AIR POLLUTION

Roz Ayu bt Ismail

Hasmida bt Mohd Nasir
Norul Fatihah bt Mohammed Noah
Mohamad Amirrun Nazrie bin Suhaimi
Indoor Air Quality
 Referring to the air quality within and around buildings and structures,
especially as it relates to the health and comfort of building occupants.
 Can be affected by microbial contaminants, gases, particulates, or any
mass or energy stressor.
 Common Pollutant:

- Radon
- Molds
- Carbon Monoxide
- Volatile Organic Compound
- Asbestos Fibers
- Carbon Dioxide
- Ozone

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Indoor_air_quality
Indoor Air Quality Modeling

 Developed by Indoor Environment

Management Branch, US
Environment al Protection Agency
(EPA).
 Analyzing the impact of sources,
sinks, ventilation, and air cleaners
on indoor air quality.
 Allowed calculation of indoor
concentrations as a function of
time.

http://www.epa.gov/appcdwww/iemb/model.htm
Mass Balance

Volume = V
Concentration = C

Q, Ca Q, C
Emission Decay
Rate =E Rate = k

Source Sink

ACCUMULATION = IN + GENERATION – OUT - CONSUMPTION

Mass Balance

Volume = V
Concentration = C

Q, Ca Q, C
Emission Decay
Rate =E Rate = k

Source Sink

ACCUMULATION = IN + GENERATION – OUT - CONSUMPTION

Rate of
pollutant Rate of pollutant Rate of pollutant Rate of pollutant Rate of pollutant
increase in = entering box + entering box from - leaving the box by - leaving box by
from outside indoor emission leakage to outdoors decay
box
Mass Balance

Volume = V
Concentration = C

Q, Ca Q, C
Emission Decay
Rate =E Rate = k

Source Sink

Rate of Rate of pollutant Rate of pollutant Rate of pollutant Rate of pollutant

pollutant = entering box + entering box from - leaving the box by - leaving box by
increase in
box from outside indoor emission leakage to outdoors decay
 Equation 7-27 (pg 598)

V = Volume of Box,
C = Concentration of Pollutant,
Q = Rate of Infiltration of air into and out of box,
Ca = Concentration of pollutant in outdoor air,
E = Emission rate of pollutant into box from indoor source,
k = Pollutant decay rate of reaction rate coefficient,
General Solution for Equation 7-27:

Steady-state Solution for Equation 7-27:

k=0, ambient concentration negligible,

initial indoor concentration=0:
7.10 AIR POLLUTION CONTROL
OF STATIONARY SOURCES
 Gaseous pollutant
 FGD
 Control Technologies for Nitrogen
Oxides
 Particulate Pollutants
 Control Technologies for Mercury
 Gaseous Pollutant

Absorption

Adsorption

Combustion
 Absorption
Transfer pollutant from gas phase to liquid phase.
(mass transfer process)
The removal of the pollutant gas takes place in
three steps:
I. Diffusion of the pollutant gas to the surface of the
liquid.
II. Transfer across the gas/liquid interface.
III. Diffusion of the dissolved gas away from the
interface into the liquid.
The example is spray chamber and tower/column.
(see figure 7.26 and 7.27)
 Amount of the absorption for a nonreactive solution is govern by
partial pressure.
 Henry's law give relationship between partial pressure and
concentration.
Pg = KHCequi
 Where,

p = Partial pressure of the solute in the gas above the solution.

c = Concentration of the solute
kH = constant with the dimensions of pressure divided by
concentration.
 Eq. above implies that Pg is must increase as the liquid accumulates
more pollutant or else it will come out of solution.
Since the liquid is removing pollutant from the
gas phases, this means the partial pressure is
decreasing as gas is cleaned. Reverse what we
want to happen.
The easiest way to settle this problems by run
the gas and liquid in countercurrent flow.
• Mass balance equation (look figure 7-28)

(G m1 )(y 1 ) – (G m2 )(y 2 ) = (L m1 )(x 1 ) - (L m2 )(x 2 )

Where ,
G m1 , G m2 = total gas fl ow into and out of the column respectively

Y1 , y2 = mole fraction of pollutant in a gas

L m1 , L m2 = total liquid fl ow

X1 , x2 = mole fraction of pollutant in liquid

• Variable to design packed tower is gas fl ow rate, liquid flow

rate and the height of the tower.
• The height of the tower equation is :

Zt = (Hog)(Nog) (7-45)
• See example 7-7.
 Adsorption

The gas is bonded to a solid (mass transfer)

