] Electrostatic Precipitator

 One of the most widely used device for controlling particulate emission at
industrial installations ranging from power plants, cement and paper mills to
oil refineries.
 Electrostatic precipitator is a physical process by which particles suspended
in gas stream are charged electrically and, under the influence of the
electrical field, separated from the gas stream.
 The precipitator system consists of a positively charged collecting surface
and a high-voltage discharge electrode wire suspended from an insulator at
the top and held in passion by weight at the bottom.
 At a very high DC voltage, of the order of 50kV, a corona discharge occurs
close to the negative electrode, setting up an electric field between the
emitted and the grounded surface.
 The particle laden gas enters near the bottom and flows upward.
 The gas close to the negative electrode is, thus, ionized upon passing
through the corona.
 As the negative ions and electrons migrate toward the grounded surface,
they in turn charge the passing particles.
 The electrostatic field then draws the particles to the collector surface where
they are deposited.
 Periodically, the collected particles must be removed from the collecting
surface. This is done by rapping or vibrating the collector to dislodge the
particles.

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  The dislodged particles drop below the electrical treatment zone and are
collected for ultimate disposal.

Advantage:

1) Maintenance is nominal, and adhesive materials are present in flue gases.

2) They contain few moving parts.
3) They can be operated at high temperature up to 300o C-450o C.

Disadvantage:

1) Higher initial cost.

2) Sensitive to variable dust loading and flow rates.
3) They use high voltage, and hence may pose risk to personal safety of the
staff.
4) Collection efficiency reduces with time.

PARTICULATE EMISSION CONTROL BY WET GAS SCRUBBING

 Wet scrubber removes particulate matter from gas streams by incorporating

the particles into liquid droplets directly on contact.
 The basic function of wet scrubber is to provide contact between the
scrubbing liquid, usually water and, the particulate to be collected.
 This contact can be achieved in a variety of ways as the particles are
confronted with so-called impaction target, which can be wetted surface as
in packed scrubbers or individual droplets as in spray scrubbers.
 The basic collection mechanism is the same as in filters: inertial impaction,
interception and diffusion. Generally, impaction and interception are the
predominant mechanism for particles of diameter above 3 µm, and for
particle of diameter below 0.3µm diffusion begins to prevail.
 There are many scrubber designs presently available where the contact
between the scrubbing liquid and the particles is achieved in a variety of
ways. The major types are: plate scrubber, packed-bed scrubber, spray
scrubber, venturi scrubber, cyclone scrubber, baffle scrubber, impingement-
entrainment scrubber, and fluidized-bed scrubber.

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[A] Plate scrubber

It contains a vertical tower containing one or more horizontal plates (trays). Gas
enters the bottom of the tower and must pass through perforations in each plate as
it flows countercurrent to the descending water stream. Collection efficiency
increases as the diameter of the perforations decreases. A cut diameter, that
collected with 50% efficiency, of about µm aerodynamic diameter can be achieved
with 3.2-mm-diameter holes in a sieve plate.

[B] Packed –bed scrubber

Operates similarly to packed-bed gas absorber. Collection efficiency increases as

packing size decreases. A cut diameter of 1.5 µm aerodynamic diameter can be
attained in columns packed with 2.5 cm elements.

Figure 4: Packed–bed scrubber

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[C] Spray scrubber

Particles are collected by liquid drops that have been atomized by spray nozzles.
Horizontal and vertical gas flows are used, as well as spray introduced co-current,
countercurrent, or cross-flow to the gas. Collection efficiency depends on droplet
size, gas velocity, liquid/gas ratio, and droplet trajectories. For droplets falling at
their terminal velocity, the optimum droplet diameter for fineparticle collection lies
in the range 100 to 500 µm. Gravitational settling scrubbers can achieve cut
diameters of about 2.0 µm. The liquid/gas ratio is in the range 0.001 to 0.01 m3 /
m3 of gas treated.

[D] Venturi scrubber

A moving gas stream is used to atomize liquids into droplets. High gas velocities
(60 to 120 m/s) lead to high relative velocities between gas and particles and
promote collection.

[E] Cyclone scrubber

Drops can be introduced into the gas stream of a cyclone to collect particles. The
spray can be directed outward from a central manifold or inward from the collector
wall.

[F] Impingement-Entrainment Scrubber:

The gas is forced to impinge on a liquid surface to reach a gas exit. Some of the
liquid atomizes into drops that are entrained by the gas. The gas exit is designed so
as to minimize the loss of entrained droplets.

