Air Pollution Sources and Effects
Air Pollution Sources and Effects
S E T K 3 4 1 3 : Po l l u t i o n C o n t r o l E n g i n e e r i n g
AIR POLLUTION
The second part covers the source and effect of air pollution,
regulations requirement for air pollution control and
technologies to control air pollution emission from industries.
L e c t u r e r : T s . D r. N u r u l H u d a B i n t i B a h a r u d d i n
Content
•Origin and fate of air pollutants
•Micro and macro air pollution
•Effects of air pollutants
•Air pollution standards
•Physical & chemical fundamentals
•Air pollution meteorology
•Atmospheric dispersion
•Design of air pollution control devices
MICRO, MESO AND MACRO AIR
POLLUTION
• MICRO
Indoor air pollution
• MESO
air pollution surround us outdoor
• MACRO
Transport of ambient air pollutant over large distance
Ø Example:
Haze
Acid rain
Ozone depletion Photochemical smog
Global warming
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Cause of Air Pollution
Air pollution is waste remaining from
human activities. Activities that contribute
to air pollution are
•Production of goods
•Heat generation
•Transportation (vehicles)
• Impurities in the fuel, poor fuel-to-air ratio, or too high or too low
combustion temperatures cause the formation of such side products
such as
•Carbon monoxide
•Sulphur oxides
•Nitrogen oxides
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•Fly ash
•Unburned hydrocarbons-all air pollutants
Effects of Air Pollutants
•Air pollution has a direct effect on human health.
•Exposure to air pollution can cause both acute and chronic health
effects.
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Effects on health
•The primary effect of air pollution is on the respiratory system
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Effects on health cont.
• 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.
• Most of these particles are removed from lungs through the cleansing
action of “cilia”.
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• Cilia is small hair like outgrowths of cells, located on the walls of the lung.
Effects on health cont.
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emphysema, and cancer.
OZONE DEPLETION PROCESS
1.The ozone depletion process begins when CFCs and
other ozone-depleting substances (ODS) leak from
equipment.
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4. It is these atoms that actually destroy ozone, not the
intact ODS molecule. It is estimated that one chlorine
atom can destroy over 100,000 ozone molecules before
finally being removed from the stratosphere.
OZONE DEPLETION PROCESS
CONT.
5. Destruction mechanism of ozone by Clradical from CFC compound is
given below :
• Initiation : CFC will spilt up by UV radiation
qCCl3F CCl2F + Cl•
• Propagation
qCl• + O3 O2 + Cl•
qClO• + O • O2 + Cl•
6. Since ozone filters out harmful UVB radiation, less ozone means higher
UVB levels at the surface. The more depletion, the larger the increase in
incoming UVB.
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7. UVB has been linked to skin cancer, cataracts, damage to materials like
plastics, and harm to certain crops and marine organisms.
ACID RAIN
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ACID RAIN CONT.
4.Typical reaction mechanisms of acid rain are as follows:
qSO2+ 1/2O2+ H2O2H++ SO42-(aq)
q2NO2+ 1/2O2+ H2O2H++ NO3-(aq)
5.Wet deposition
• Acidic rain, fog, and snow.
• As this acidic water flows over and through the ground, it affects a variety of plants and
animals.
6.Dry deposition
• Acidic gases and particles.
• The wind blows these acidic particles and gases onto buildings, cars, homes, and trees.
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• Dry deposited gases and particles can also be washed from trees and other surfaces by
rainstorms.
• When this happens, the runoff water adds those acids to the acid rain, making the
combination more acidic than the falling rain alone.
ACID RAIN CONT.
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GLOBAL WARMING
1.Air pollution contributes to global
warming or the “greenhouse effect”.
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current averages over the next 50 years.
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O3, and peroxyacetyl nitrates (PAN).
PHOTOCHEMICAL SMOG
3. The formation of two most dominant toxic components.
Ø Ozone (O3) and peroxyacetylnitrate (PAN).
