Module-3

Air Pollution Effects & Control

Lecture-1
Air pollution effects:
On living and nonliving beings

Human Health Effects

Exposure to air pollution is
associated with numerous effects
on human health, including
pulmonary, cardiac, vascular, and
neurological impairments.
The health effects vary greatly
from person to person. High-risk
groups such as the elderly,
infants, pregnant women, and
sufferers from chronic heart and
lung
diseases
are
more
susceptible to air pollution.
Children are at greater risk
because they are generally more
active outdoors and their lungs
are still developing.

Conti..
Exposure to air pollution can cause both acute
(short-term) and chronic (long-term) health effects.
Acute effects are usually immediate and often
reversible when exposure to the pollutant ends.
Some acute health effects include eye irritation,
headaches, and nausea.
Chronic effects are usually not immediate and tend
not to be reversible when exposure to the pollutant
ends.
Some chronic health effects include decreased
lung capacity and lung cancer resulting from longterm exposure to toxic air pollutants.

Effects on Human respiratory system

Both gaseous and particulate air
pollutants can have negative
effects on the lungs.
Solid particles can settle on the
walls of the trachea, bronchi, and
bronchioles.
Continuous breathing of polluted
air can slow the normal cleansing
action of the lungs and result in
more particles reaching the lower
portions of the lung.
Damage to the lungs from air
pollution can inhibit this process
and contribute to the occurrence
of respiratory diseases such as
bronchitis,
emphysema,
and
cancer.

Table 1: Sources, Health and Welfare Effects for Criteria Pollutants.

Pollutant

Description

Sources

Health Effects

Welfare Effects

Carbon
Monoxide
(CO)

Colorless, odorless
gas

Motor vehicle exhaust,

indoor sources include
kerosene or wood burning
stoves.

Headaches, reduced mental

alertness, heart attack,
cardiovascular diseases,
impaired fetal development,
death.

Contribute to the formation of

smog.

Sulfur Dioxide
(SO2)

Colorless gas that

dissolves in water
vapor to form acid,
and interact with other
gases and particles in
the air.

Coal-fired power plants,

petroleum refineries,
manufacture of sulfuric acid
and smelting of ores
containing sulfur.

Eye irritation, wheezing, chest

tightness, shortness of
breath, lung damage.

Contribute to the formation of

acid rain, visibility impairment,
plant and water damage,
aesthetic damage.

Nitrogen
Dioxide (NO2)

Reddish brown, highly

reactive gas.

Motor vehicles, electric

utilities, and other
industrial, commercial, and
residential sources that
burn fuels.

Susceptibility to respiratory
infections, irritation of the lung
and respiratory symptoms
(e.g., cough, chest pain,
difficulty breathing).

Contribute to the formation of

smog, acid rain, water quality
deterioration, global warming,
and visibility impairment.

Ozone (O3)

Gaseous pollutant
when it is formed in
the troposphere.

Vehicle exhaust and certain

other fumes. Formed from
other air pollutants in the
presence of sunlight.

Eye and throat irritation,

coughing, respiratory tract
problems, asthma, lung
damage.

Plant and ecosystem damage.

Lead (Pb)

Metallic element

Metal refineries, lead

smelters, battery
manufacturers, iron and
steel producers.

Anemia, high blood pressure,

brain and kidney damage,
neurological disorders,
cancer, lowered IQ.

Affects animals and plants,

affects aquatic ecosystems.

Particulate
Matter (PM)

Very small particles of

soot, dust, or other
matter, including tiny
droplets of liquids.

Diesel engines, power

plants, industries,
windblown dust, wood
stoves.

Eye irritation, asthma,

bronchitis, lung damage,
cancer, heavy metal
poisoning, cardiovascular
effects.

Visibility impairment,
atmospheric deposition,
aesthetic damage.

Table-2: Sources, Effects of Air Pollutants on Vegetables

Pollutants

Sources

Effects on Vegetables

Aldehydes

Photochemical reactions

The upper portions of Alfalfa etc. will be affected to Narcosis

if 250 ppm of aldehydes is present for 2 hrs duration.

