Air Pollution

Why treat AIR?

• In order to live
• Supply of oxygen needed by the body

• 5 min – no air
• 5 days – no water
• 5-8 weeks – no food

𝑘𝑔 𝑎𝑖𝑟 𝑘𝑔 𝑤𝑎𝑡𝑒𝑟 𝑘𝑔 𝑓𝑜𝑜𝑑

• Daily consumption: 13.6 ,2 , 1.5
𝑑𝑎𝑦 𝑑𝑎𝑦 𝑑𝑎𝑦
Air
• Total mass on Earth: 5.2 × 1021 𝑘𝑔
• Area coverage: 5.1 × 1018 𝑐𝑚2
• 99.9% concentrated on the first 80 km of the atmosphere from the surface
• Almost half is concentrated from surface to 3-5 km
Components of the Atmosphere
1. Oxygen – 20.94 vol%
2. Nitrogen – 78.094 vol%
3. Carbon Dioxide – 0.0332 vol%
• Traps IR rays emitted by Earth by night
4. Noble Gases (He, Kr, Xe)
5. Water vapor – 0.1-5.0 vol%
Major Pollutants
1. Particulate Matter (𝑃𝑀10 , 𝑃𝑀2.5 )
2. 𝑆𝑂𝑥 𝑆𝑂3 , 𝑆𝑂2
3. 𝑁𝑂𝑥 𝑁2 𝑂, 𝑁𝑂, 𝑁𝑂2 , 𝑁2 𝑂4 , 𝑁2 𝑂5
4. HC
5. CO
Factors affecting Dispersion of Air Pollutants
1. emission point characteristics
• most industrial effluents are discharged vertically into the open air through a
stack or duct
2. nature of the pollutant material
3. meteorological conditions
4. effects of terrain and anthropogenic structures
Factors Determining Severity of Air Pollutants
1. Concentration
2. Tolerance level – minimum concentration of air pollutant that can
cause illness
3. Residence time – length of time pollutants can stay in atmosphere
before they can be removed by natural way
• Reach a sink
4. Interaction of pollutants with themselves
Tolerance level Residence time
Particulate matter 𝜇𝑔 Few hours
e.g. 3.5 × 102
𝑚3
CO 𝜇𝑔 Several months
3.5 × 104 3
𝑚
Fate of Pollutants
• Primary pollutants

• Can undergo chemical reaction (dissociation, association, etc.)

• Can be blown wherever
• Will find a sink
• Water body
• Flora
• Fauna
• Humans
How to make air clean?
• Preventive
• Curative

1. Avoid unnecessary burning of fuel

• Exemption (burning for cooking, chemical industries)
Air Pollution Control Devices
Gaseous Pollutants
1. Absorption
• PCDs based on the principle of absorption attempt to absorb pollutant from a gas phase
to a liquid phase
• steps on removal of pollutant gas:
• diffusion of the pollutant gas to the surface of the liquid
• transfer across the gas/liquid interface (dissolution)
• diffusion of the dissolved gas away from the interface into the liquid
• devices:
• spray chambers
• in scrubbers, liquid droplets are used to absorb the gas*
• relatively inefficient absorbers but have the advantage of simultaneous removal of particulates
• towers or columns
• a thin film of liquid is used as the absorption medium
• more efficient absorbers but become plugged by particulates
• solubility of the pollutant in the liquid must be relatively high*
Gaseous Pollutants
2. Adsorption
• mass transfer process in which the gas is bonded to a
• gas (adsorbate) penetrates into the pores of the solid (adsorbent) but
not into the lattice itself
• bond may be physical or chemical
• most common adsorbents
• AC, molecular sieves, silica gel, activated alumina
• large active surface area
• very effective for hydrocarbon pollutants, H2S, and SO2
Gaseous Pollutants
3. Combustion
• possible alternative of control method when the contaminant in the
gas stream is oxidizable to an inert gas
• CO and HCs
Flue Gas (Sulfur)
• Flue Gas Desulfurization

