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Air Pollution

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Arslan Zulfiqar Ahmed
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9 views4 pages

Air Pollution

Uploaded by

Arslan Zulfiqar Ahmed
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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Download as PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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Air Pollution Control

With environmental regulations becoming more and more stringent all


over the world, company's have to continually monitor, log, and control
what is released into the atmosphere. Many different types of equipment
are used, each dependent on many different factors.

Particulate and SO2 Emissions


A. Cyclone Separators
Typically used to remove
particulate from a gas stream,
the gas enters tangentially at
the top of a cylinder and is
forced downward into a spiral
motion. The particles exit the
bottom while the gas turns
upward into the vortex and
leaves through the top of the
unit. Pressure drops through
cyclones are usually from 13
to 17 mm water gauge.
Although seldom adequate by themselves, cyclone separators are often an
effective first step in pollution control.
(photo courtesy of RSG Inc.,
http://www.airclassify.com/)

B. Scrubbers
Separating solids or liquids from a gas
is one use of scrubbers. However,
separating a soluble gas from other gases
is the application where scrubbers see the
most action. Typically, a gas enters the
bottom of a scrubber and moves upward
while a liquid is sprayed from the top.
The soluble gas is carried away by the
liquid exiting out the bottom of the unit.
The most common application is flue gas
desulfurization using ammonia as the
solvent or spray liquid. Pressure drops
through scrubbers are usually low if
they're sized properly, and scrubbers are
generally about 50% efficient so multiple units are sometimes required or
packing may be used to increase efficiency. The contaminated liquid
exiting the scrubber represents it's own disposal problem.
(photo courtesy of Sly, Inc., http://www.slyinc.com/)
C. Semidry Scrubbers
The advantage of semidry scrubbers is in that they remove
contaminates by way of a solid waste that is easier to dispose of (less
expensive). Initially, the scrubbing medium is wet (such as a lime or
soda ash slurry) then a spray

dryer is used to atomize the slurry into the gas which evaporates the water
in the droplets. As this takes place, the acid in the gas neutralizes the
alkali material and forms a fine white solid. Most of the white solids are
removed at the bottom of the scrubber while some are carried into the gas
stream and have to be removed by a filter or electrostatic precipitator
(discussed later). Although semidry systems cost 5-15% more than wet
systems, when combined with a fabric filter, they can achieve 90-95%
efficiencies.
Dry scrubbers are sometimes used in a very similar fashion, but
without the help of gas-liquid-solid mass transfer, these systems use much
higher amounts of the solid alkali materials.

D. Electrostatic Precipitators
Boasting an efficiency in excess of 99%,
electrostatic precipitators are very effective at
removing tiny particles from gas streams. Gas
flows through a rectangular duct containing
rows of metallic strips. The strips are
negatively charged by way of a small voltage
that is applied (about 200 W for every 1000
ft3/min of gas). The efficiency is a result of the precipitators applying the
collecting force to the particles only and not the gas. Periodically, the
precipitators have to be taken offline and cleaned.
(photo courtesy of Wheelabrator, http://www.wapc.com/)

VOC (Volatile Organic


Chemicals) Emissions

A. High VOC
Concentrations (>500 ppm)
Three types of treatment
are generally used for
streams with high
concentrations of VOC:
Refrigerated Vapor
Condensation, Solvent
Vapor Adsorption, and
Flaring. The method
chosen is dependent on allowable release concentrations and the value of
the solvent. Refrigerated vapor condensation can mean condensation at
temperatures as low as -80 0C. Due to the high cost of refrigeration, this
option is usually reserved for expensive solvents whose recovery can
justify the high operating costs. Solvent vapor adsorption is a more
common application where the VOC containing gas is bubbled through an
organic solvent which "accepts" the VOC in the gas stream. The VOC
are then released from the solvent by heat and a partial vacuum. They
can then be condensed at a much higher temperature than the refrigerated
method in the absence of large amounts of inerts. An example of this
may be the popular removal of propane by using MTBE as a solvent.
Flares can be used to handle flow and concentrations surges along with
other recovery methods for high concentrations of VOC. The combustion
(and thereby loss) of VOC's, produce NOx emissions and is typically
unacceptable as the only means of eliminating VOC from highly
concentrated streams.
(photo courtesy of AMCEC Inc., http://www.amcec.com/)