Ozone (O3)

Photochemical reaction of hydrocarbon

and nitrogen oxides from fuel
combustion, refuse burning, and
evaporation from petroleum products.

All ages of tobacco leaves, beans, grapes, pine, pumpkins

and potato are affected. Fleck, stipple, bleaching, bleached
spotting, pigmentation, growth suppression, and early
abscission are the effects.

Peroxy Acetyl
Nitrate (PAN)

The sources of PAN are the same as

ozone

Young spongy cells of plants are affected if 0.01 ppm of PAN

is present in the ambient air for more than 6 hrs.

Nitrogen dioxide
(NO2)

High temperature combustion of coal, oil,

gas, and gasoline in power plants and
internal combustion engines.

Irregular, white or brown collapsed lesion on intercostals

tissue and near leaf margin. Suppressed growth is observed
in many plants.

Ammonia & Sulfur

dioxide

Thermal power plants, oil and petroleum

refineries.

Bleached spots, bleached areas between veins, bleached

margins, chlorosis, growth suppression, early abscission,
and reduction in yield and tissue collapse occur.

Chlorine (Cl2)

Leaks in chlorine storage tanks,

hydrochloric acid mists.

If 0.10 ppm is present for at least 2 hrs, the epidermis and

mesophyll of plants will be affected.

Hydrogen fluoride,
Silicon
tetrafluoride

Phosphate rock processing, aluminum

industry, and ceramic works and
fiberglass manufacturing.

Epidermis and mesophyll of grapes, large seed fruits, pines

and fluorosis in animals occur if 0.001 ppm of HF is present
for 5 weeks.

Pesticides &
Herbicides

Agricultural operations

Defoliation, dwarfing, curling, twisting, growth reduction and

killing of plants may occur.

Particulates

Cement industries, thermal power plants,

blasting, crushing and processing
industries.

Affects quality of plants, reduces vigor & hardness and

interferences with photosynthesis due to plugging leaf
stomata and blocking of light.

Mercury (Hg)

Processing of mercury containing ores,

burning of coal and oil.

Greenhouse crops, and floral parts of all vegetations are

affected; abscission and growth reduction occur in most of
the plants.

PEOPLE

PERSONAL EXPOSURE

SMOKERS

CHILDREN

PERSONAL
CAR

AMBIENT LEVELS

NON SMOKERS

COMMUTER

PUBLIC
TRANSPORT

CONTROL

INDOOR ENVIRONMENTS

HOMES

WALK OR
CYCLING

BUS

OUTDOOR ENVIRONMENTS

OTHER
LOCATIONS

SCHOOLS

CITY
BACKGROUND

OFFICES

AND

SHOPS

HOT SPOTS

BARS

TRAM
METRO
Support from citizens

Support from local authorities

Lecture-2
Air pollution control:
Principles of controls, source control

Control of air pollution by

equipments

Reduction of pollutants discharge

Reduction at the source through raw material
dilution of source discharge by tall stack
Dispersion of source location through land
use

Basic data required

Quality of gas to be treated
Nature and concentration of pollutants to be
removed
Temperature and pressure of gas stream
Desired quality of treated effluents

Source Control Technology

Air quality management sets the tools to control air pollutant
emissions.
Control measurements describes the equipment, processes
or actions used to reduce air pollution.
The extent of pollution reduction varies among technologies
and measures.
The selection of control technologies depends on
environmental, engineering, economic factors and pollutant
type.

Settling Chambers
Settling chambers use the force of gravity to remove solid
particles.
The gas stream enters a chamber where the velocity of the
gas is reduced. Large particles drop out of the gas and are
recollected in hoppers. Because settling chambers are
effective in removing only larger particles, they are used in
conjunction with a more efficient control device.