1. Nonregenerative Systems
• reagent used to remove the sulphur oxides from the gas stream is used and discarded
• all reaction chemistries based on lime (CaO), caustic soda (NaOH), soda ash (Na2CO3) or ammonia
(NH3)
• SO2 removed is converted to sulphite
• using limestone: 𝑆𝑂2 + 𝐶𝑎𝐶𝑂3 𝐶𝑎𝑆𝑂3 + 𝐶𝑂2
• using lime: 𝑆𝑂2 + 𝐶𝑎 𝑂𝐻 2 𝐶𝑎𝑆𝑂3 + 𝐻2 𝑂
1
• part of sulphite is oxidized with the oxygen content in the flue gas: 𝐶𝑎𝑆𝑂3 + 2 𝑂2 𝐶𝑎𝑆𝑂4

2. Regenerative Systems
• reagent recovered and reused
Control Technologies for NOx
• almost all NOx pollution results from • secondary combustion
combustion processes • water/steam injection
• oxidation of nitrogen bound in the fuel
• reaction of oxygen and nitrogen from the Post-combustion
combustion air at temperatures above 1600K
• reaction of nitrogen in the combustion air with • conversion of NOx to nitrogen gas
hydrocarbon radicals • selective catalytic reaction (SCR)
• uses a catalyst bed (usually vanadium-titanium or
platinum-based) and ammonia
Prevention • ammonia is injected upstream which reacts with NOx to
form nitrogen gas and water
• reduction of the peak flame temperature in the • 70-90% reduction
combustion zone reduces the NOx formation • selective noncatalytic reaction (SNCR)
• ammonia or urea is injected into the flue gas at high
• 30-60% reduction temperatures (870 to 1,090°C)
• urea converted to ammonia and reacts to reduce NOx
• processes: to nitrogen gas and water
• minimizing operating temperatures • 30-50% reduction
• fuel switching • nonselective catalytic reaction (NSCR)
• low excess air • uses a three-way catalyst
• flue gas recirculation • HCs and CO are converted to carbon dioxide and water
• lean combustion
• staged combustion
• low NOx burners
Particulate Matter - Cyclones
• particle sizes greater than 10 microns
• inertial collector with no moving parts
Particulate Matter - Filters
• high efficiency control of particles smaller than 5 microns desired
• mechanisms of collection: screening or sieving, interception by the fibers,
and electrostatic attraction
• mechanism of cleaning filter bags: mechanical shaking, reverse air flow,
pulse-jet cleaning
• types:
• deep bed
• packing of fibers used to intercept particles in the gas stream
• effective for relatively clean gases and low volumes
• baghouse
• effective for dirty industrial gas with high volumes
• use in carbon black and gypsum industries, cement crushing, feed and grain handling,
limestone crushing, coal-fired utility boilers
Particulate Matter - Liquid Scrubbing
• particulate matter to be collected is wet, corrosive or very hot
• applications include control of emission of talc dust, phosphoric acid
mist
• differential velocity between the droplets of collecting liquid and the
particulate pollutant allows the particle to impinge onto the droplet
• an inertial collection device is placed downstream to remove it (collection
efficiency of the inertial device is enhanced because of the increased size of
the particles
Particulate Matter - Electrostatic Precipitation
(ESP)
• high efficiency, dry collection of particles from hot gas streams
• creation of ion field between the wire and plate when a large direct current potential
(30-75 kV) is established
• mechanism:
• as the particle-laden gas passes between the wire and the plate, ions attach to the particles, giving
them a net negative charge
• particles then migrate toward the positively charged plate and stick
• plates are rapped at frequent intervals and agglomerated sheet of particles falls to a hopper
• the gas velocity through the ESP is kept low to allow particle migration at times
• fly ash: particulate matter carried in the effluent gases from the furnace burning the fuel
• presence of sulphur dioxide in the flue gas reduces resistivity of fly ash which makes
particle collection relatively easy
• issue of low sulphur coal
• resolved by adding conditioners such as SO3 or NH3 or by building large precipitators