Air Pollution Control

Technology
by
Gazala Habib
Electrostatic precipitator
• First designed by Walker and Hutchings and installed in lead smelter
in Baggily, North Wales in 1885 but failed.
• Principal was first developed by Dr. Frederick G. Cottrell, an American
chemistry instructor at University of California Berkley.
• Commercial unit developed in 1906 and installed in an acid
manufacturing plant near Pinole.
 Electrostatic precipitator
 ESP usually constructed of alternating plates and wires.
 A large direct current potential (30-75 kV) is established between the plates and wires. Thus result in creation of
an ion field between two.
 As the particle laden gas stream passes between the wire and the plate, ions attach to the particles, giving them
a net negative charge.
 The particles then migrate toward the positively charged plate where they stick.
 The charged particles/droplets are neutralized while arriving at the surfaces of collecting electrodes.
 The collected particles are removed from the surface of collecting electrodes by rappers or other means, to a
hopper beneath the electrostatic precipitator
Working principle of ESP
Advantage and disadvantage of ESP

• Advantages:
• High removal efficiency of fine particles/droplets
• Handling of large gas volumes with low pressure drop
• Collection of either dry powder material and wet fumes/mists
• Sustenance of wide range of gas temperature up to approximately 700 °C
• Low operating costs, except at very high removal efficiency.
• Disadvantage
• High capital costs
• Unable to collect gaseous pollutants
• Large space requirements
• Variation of removal efficiency with particle/droplet properties (e.g. resistivity of
particle/droplet)
Charge on particle P= measure of field distortion as a result of particle charge=
• Particle charging can be categorized as D= particle dielectric constant
(a) Field charging
(b) Diffusion charging (especially important [P= 1 for no distortion (D=1) and approaches 3 for large values of D (i.e.
when particle size decrease) for conducting particles). For most dielectric substances D is less than 10.
a= particle radius (m)
(a) Field charging: Saturation of limiting surface
charge acquired by the particles
t= time (sec)

• Particle charge as a function of time Particle charging time constant is the time required for 50% of
maximum charge to be acquired

(b) Diffusion charging N=ion density or concentration (ions/m3)

= Initial Ion density or concentration
U= ion potential energy
The potential energy of an ions with charge in the K= Boltzmann constant
vicinity of a uniformly charged spherical particle, is T= Absolute temperature
r= distance from the centre of the particle to the ion
Particle collision in ESP and diffusion charge

• Number of ions that strike the particles per second=

• Time interval associated with the ion-particle collision is

• Diffusion charging
Problem

• Estimate the number of electronic charges acquired by a spherical

conducting particle (P=3) under condition of field charging and
diffusion charging. Assume particle radius of 1 mm and charging time
of 0.1 s.
 Efficiency of ESP

• ESP efficiency equation

• Where,

6.21 ×10 −4 (𝑇 )
𝐶=1+
𝑑𝑝
Problem
• Determine the collection efficiency of the electrostatic precipitator
described below for a particle 154 mm in diameter having a drift
velocity of 0.184 m/s. what is the effect of reducing the plate spacing
to one half of its current value and doubling the number of plates?
• ESP specifications:
• Height=7.32 m
• Length=6.10 m
• Number of passages=5
• Plate spacing=0.28 m
• Gas flow rate=19.73 m3/s
Filters

• High efficiency control of particles less than 5 mm.

• Two types (a) deep bed filter (b) baghouse
• For relatively clean gas with low volume deep bed filters are used. Example air conditioning system
• For highly polluted industrial gas, baghouse filters are used.
 Baghouse filters
• Sieving is fundamental mechanism of particle removal. Interception and electrostatic
attraction because of the difference in static charge in particle and fibre are other
mechanism.
• Difficult to capture small particles 0.1 to 1.0 mm size.
• Natural or synthetic fibres
• Synthetic fibres are common because of low cost and chemical resistance.
• Bag life 1-5 years
• Bag diameter 0.1-0.35 m, length 2-10 m.
• Cotton and wool fibre bags cannot be used for temperature above 90-100 C.
• Glass fibre can sustain temperature upto 260 C.
• Baghouse sizing is based on ratio of filter area to gas flowrate
• Application: Being used in waste to energy plant in Gazipur, Delhi
Liquid scrubbing
• When the particulate matter to be collected is wet,
corrosive and very hot the wet scrubber are used.
• Applications in emissions of talc dust, phosphoric acid mist,
foundry cupola dust, open hearth steel furnace fumes.
• Simple spray chambers are used for coarse size particles.
• High efficiency removal of fine particles, the combination
of venturi scrubber followed by cyclone.
• Differential velocity between the droplets of collecting
liquid and particulate matter allow the particles to impinge
onto droplets. Since the droplet-particle combination is still
suspended in the gas stream, and inertial collection device
is placed downstream to remove it.
• Scrubber are inefficient absorbers. Also remove gases.
Liquid scrubber efficiency
• Efficiency equation
Problem
• The details of the scrubber is given below determine the efficiency of the
venturi scrubber. Assume the particle are fly ash with a density of 700 kg/m3
and minimum size of 10 mm.
• Throat area= 1 m2
• Gas flow rate= 94.4 m3/s
• Gas temperature= 150 C
• Liquid flow rate= 0.13 m3/s
• Coefficient = 200
• Droplet diameter= 100 mm
• Gas viscosity at 150 C= 25.2 X 10-6 Pa.s
Problem