Figure: Settling chambers

Principle

Cyclones

The particles are removed by the application of a

centrifugal force. The polluted gas stream is forced
into a vortex. the motion of the gas exerts a
centrifugal force on the particles, and they get
deposited on the inner surface of the cyclones

Cyclones efficiency are greater than 90% for 10

micron & 95% for higher than 20 micron

Cyclones
The general principle of inertia separation
is that the particulate-laden gas is forced
to change direction. As gas changes
direction, the inertia of the particles
causes them to continue in the original
direction and be separated from the gas
stream.
The walls of the cyclone narrow toward
the bottom of the unit, allowing the
particles to be collected in a hopper.
The cleaner air leaves the cyclone through
the top of the chamber, flowing upward in
a spiral vortex, formed within a downward
moving spiral.
Cyclones are efficient in removing large
particles but are not as efficient with
smaller particles. For this reason, they are
used with other particulate control devices.

Figure: Cyclone Collector

Cyclones

Cyclones (contd.)
Construction and Operation
The gas enters through the inlet, and is forced into a
spiral.

At the bottom, the gas reverses direction and flows

upwards.

To prevent particles in the incoming stream from

contaminatingthe clean gas, a vortex finder is
provided to separate them. the cleaned gas flows
out through the vortex finder.

Cyclones (contd.)
Advantages of Cyclones

Cyclones have a lost capital cost

Reasonable high efficiency for specially designed cyclones.

They can be used under almost any operating condition.

Cyclones can be constructed of a wide variety of materials.

There are no moving parts, so there are no maintenance

requirements.

Disadvantages of Cyclones

They can be used for small particles with low efficiency

High pressure drops contribute to increased costs of

operation.

Application
For control of gas brone particulates in industrial
operations such as cement manufacture
Paper and textile industries,
Wood working industries
Rock crushing
Recovery of catalyst dust in petroleum industries
Reduction of fly ash emission

Dimensions of a Standard
Cyclone

Problem
Design of Cyclone
Body diameter = 0.75 m
Flow rate = 2.75 m3/s
p = 1600 kg/m3
g = 1.1 kg/m3
= 2.5*10-5 kg/m-s
Condition given
H = 0.8 * body diameter
W = 0.35 * body diameter
Lb = 1.7 * body diameter
Lc = 2.0 * body diameter
Calculate the diameter of particle with 50% efficiency

Solution
Step 1:
Inlet Velocity = Q/A
Step 2:
Number of effective turns
Ne = (Lb + Lc/2)/H
Ne =
Step 3: Diameter of particle

dpc =

Venturi Scrubbers
Venturi scrubbers use a
liquid stream to remove
solid particles.
In the venturi scrubber,
gas laden with particulate
matter passes through a
short tube with flared ends
and a constricted middle.
This constriction causes
the gas stream to speed
up when the pressure is
increased.

Figure: Venturi scrubber components

Conti.
The difference in velocity and pressure resulting from
the constriction causes the particles and water to mix
and combine.
The reduced velocity at the expanded section of the
throat allows the droplets of water containing the
particles to drop out of the gas stream.
Venturi scrubbers are effective in removing small
particles, with removal efficiencies of up to 99
percent.
One drawback of this device, however, is the
production of wastewater.

Fabric Filters
Fabric filters, or baghouses, remove dust from a
gas stream by passing the stream through a
porous fabric. The fabric filter is efficient at
removing fine particles and can exceed efficiencies
of 99 percent in most applications.

Figure: Fabric filter (baghouse) components

Fabric Filters

Fabric Filter

Fabric Filters
Principle
The filters retain particles larger than the normal
size
Air and most of the smaller particles flow through.
Some of the smaller particles are retained due to
interception and diffusion.
The retained particles cause a reduction in the
mesh size.
The primary collection is on the layer of previously
deposited particles.

Conti..
The selection of the fiber material and fabric
construction is important to baghouse performance.
The fiber material from which the fabric is made
must have adequate strength characteristics at the
maximum gas temperature expected and adequate
chemical compatibility with both the gas and the
collected dust.
One disadvantage of the fabric filter is that hightemperature gases often have to be cooled before
contacting the filter medium.