• Note the symbol R represents a hydrocarbon)
• No acts to remove ozone from the atmosphere
q O3 + NO → NO2+ O2
q NO + RO2 → NO2+ other products
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• NO2 can also react with radicals produced from VOCs to form toxic products such as PAN.
q NO2+ R → products such as PAN (general)
q NO2+ CH3C(O)OO → CH3C-OONO2
O
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Effects of photochemical smog
1. Short Term Exposure (1-2 hours) may lead to:
• Lung inflammation
• Decreased ability to breathe, resulting in short shallow breaths, reduced
athletic performance, pain upon breathing deeply, coughing, chest
tightness and discomfort
• Increased susceptibility to respiratory diseases such as pneumonia and
bronchitis
• Increased sensitivity to allergens
• Exacerbation of respiratory diseases such as asthma and emphysema
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• Premature lung aging
• Risk of permanent decrease in lung capacity
Physical & chemical fundamentals
RELATIVITY
Figure 9-2: Characteristics
of particles and particles
dispersoids
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Ideal gas law
• For an ideal gas (ambient air approximates an ideal gas), volume percent
is the same as mole percent. Ideal gas is one that satisfies the ideal gas
law
PV= nRT (1)
Where:
P=absolute pressure (atm)
V=volume (liter)
n=number of moles (gmol)
R=ideal gas law constant (0.08206atm/gmolK)
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T=absolute temperature (K)
Ideal gas law cont.
PV = MRT (2)
M.W
where
M = mass of the sample
M.W = molecular weight of the gas
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Gas Density
• Equation (2) can be rearranged to give the mass density of an ideal gas as
Equation (3):
• M PMW (3)
V RT
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Standard Conditions
• Standard Condition
• Temperature = 0oC
• Pressure = 1 atm
• Normal Condition
• Temperature = 25oC
• Pressure = 1 atm
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Unit of Measurements
• The two basic units of measure used in reporting air
pollution data are:
• micrograms per cubic meter (μg/m3)
• parts per million (ppm)
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Unit of Measurements Cont.
• Both μg/m3 and ppm are used to indicate the
concentration of gaseous pollutant.
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Unit of Measurements Cont.
• ppm is a volume-to-volume ratio.
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Conversion of μg/m3 to μg/Sm3
• To convert μg/m3 to μg/Sm3, equation below can
be applied:
T 101.325ka
g / Sm g / m
3 3 2
273 P2
where
T2 = Temperature at actual condition
P2 = Pressure at actual condition
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Conversion of μg/Sm3 to ppm
• The conversion between mg/Sm 3 to ppm is
based on the fact that at standard conditions
(0oC and 101.325 kPa), one mole of an ideal
gas occupies 22.414 L.
Y
22.414 Lmol 1
ppm
Vp ppm GMW
Va V a1000L / m 3
where,
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GMW = gram molecular weight of pollutant
Y = concentration of pollutant in μg at STP
Example
A one-cubic-meter sample of air was found to contain 80 μg/m3 of SO2. The
temperature and pressure were 25 ºC and 103.193 kPa when the air sample was taken.
What was the SO2 concentration in ppm?
T 101.325ka
g / Sm g / m
3 2 3
273 P2
g/Sm3 = 80 μg/m3 x (293/273) x (101.326/103.193)
= 84.307 μg/Sm3
Y
22.414 Lmol 1
ppm GMW
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V a1000L / m 3
ppm = (84.307*22.414/(64.07))/(1x1000) = 0.003 ppm
Tutorial
Convert 1950 μg/m3 of SO2 to ppm at 25 °C and 101.325 kPa pressure.
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Emission Standards
Environmental Quality
(Clean Air) Regulations 2014
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AIR POLLUTION METEOROLOGY
• Atmospheric Pressure
• Turbulence
- Mechanical Turbulence
- Thermal Turbulence
• Stability
- Neutral Stability
- Unstable Atmosphere
- Stable Atmosphere
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Atmospheric pressure
•Pressure is an important variable in
meteorological phenomena. Because air has weight,
the whole atmosphere presses down upon the
earth beneath it.
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Turbulence
• Turbulence is addition of random fluctuations of wind velocity
(speed and direction) to the overall average wind velocity.