• Calculate the over all mass efficiency of the venturi described in last
example for the following particle size distribution

Average diameter (mm) % of total mass

2.5 25
7.5 20
15.0 15
25.0 15
35.0 10
50.0 15
Cyclone
• For particles > 10 mm diameter.
• Inertial collector no moving part.
• The particulate laden gas is accelerated
through a spiral motion, which imparts a
centrifugal force to the particle. The
particles are hurled out of the spinning
gas and impact on the cylinder wall of the
cyclone. Then they slide to the bottom of
the cone.
Length of cylinder,
Length of cone,
Diameter of exit,
Height of entrance,
width of entrance,
Diameter of dust exit,
Length,
Cyclone efficiency
Problem
• Determine the efficiency of a standard cyclone having a following
characteristics for particles 10 mm in diameter with the density of 800
kg/m3.
• Cyclone barrel diameter=0.5 m
• Gas flow rate=4.0 m3/s
• Gas temperature= 25 C
Absorption
• Control device based on absorption converts the gaseous pollutant to liquid.
• Mass transfer process in which gas dissolves in liquid.
• Mass transfer is a diffusion process wherein the gas moves from higher concentration to lower concentration.
The removal of pollutant gas takes place in three steps:
• 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.
• Spray chambers and towers or columns are devices for absorption.
• If water is solute, the application limit to NH3, Cl2, SO2 and NOx.
• Towers are much more efficient absorbers compared to scrubber but get clogged by particulate matter.
• The amount of absorption of nonreactive solution is governed by the partial pressure of the pollutants.
• The relationship between partial pressure and the concentration of the gas in solution is given by Henry’s law

• In absorption towers, the liquid introduces in opposite direction to flue gas. This is called counter current flow.
Spray chamber
 Adsorption
• This is a mass transfer process in which the gas is bonded to a solid.
• It is a surface phenomenon.
• The gas (adsorbate) penetrates into the pores of the solid (adsorbent).
• Activated charcoal, molecular sieve, silica gel and activated alumina are most common adsorbent.
• The bond may be physical or chemical.
• Electrostatic forces hold the pollutant gas when physical bonding is significant.
• Active carbon can be manufactured from nut shell (coconuts) or coal subjected to heat treatment in a reducing
atmosphere.
• Molecular sieves are dehydrated zeolites (alkali-metal silicates).
• Sodium silicate is reacted with sulfuric acid to make silica gel.
• Activated alumina is a porous hydrated aluminium oxide.
• Effective for hydrocarbon pollutants also effective for H2S and SO2.
• Large surface area per unit volume is the important property of a adsorbent.
• The adsorbent are ineffective at high temperature and they can be regenerated at high temperature.
• The relation between the amount of pollutant adsorbed and the equilibrium pressure at constant temperature is
called adsorption isotherm.
• Langmuir equation

• graph should yield linear relationship where .

 Adsorption

• Once the column of adsorbent is

saturated the column will start to leak
this is called breakthrough.
• Column can be regenerated and the gas
can be recovered.
• The time to breakthrough can be
calculated as
Adsorption and desorption

Adsorption column Desorption column

Problem
• Determine the breakthrough time for an adsorption bed that is 0.5 m thick
and 10 m2 in cross section. The operating parameters of the bed is as follows.
• Gas flow rate= 1.3 Kg/s of air
• Gas temperature = 25 C
• Gas pressure = 101.325 kPa
• Bed density as packed =420 kg/m3
• Inlet pollutant concentration = 0.0020 kg/m3
• Langmuir parameters a= 18; b= 124
• Width of adsorption zone=0.03m
Flue gas Desulfurization (FGD)

• Two broad categories

• Nonregenerative
• Regenerative
• Nonregenerative system:
• Lime (CaO), caustic soda (NaOH), soda ash (Na2CO3) or ammonia (NH3)

• Part of sulphite is oxidized with oxygen content in the flue gas to form
sulphate