[G] Fluidized-bed scrubber

A zone of fluidized packing is provided where gas and liquid can mix intimately.
Gas passes upward through the packing, while liquid is sprayed up from the
bottom and/or flows down over the top of the fluidized layer of packing.

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Particulate emission control by electrostatic precipitation

 The electrostatic precipitator is one of the most widely used collection

devices for particulates.
 An electrostatic precipitator (ESP) is a particulate collection device that
removes particles from a flowing gaseous stream (such as air) using the
force of an induced electrostatic charge.
 ESP can be operated at high temperature and pressures, and its power
requirement is low. For these reasons the electrostatic precipitation is often
the preferred method of collection where high efficiency is required with
small particles.
 ESP are highly efficient filtration devices that minimally impede the flow of
gases through the device, and can easily remove fine particulate matter such
as dust and smoke from the air stream.
 In the electrostatic precipitation process the basic force which acts to
separate the particles from the gas is electrostatic attraction. The particles are
given an electrical charge by forcing them to pass through a corona, a region
in which gaseous ions flow. The electrical field that forces the charged
particles to the walls comes from electrodes maintained at high voltage in
the center of the flow lane.
 Control of emissions from the industrial sources has served the threefold
purpose of :
1. Recovery of the for economic reason
2. Removal of abrasive dusts to reduce wear of fan component
3. Removal of objectionable natter from gases being discharged into the
atmosphere

APPLICATION OF ELECTROSTATIC PRECIPITATORS:

 Pulp and paper mills, Non-ferrous metal industry, Chemical industry, Public
buildings and areas
 Cement recovery furnace, steel plant for cleaning Blast furnace gas.
 Removing tars from coke oven, sulphuric acid (Pyrite raw material), and
phosphoric acid plant.

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  Petroleum industry for recovery of catalyst, carbon black, thermal power
plant.

REQUIREMENT OF ELECTROSTATIC PRECIPITATION PROCESS

 Source of high voltage

 Discharge and collecting electrode
 Inlet and outlet for gas
 A means for disposal of collected material
 Cleaning system, Outer casing.

STEPS IN ELECTROSTATIC PRECIPITATION

 Generation of Electric field high voltage Direct current 20-80kv.

 Generation of electric charges
 Transfer of electric charge to a dust particle.
 Movement of the charge dust particle in an electric field to the collection
electrodes.
 Adhesion of the charge dust particle to the surface of the collection
electrode.
 Dislodging of dust layer from collection electrode
 Collection of dust layer in a hopper
 Removal of the dust from the hopper.

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Figure 5. Movement of dust and air in ESP

Figure 6. Electrical field generation

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PRINCIPLE OF ESP

Principle of ESP has four distinct phases as follows:

(I) Ionization or corona generation: When the potential difference between the
wire and electrode increases, a voltage is reached where an electrical
breakdown of the gas occurs near the wire. This electrical break down or ion
discharge is known as corona formation and thereby gas is transformed from
insulating to conducting state.

Two types of corona discharge can be generated which are:

(a) Negative corona: In negative corona, discharge electrode is of negative

polarity and the process of electron generation occurs at narrow region

(b) Positive corona: When positive voltage is applied to discharge electrodes in

the same way as negative corona, large number of free electron and positive
ions are generated. Or large number of positive ions produced move towards
collecting electrode and thus transfer charge to dust particles upon collision.

Figure 7.Variation of field strength between wire and plate electrodes

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Negative coronas are more commonly used in industrial application, while for
cleaning air in inhabited space positive coronas are used. Due to ozone generation
in negative corona its application for air cleaning in inhabited area is avoided.

(II) Charging of Particles: Particle charging takes place in region between the
boundary of corona glow and the collection electrode, where particles are
subjected to the rain of negative ions from the corona process. Mainly two
mechanisms are responsible for particle charging. Each mechanism becomes
significant according to particle size ranges. For particles having diameter
greater than 1µm, field charging is dominant force; and for particle size less
than 0.2 µm diffusion charging predominates.
(III) Migration and precipitation of particle:
(IV) Removal of deposited dust: Once collected, particle can be removed by
coalescing and draining, in the case of liquid aerosols and by periodic impact or
rapping, in case of solid material. In case of solid material, a sufficiently thick
layer of dust must be collected so that it falls into the hopper or bin in coherent
masses to prevent excessive re-entrainment of the material into the gas system.

TYPES OF ELECTROSTATIC PRECIPITATORS

ESPs are configured in several ways. Some of these configurations have been
developed for special control action, and others have evolved for economic
reasons.