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• The causes of these eddies or whirls are primarily due to
mechanical or thermal generation of turbulence.
Mechanical Turbulence
• Wind moving past vegetation or structures creates
mechanical turbulence.
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Mechanical Turbulence Cont.
• This occurs in the vertical as the wind is slowed near
the earth’s surface by the friction of the surface.
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Thermal turbulence
• Thermal turbulence is rising thermals of air generated by
surface heating
• During day light, earth’s surface is heated strongly
and heats the air above it resulting in thermal
turbulence
• Thermal turbulence is maximum during mid afternoon
• At night, ground radiates its heat away to the cold
night sky. The cold ground cools the air above it
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Stability
• Stability is the tendency of atmosphere to resist or
enhance vertical motion.
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Neutral Stability
• A neutral atmosphere is one in which the thermal
structure neither enhances nor resists mechanical
turbulence.
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Neutral Stability
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Unstable Atmosphere
• When the atmosphere is classified as unstable,
mechanical turbulence is enhanced by the thermal
structure.
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Unstable Atmosphere
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Stable Atmosphere
• When the thermal structure inhibits mechanical
turbulence, the atmosphere is said to be stable.
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Stable atmosphere
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Terrain Effects
• There are two main terrain effects that affects air
pollutant dispersion and they are:
• Land-sea breeze
• Mountain-valley breeze
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Land-Sea Breeze
• Land-Sea Breeze
• At night, land area cools more rapidly than sea.
• The cooler air will flow towards the sea and it is called land breeze.
• At daytime, land heats faster than sea.
• The air over the land becomes warm and begins to rise.
• The rising air will be replaced by air from over the sea and it is called sea
breeze.
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Land-Sea Breeze
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Land-Sea Breeze cont.
• As air moves from the sea over warm ground, it is
heated from below.
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Effect of lake breeze on plume dispersion
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Mountain-Valley Breeze
• Mountain-valley breeze
• During daytime, the air adjacent to the mountain slope
heats rapidly and rises.
• This air then settles over the cooler valley, producing an
up-slope wind during the day.
• At night, the cooler air on the mountain slope flows
down into the valley.
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Mountain-Valley Breeze (Daytime)
Mountain
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Valley
Mountain-Valley Breeze (Night)
Mountain
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Valley
• Valleys are prone to problems arising from emissions
fairly close to the ground.
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• Any low level emissions will therefore disperse very
slowly and may even accumulate to some extent.
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• Emissions from high chimneys located on the valley
floor may not be detected at all on the valley floor
while the ground based inversion persists.
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Atmospheric Dispersion
• A continuous stream of pollutants released into a
steady wind in the open atmosphere first will rise, then
bend over and travel with the mean wind, which will
dilute the pollutants and carry them away from source.
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Factors Affecting Dispersion of Air
Pollutants
• The factors that affect dispersion of pollutants can be
categorized in terms of:
• Emission point characteristics
• Nature of the pollutant material
• Meteorological condition
• Effects of terrain
• Anthropogenic structures
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Meteorological Conditions
• Wind speed and direction are two meteorological
condition that affect dispersion.
• Wind direction determines the direction in which the
contaminated gas stream will move across local terrain.
• Wind speed affects the plume rise and the rate of
mixing or dilution of pollutant.
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• It also affects the distance downwind of the source at
which the maximum ground level will occur.
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Modeling of Air Pollution Dispersion
• The Gaussian Model
• Atmospheric Stability Classes
• Estimating the Maximum Downwind Ground-level
Concentration
• Stack Height
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The Gaussian Model
• The Gaussian or normal distribution is used to describe
the crosswind and vertical distributions that result from
turbulent mixing that causes dispersion.