Advantages of Fabric
Filters
Very high collection efficiency
They can operate over a wide range of
volumetric flow rates
The pressure drops are reasonably low.
Fabric Filter houses are modular in design,
and can be pre-assembled at the factory

Fabric Filters (contd.)

Disadvantages of Fabric Filters
Fabric Filters require a large floor area.
The fabric is damaged at high temperature.
Ordinary fabrics cannot handle corrosive gases.
Fabric Filters cannot handle moist gas streams
A fabric filtration unit is a potential fire hazard

Electrostatic Precipitator

Electrostatic Charging of Dust Particles

Cutaway of Electrostatic Precipitator

Electrostatic Precipitator
Principle
The particles in a polluted gas stream are charged by passing them
through an electric field.
The charged particles are led through collector plates
The collector plates carry charges opposite to that on the particles
The particles are attracted to these collector plates and are thus
removed from the gas steam

Construction and Operation of Electrostatic

Precipitator
Charging Electrodes in the form of thin wires are placed in the path of
the influent gas.
The charging electrodes generate a strong electric field, which charges
the particles as they flow through it.
The collector plates get deposited with the particles. the particles are
occasionally removed either by rapping or by washing the collector
plates.

Electrostatic Precipitators (ESPs)

An ESP is a particle control
device that uses electrical
forces to move the particles
out of the flowing gas
stream and onto collector
plates.
The ESP places electrical
charges on the particles,
causing
them
to
be
attracted
to
oppositely
charged
metal
plates
located in the precipitator.
Figure: Electrostatic precipitator components

Conti.
The particles are removed from the plates by
"rapping" and collected in a hopper located below the
unit.
The removal efficiencies for ESPs are highly variable;
however, for very small particles alone, the removal
efficiency is about 99 percent.
Electrostatic precipitators are not only used in utility
applications but also other industries (for other
exhaust gas particles) such as cement (dust), pulp &
paper (salt cake & lime dust), petrochemicals (sulfuric
acid mist), and steel (dust & fumes).

Design of Electrostatic
Precipitators

The efficiency of removal of

particles by an Electrostatic
Precipitator is given by

= fractional collection efficiency

w = drift velocity, m/min.
A = available collection area, m 2
Q = volumetric flow rate m3/min

Solution

Step 1:
Efficiency of an Electrostatic Precipitator is
given by

A =-[ (Q/w)*ln(1- )]
A = 70,000 m2
Step 2:
Number of plates = total area/plate area
= 1400

Problem
An ESP is designed to treat
50,000 m3/min with 97 %
efficiency. Assuming an effective
drift velocity of 2.5 m/min,
calculate the required plate area
and the number of plates. The
plate size is 10 m by 5 m (height
by length).

ELECTROSTATIC PRECIPITATOR
(contd.)
Advantages of Electrostatic Precipitators
Electrostatic precipitators are capable very high efficiency,
generally of the order of 99.5-99.9%.
Since the electrostatic precipitators act on the particles and
not on the air, they can handle higher loads with lower
pressure drops.
They can operate at higher temperatures.
The operating costs are generally low.

Disadvantages of Electrostatic Precipitators

The initial capital costs are high.
Although they can be designed for a variety of operating
conditions, they are not very flexible to changes in the
operating conditions, once installed.
Particulate with high resistivity may go uncollected.

Control of gaseous pollutants from

stationary sources
The most common method for controlling
gaseous pollutants is the addition of add-on
control devices to recover or destroy a pollutant.
There are four commonly used control
technologies for gaseous pollutants:

Absorption,
Adsorption,
Condensation, and
Incineration (combustion)

Absorption
The removal of one or more selected
components from a gas mixture by
absorption is probably the most
important operation in the control of
gaseous pollutant emissions.
Absorption is a process in which a
gaseous pollutant is dissolved in a
liquid.
Water is the most commonly used
absorbent liquid.
As the gas stream passes through the
liquid, the liquid absorbs the gas, in
much the same way that sugar is
absorbed in a glass of water when
stirred.
Typical Packed Column Diagram

Conti.
Absorbers are often referred to as scrubbers, and there
are various types of absorption equipment.
The principal types of gas absorption equipment
include spray towers, packed columns, spray
chambers, and venture scrubbers.
In general, absorbers can achieve removal efficiencies
grater than 95 percent. One potential problem with
absorption is the generation of waste-water, which
converts an air pollution problem to a water pollution
problem.