[A] SINGLE STAGE PRECIPITATORS

Plate-Wire Precipitators

 In a plate-wire ESP, gas flows between parallel plates of sheet metal and
high-voltage electrodes.
 These electrodes are long wires weighted and hanging between the plates or
are supported there by mast-like structures (rigid frames).
 Within each flow path, gas flow must pass each wire in sequence as flows
through the unit.
 Plate-wire ESPs are used in a wide variety of industrial applications,
including coal-fired boilers, cement kilns, solid waste incinerators, paper
mill recovery boilers, petroleum refining catalytic cracking units, sinter

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 plants, basic oxygen furnaces, open hearth furnaces, electric arc furnaces,
coke oven batteries, and glass furnaces.

Flat Plate Precipitators

 A significant number of smaller precipitators [100,000 to 200,000 actual

cubic feet per minute (acfm)] use flat plates instead of wires for the high-
voltage electrodes.
 A flat plate ESP operates with little or no corona current flowing through the
collected dust, except directly under the corona needles or wires [3].
 Flat plate ESPs seem to have wide application for high-resistivity particles
with small (1 to 2 µm) mass median diameters
 Fly ash has been successfully collected with this type of ESP, but low-flow
velocity appears to be critical for avoiding high rapping losses.

Tubular Precipitators

 The original ESPs were tubular like the smokestacks they were placed on,
with the high-voltage electrode running along the axis of the tube.
 Tubular precipitators have typical applications in sulfuric add plants, coke
oven by-product gas cleaning (tar removal), and, recently, iron and steel
sinter plants.

Wet Precipitators

 Any of the precipitator configurations discussed above may be operated with

wet walls instead of dry.
 The water flow may be applied intermittently or continuously to wash the
collected particles into a sump for disposal.
 The advantage of the wet wall precipitator is that it has no problems with
rapping re-entrainment or with back coronas.
 The disadvantage is the increased complexity of the wash and the fact that
the collected slurry must be handled more carefully than a dry product,
adding to the expense of disposal.

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TWO-STAGE PRECIPITATORS

 The previously described precipitators are all parallel in nature, i.e., the
discharge and collecting electrodes are side by side.
 Two-stage precipitators are considered to be separate and distinct types of
devices compared to large, high-gas-volume, single-stage ESPs.
 The two-stage precipitator invented by Penney is a series device with the
discharge electrode, or ionizer, preceding the collector electrodes.
 Advantages of this configuration include more time for particle charging,
less propensity for back corona, and economical construction for small sizes.

OPERATIONAL ISSUES

 Pre-Scrubbing
 Wash-down sprays and wires
 Wet/dry Interface
 Current Suspension
 Sparking
 Mist Elimination

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Gaseous emission control by adsorption

In adsorption process the contaminant removal is done by passing a stream of

effluent gas through a porous solid material (adsorbent) contained in adsorption
bed. The surface of porous solid material attracts and holds the gas (the adsorbate)
by either by physical or chemical adsorption. The basic difference between
physical and chemical adsorption is the manner in which the gas molecule is
bonded to the adsorbent.

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SALIENT FEATURE OF ADSORPTION PROCESS

1. Adsorption processes are used extensively on large-scale applications

having solvent vapour concentrations in the range of 10 to 10,000 ppm.
2. Prior to becoming saturated with the solvents, the adsorbent is isolated
from the gas stream and treated to drive the solvent compounds out of the
solid adsorbent and into a small volume, high concentration gas stream.
3. The desorbed gas stream is then treated to recover and reuse the solvents.
4. The adsorbent is cooled (if necessary) and returned to adsorption service.
5. Because the adsorbent is treated and placed back in service, these
adsorption processes are termed regenerative.
6. Adsorption processes usually operate at efficiencies of 90% to 98% over
long time periods.

Table 1. Physical Properties of Major Type of Adsorbents

STEPS IN ADSORPTION PROCESS

Adsorption occurs in three steps

Step 1: The contaminant diffuses from the bulk gas stream to the external surface
of the adsorbent material.

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Step 2: The contaminant molecule migrate external surface to the macropores,
transitional pores, and micropores within each adsorbent.

Step 3: The contaminant molecule adheres to the surface in the pore. Following
figure illustrates this overall diffusion and adsorption process.

Figure 8: Adsorption steps

Steps 1 and 2 are diffusional processes that occur because of the concentration
difference between the bulk gas stream passing through the adsorbent and the gas
near the surface of the adsorbent. Step 3 is the actual physical bonding between the
molecule and the adsorbent surface. This step occurs more rapidly than steps 1 and
2.