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Assumptions of Gaussian Dispersion Model:
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rise
Assumptions of Gaussian Dispersion Model Cont. :
4) Degree of dilution of the effluent plume is
inversely proportional to the wind speed
(u)
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Plume dispersion coordinate system
(Turner, 1967)
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• The model equation based on the form presented by
D.B. Turner (1967) is as follow:
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h = stack height
H = plume rise
Holland Formula
vs d Ts Ta
H 2
1.5 (2.68 x 10 (P) d(7)
u Ts
where
vs = stack velocity, m/s
d = stack diameter, m
u = wind speed, m/s
P = pressure, kPa
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Ts = stack temperature, K
Ta = air temperature, K
Horizontal
dispersion
coefficient
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Vertical
dispersion
coefficient
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A = Very unstable
B = Moderately unstable
C = Slightly unstable
D = Neutral
E = Slightly stable
F = Stable
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Atmospheric Stability Classes
• Air is termed unstable when there is good vertical
mixing.
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• sy and sz are functions of atmospheric stability and
downwind distance.
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• After determining stability class, plume standard
deviations can be calculated using the equations given
below:
sz cxd f
sy a x 0.894
where a, c, d, and f are constants as defined in Table 9-14
Yield s y and s z in meters for downwind distance x in
kilometers
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Estimation of wind speed at different
height
• Wind speed varies with height
• Use power law expression to estimate wind speed:
p
z2
u2 u1
z1
• u2 is the windspeed at elevation z2, u1 is the windspeed at
elevation z1
• Exponent p is a function of the terrain roughness and the
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stability (Refer Table 9-15)
Example 9-5
It has been estimated that the emission of SO2 from a coal-
fired power plant is 1656.2 g/s. At 3 km downwind on an
overcast summer afternoon, what is the centerline
concentration of SO 2 if the wind speed is 4.50 m/s?
(Note: 'centerline implies y=0')
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Atmospheric Conditions:
Pressure=95 kPa
Temperature= 25℃
Solution:
• We begin by determining the effective stack height (H):
△H = (10)(1.2) [ 1.5+ (2.68x 10-12 (95) 588-298 (120)]
4.5 588
△H = 8 m
H = 120 + 8 = 128m
Next, we must determine the atmospheric stability class.The footnote to Table 7-8 indicates that the D
class should be used for overcast conditions.
From equations 7-22 and 7-23 we can determine that, at 3km downwind with a D stability, the plume
standard deviations are as follow:
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Thus, X = [ 1656.2 ] { exp [ -1 ( 0 )2]} { exp -1 (128 )2 ]}
∏(181.6)(65.4)(4.5) 2 181.5 2 65.4
= 1.45 x 10-3 g/m3, or 1.5 x 10-3 g/m3 of SO2
Exercise 1
It has been estimated that the emission of Carbon monoxide
(CO) from a coal- fired power plant is 1325.4 g/s. At 4 km
downwind on an overcast summer afternoon, what is the
centerline concentration of CO if the wind speed is 3.80 m/s?
(note: “centerline implies y=0)
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Atmospheric conditions:
Pressure = 95 kPa
Temperature = 25℃
Exercise 2
It has been estimated that the emission of NOx from an
incineration plant is 83 g/s. The wind speed is 5 m/s.
Assume the effective stack height is 5 m. What is the center
line concentration of NOx at 5 km away downwind if stability
class D is used.