Adsorption
When a gas or vapor is brought into contact with a
solid, part of it is taken up by the solid. The molecules
that disappear from the gas either enter the inside of
the solid, or remain on the outside attached to the
surface. The former phenomenon is termed absorption
(or dissolution) and the latter adsorption.
The most common industrial adsorbents are activated
carbon, silica gel, and alumina, because they have
enormous surface areas per unit weight.
Activated carbon is the universal standard for
purification and removal of trace organic contaminants
from liquid and vapor streams.

Carbon adsorption systems are either regenerative or non-regenerative.

Regenerative system usually contains more than one carbon bed.
As one bed actively removes pollutants, another bed is being
regenerated for future use.
Non-regenerative systems have thinner beds of activated carbon.
In a non-regenerative adsorber, the spent carbon is disposed of
when it becomes saturated with the pollutant.

Regenerative Carbon
Adsorption System

Non-Regenerative Carbon
Adsorption System

Condensation
Condensation is the process of converting a gas or
vapor to liquid. Any gas can be reduced to a liquid
by lowering its temperature and/or increasing its
pressure.
Condensers are typically used as pretreatment
devices. They can be used ahead of absorbers,
absorbers, and incinerators to reduce the total gas
volume to be treated by more expensive control
equipment. Condensers used for pollution control
are contact condensers and surface condensers.

In a contact condenser,
the gas comes into
contact with cold liquid.
In a surface condenser,
the gas contacts a cooled
surface in which cooled
liquid or gas is circulated,
such as the outside of the
tube.
Removal efficiencies of
condensers
typically
range from 50 percent to
more than 95 percent,
depending on design and
applications.

Contact condenser

Surface condenser

Incineration
Incineration, also known as combustion, is most used
to control the emissions of organic compounds from
process industries.
This control technique refers to the rapid oxidation of
a substance through the combination of oxygen with a
combustible material in the presence of heat.
When combustion is complete, the gaseous stream is
converted to carbon dioxide and water vapor.
Equipment used to control waste gases by
combustion can be divided in three categories:
Direct combustion or flaring,
Thermal incineration and
Catalytic incineration.

Direct combustor
Direct combustor is a device in which air and all
the combustible waste gases react at the burner.
Complete
combustion
must
occur
instantaneously since there is no residence
chamber.
A flare can be used to control almost any
emission stream containing volatile organic
compounds. Studies conducted by EPA have
shown that the destruction efficiency of a flare is
about 98 percent.

In thermal incinerators the combustible waste gases

pass over or around a burner flame into a residence
chamber where oxidation of the waste gases is
completed.
Thermal incinerators can destroy gaseous pollutants at
efficiencies of greater than 99 percent when operated
correctly.

Thermal incinerator general case

Catalytic incinerators are very similar to thermal

incinerators. The main difference is that after passing
through the flame area, the gases pass over a catalyst
bed.
A catalyst promotes oxidation at lower temperatures,
thereby reducing fuel costs. Destruction efficiencies
greater than 95 percent are possible using a catalytic
incinerator.

Catalytic incinerator

References
USEPA, 2007. Online literature from www.epa.gov
Rao, M.N. and Rao, H. V. N., 1993. Air Pollution, Tata
Mc-Graw Hill, New Delhi.
Murty, B. P., 2004. Environmental Meteorology, I.K.
International Pvt. Ltd., New Delhi.
Nevers, N.D. 2000. Air Pollution Control Engineering,
Second Edition, Pub., McGraw Hill, New York.
Cheremisinoff, N.P., 2002. Handbook of Air Pollution
Prevention and Control, Pub., Butterworth-Heinemann,
Elsevier Science, USA.