B. Moderate VOC Concentrations


(100-500 ppm)
For moderate concentrations of
VOC, incineration or regenerative
carbon adsorption is utilized. At
0
temperatures between 750-1000 C,
VOC are typically destroyed at a rate
of 99%. Usually, a heat exchanger is
used to preheat the gas stream with the
flue gas to save on fuel costs for the incinerator (pictured left). Worth a
mention is that the presence of chlorides may require a more exotic
material for the incinerator and heat exchanger. Catalytic incinerators can
0
save on fuel costs by destroying VOC on a catalyst's surface at 430 C.
With similar capital costs, the extra expense is usually in the catalysts.
Also, streams containing chlorides can produce HCl when burned and the
acid can attack some catalysts. Other compability issues also have to be
addressed before using catalytic incineration.
Regenerative carbon adsorption is where a gas stream passes through a
bed of activated carbon. The VOC are adsorbed into the carbon.
Regeneration consists of stripping with low pressure steam followed by
air drying. Water and VOC are recovered by condensation. This method
can achieve 99% effectiveness for VOC concentrations from 10 to several
hundred parts per million. Economics usually favor this process when
the VOC are insoluble in water and are liquids at room temperatures.
Carbon adsorption is not a good choice for gaseous organics (at room
temperature), air streams above 38 0C or 50% relative humidity. Under
these conditions, the VOC do not bind well to the carbon. Using carbon
adsorption for ketones is also not recommended due to their tendency to
polymerize on the carbon's surface thereby deactivating the carbon.
(photo courtesy of Ship & Shore, www.shipandshore.com/thermox.htm)
C. Low VOC Concentrations (<100 ppm)
Low air flows containing low concentrations of VOC are typically
passed through "disposable" canisters of activated carbon. These
canisters are purchased from the supplier then the spent canisters are
traded for fresh canisters (ie. the suppliers typically handle the
regeneration process). Activated carbon will typically have a loading
capacity of 0.3 lbs of VOC per pound of carbon at 100 ppm and 0.15 lbs
of VOC per pound of carbon at 5 ppm. Typical carbon costs are $2.30-
$2.60 per pound. At higher flowrates, carbon adsorption-incineration
combinations may be needed.

NOx Emissions
Nitrogen oxides are products of all conventional combustion
processes. They are also a target of many environmental regulations,
with good reason.

A. Selective Catalytic Reduction (SCR)


In short, SCE is a process to reduce NOx to nitrogen and water with
ammonia in the presence of a catalyst between 540-840 0F (282-449 0C).
Ammonia is usually injected at a 1:1 molar ratio with the NOx
contaminants. Ammonia is used due to its tendency to react only with
the contaminants and not with the oxygen in the gas stream. Ammonia is
injected by means of compressed gas or steam carriers. Efficiencies near
90% have been reported with SCR.

B. Exxon Thermal DeNOx


Similar to SCR, the Exxon Thermal DeNOx process utilizes the
NOx/ammonia reaction. However, this process does not use a catalyst to
aid the reaction. Rather, tightly controlled temperatures are used to steer
the reactions. Optimum reaction temperatures are found between 1600
0
F (871 0C) and 1800 0F (981 0C). Below the optimum temperature
range, ammonia does not fully react and can be released in the flue gas.
Above the optimum temperture, the following competing reaction can
begin to take place:

NH3 + 5/4 O2 ---> NO + 3/2 H2O

Ammonia is injected in a 2:1 molar ratio in this process.

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