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Estimating the Maximum Downwind
Ground-level Concentration
E H2 y2
X (x, y,0) exp exp (1)
sy sz 2s
z
2
2s 2
y
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Substitution of H 2= 2s 2 into
z equation (1) and y = 0,
the maximum concentration downwind on the center
line and at ground level is approximately given by
0.1171E
Xmax (3)
s s
y z
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Stack Height
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Air Pollution Control of Stationary
Sources
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Control of Gas & Vapour Pollutants
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Absorption
• Diffusion process for molecular transfer from gas to
liquid due to concentration gradient
• Removal of pollutant gas involves 3 steps
1. Diffusion of the pollutant gas to the surface of the
liquid
2. Transfer across the gas/liquid interface (dissolution)
3. Diffusion of the dissolved gas away from the interface
into the liquid
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Adsorption
• The capture and retention of components from gas
phase by total surface of adsorbing solids
• Saturated adsorbent regenerated by contact with low
pressure steam, decanting or distillation
• Used to concentrate (30 – 50 fold) or store contaminants
until they are recovered or destroyed in most economical
manner
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Combustion
• High temperature gas phase oxidation
• Ultimate goal to oxidise organic compounds to water
and carbon dioxide
• Used to control odours, reduce opacity (visibility) of plume
and reduce emissions of reactive hydrocarbons
• Main advantage very high if held for sufficient
length of time and high T
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Control of Particulate Pollutants
• Cyclones
• Filters
• Liquid scrubber
• Electrostatic Precipitation (ESP)
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Cyclone
• Suitable if particles size greater than 10 μm
• Gas stream enters tangentially, causing it to flow in a
spiral pattern
• Due to higher momentum, larger particles tend to
move outward and collide with wall
• Particles then slide down the wall and fall to the
bottom
• Cleaned gas flows out from the top
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Bag Filters
• Suitable if particles smaller than 5 μm
• Same basic principle as vacuum cleaner
• Particle-laden air stream passed through cloth bag
• Particles accumulate on cloth, resulting in cleaned gas
stream
• Filtering performed primarily by dust layer
accumulated on fabric
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Liquid Scrubbing
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Electrostatic Precipitation
• Can remove certain particles in the form of dry dusts or
liquid droplets
• Apply electrical force to separate particles from gas
stream
• Passing particles acquire a charge, then attracted to
and collected on oppositely charged plate
• Cleaned gas flows through the ESP
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Cooling System
1) The exhaust gases to be treated are sometimes too hot for the control
equipment, and must first be cooled.
2) Cooling may also drop the temperature below the condensation point of
some pollutants, so that they may be collected as liquids.
3) Dilution, quenching and heat exchange, shown in Fig. 20-2, are all
acceptable cooling methods.
4) Quenching has the added advantage of scrubbing out some gases and
particulate matter, but may yield a dirty, hot liquid that itself requires disposal.
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5) Cooling coils are probably the most widely used cooling method and are
especially appropriate where heat can be conserved
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Reference: Environmental Enginnering (4th Edition) Ruth F. Weiner and Robin Matthews : Updated edition of Environmental
Engineering, previousIy co – authored by J. Jeffrey Peirce and P. Aarne Vesilind.
Link for gas cooling system:
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Additional information - cooling system:
Cooling Problems:
Heat exchanger fouling: Corrosion, scaling, and fouling of heat exchangers can
reduce their efficiency and increase the risk of overheating.
Gas processing unit (GPU) overheating: GPUs process high-pressure gases,
which can lead to overheating if not properly cooled.
Cooling water scarcity: Limited water availability can make it challenging to
maintain adequate cooling systems.
Corrosion: Corrosion can occur in cooling systems due to the presence of acidic or
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corrosive gases.
Ice formation: Low temperatures in gas processing facilities can lead to ice
formation, which can cause equipment damage and disruptions.
Additional info- cooling system cont.:
Cooling Solutions:
Heat exchangers with enhanced heat transfer surfaces: Use of heat exchangers with
improved surface areas (spiral wound tubes or plate heat exchangers) can enhance heat
transfer efficiency.
Cooling towers with indirect cooling: help reduce the risk of corrosion and scaling.
Air-cooled condensers: to cool high-pressure gases, reducing the need for water-based
cooling systems.
Water treatment systems: to prevent corrosion and scaling can help maintain efficient
cooling systems.
Chillers and air-cooled condensers with corrosion-resistant materials: Using
corrosion-resistant materials (stainless steel or titanium, in chillers and air-cooled
condensers) can minimize the risk of corrosion.
Ice prevention measures: Implementing ice prevention measures (insulation and heating
systems) can help prevent ice formation in gas processing facilities.
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Heat recovery systems: can help recover heat energy from process streams and use it for
other purposes, reducing the need for additional cooling systems.
Additional info- cooling system:
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downtime, reduce energy consumption, and ensure a reliable
supply of processed gas products.
Additional info- cooling system cont.
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Refrigeration systems Gas Cooler Heat Exchanger Manufacturer
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