ADSORPTION-CAPACITY RELATIONSHIPS

Three types of equilibrium graphs are used to describe adsorption capacity,

(1) isotherm at constant temperature,

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(2) isobar at constant pressure, and

(3) isostere at constant amount of vapour adsorbed.

Isotherm: The isotherm is a plot of the adsorbent capacity versus the partial
pressure of the adsorbate at a constant temperature. Adsorbent capacity is usually
given as pound of adsorbate per 100 pound of adsorbent. These type of graphs are
used to estimate the quantity of adsorption. Isotherms can be concave upward,
concave downward, or “S” shaped.

Isostere: The isostere is a plot of the natural log of the pressure versus the
reciprocal of absolute temperature (ln(p) vs. 1/T) at a constant amount of vapour
adsorbed. Adsorption isostere lines are straight for most adsorbate-adsorbent
systems. The isostere is important because the slope of the isostere corresponds to
the differential heat of adsorption. The total or integral heat of adsorption is
determined by integration over the total quantity of material adsorbed.

Isobar: It is a plot of the amount of vapour adsorbed versus temperature at a

constant pressure. Below figure shows an isobar line for the adsorption of benzene
vapours on activated carbon.

Figure 9. Adsorption isobar for benzene adsorption onto carbon

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ADSORBENT REGENERATION METHODS

After a long period of operation and when adsorption bed becomes saturated
replacement or regeneration of the adsorbent bed is necessary in order to maintain
continuous operation. When the adsorbate concentration is high, and/or the cycle
time is short (less than 12 hours), replacement of the adsorbent is not feasible, and
in-situ regeneration is required. Regeneration is accomplished by reversing the
adsorption process, usually increasing the temperature or decreasing the pressure.

Following four main methods used commercially for regeneration.

Thermal Swing: The bed is heated so that the adsorption capacity is reduced to a
lower level. The adsorbate leaves the surface of the carbon and is removed from
the vessel by a stream of purge gas. Cooling must be provided before the
subsequent adsorption cycle begins.

Pressure Swing: The pressure is lowered at a constant temperature to reduce the

adsorbent capacity.

Inert Purge Gas Stripping: The stripping action is caused by an inert gas that
reduces the partial pressure of the contaminant in the gas phase, reversing the
concentration gradient. Molecules migrate from the surface into the gas stream.

Displacement Cycle: The adsorbates are displaced by a preferentially adsorbed

material. This method is usually a last resort for situations in which the adsorbate is
both valuable and heat sensitive and in which pressure swing regeneration is
ineffective.

FACTORS AFFECTING THE PERFORMANCE OF ADSORPTION

SYSTEM

Temperature: For physical adsorption processes, the capacity of an adsorbent

decreases as the temperature of the system increases. With increase in the
temperature, the vapour pressure of the adsorbate increases, raising the energy
level of the adsorbed molecules. Adsorbed molecules now have sufficient energy
to overcome the van der Waals’ attraction and migrate back to the gas phase.
Molecules already in the gas phase tend to stay there due to their high vapour
pressure.

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 Figure 10. Carbon capacity versus gas stream temperature

Pressure: Adsorption capacity increases with an increase in the partial pressure of

the vapour. The partial pressure of a vapour is proportional to the total pressure of
the system. Any increase in pressure will increase the adsorption capacity of a
system. The increase in capacity occurs because of a decrease in the mean free path
of vapour at higher pressures.

Gas velocity: The gas determines the contact or residence time between the
contaminant stream and adsorbent. The slower the contaminant stream flows
through the adsorbent bed, the greater the probability of a contaminant molecule
reaching an available site.

In order to achieve 90% or more capture efficiency, most carbon adsorption

systems are designed for a maximum airflow velocity of 100 ft/min (30 m/min)
through the adsorber. A lower limit of at least 20 ft/min (6 m/min) is maintained to
avoid flow problems such as channeling. Gas velocity through the adsorber is a
function of the cross-sectional area of the adsorber for a given volume of
contaminant gas.

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Humidity: Activated carbon has more affinity towards nonpolar hydrocarbons
over polar water vapour. The water vapour molecules in the exhaust stream exhibit
strong attractions for each other rather than the adsorbent. At high relative
humidity, over 50%, the number of water molecules increases to the extent that
they begin to compete with the hydrocarbon molecules for active adsorption sites.
This reduces the capacity and the efficiency of the adsorption system.

Bed Depth: Providing a sufficient depth of adsorbent is very important in

achieving efficient gas removal due to the rate that VOC compounds are adsorbed
in the bed. There are practical minimum and maximum limits to the bed depth.

Figure 11. Mass transfer zone

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