Pressure vessels having a fixed bed are used to hold the adsorbent
(figure 7-29)
Common adsorbents is active carbon (charcoal), molecular sieves,
silica gel, and activated alumina.
The common property of these adsorbents is a large “active”
surface area per unit volume after treatment.
They are very effectives for hydrocarbon pollutant. In addition,
they can capture H2S and SO2.
One special form of molecular sieve can also capture NO2.
Except active carbons, adsorbents have a drawback that they
preferentially select water before any of the pollutant. So, water
must remove from the gas before it is treated.
All adsorbents are subject to destruction at high
temperature (1500C for active carbon, 6000C for molecular
sieves, 4000C for silica gel, and 5000C for activated
alumina ). At this temperatures they are very inefficient
and in fact, their activity is regenerated!
Relation between the amount of pollutant adsorbed and
the equilibrium pressure at constant temperature is
called an adsorption isotherm. Equation by Langmuir :
W = __aCR*__
1 + bCg*
The time to breakthrough:
tB = Zt – δ
vf
 Combustion
Alternatives method of control when the
contaminant in the gas stream is oxidizable to an
inert gas.
Use Direct Flame incineration method if:
1. Gas stream have net heating value (NHV) greater
than 3.7 MJ/m3.
2. None of the byproducts of combustion be toxic.
(eg. Trichloroethylene produces phosgene,which
was used as a poison gas in world war 1.)
Flame incineration is applied to varnish cooking,
meat-smokehouse, and paint bake-oven emissions.
 Use catalytic incinerator if :
 Catalytic material enable oxidation to be carried out
in gases that have an NHV less than 3.7MJ/m3
 Catalytic combustion is has successfully been applied
to printing-press, varnish cooking, and asphalt-
oxidation emissions.
 Problem in design catalytic reactor is to determine the
volume and dimensions of the catalyst bed for a given
conversion and flow rate.
 See example 7-9 that show how to estimating the
dimension and volume of the catalyst.
Flue gas desulfurization (FGD)

Flue gas desulfurization systems fall into 2 broad

categories:
Nonregenerative – reagent used to remove sulfur
oxides is discarded
Regenerative – reagent used is recovered and reused
Nitrogen Oxide (NOx)
Result from combustion processes
Produced from :
 oxidation of N2 bound in the fuel
 Reaction of O2 and N2 in the combustion air (T>1600K)
 Reaction of N2 in the combustion air with hydrocarbon
radicals
Control technologies for NOx

a) Prevent the formation of NOx during the

combustion process
 By reduce the flame temperature
 Alternatives:
Minimizing operating Staged combustion
temperature Low NOx burners
Fuel switching Secondary combustion
Low excess air Water/steam injection
Flue gas recirculation
Lean combustion
b) Convert NOx formed during combustion into N2
and O2
 Selective catalytic reduction (SCR)
Selective noncatalytic reduction (SNCR)
Nonselective catalytic reduction (NSCR)
• Use 3-way catalyst
• Require reducing agent
• Need larger boiler

Reduction capabilities
 Prevention: 30-60 %
 SCR : 70-90 %
 SNCR : 30-50 %
Particulate Pollutants

Cyclones
For particle sizes greater than 10µm in diameter

How its works?

 Particle accelerated through a spiral motion

 Imparts centrifugal force to the particles

 Hurled out of the spinning gas

 Impact on cylinder wall

 Slide to the bottom of the cone

 Removed through valving system

Reverse flow cyclone
Standard reverse flow cyclone proportions
The efficiency of collection of various particle sizes
() can be determined from an empirical
expression and efficiency graph (FIGURE 7-36)
Where
d0.5 = cut diameter, the particle size for which the collection efficiency
is 50%
µ = dynamic viscosity of gas, Pa.s
B = width of entrance, m
H = height of entrance, m
ρp = particle density, kg/m3s
Qg = gas flow rate, m3/s
 = effectiveness number of turns made in traversing the cyclone
 The value of  may be determined approximately by the
following:

 Where L1 and L2 are the length of the cylinder and cone

respectively
For further understanding, let’s go through ex 10-7
pg 617
FILTERS
Use as control method when high efficiency
control of particles smaller than 5µm is
desired
2 types are in use
i. The deep bed filter

ii. The baghouse

The deep bed filter
Resembles a furnace filter
Used to intercept particles in the gas
stream
Preferable for relatively clean gases
and low volumes, such as air conditioning
system.
Baghouse

Preferable for dirty

industrial gas with high
volumes
Mechanically cleaned (shaker) baghouse (a) and pulse-jet-clean baghouse (b)
Fundamental mechanisms of collection include
screening and sieving
Once a dust cake begins to form on the
fabric, sieving is probably the dominant
mechanism.
The buildup of the dust cake also increases
the resistance to gas flow.
At some point the pressure drop across the
filter bags reduces the gas flow an
unacceptable level and the filters bags must
be cleaned
 Three methods use to clean the bags are
i. Mechanical shaking
ii. Reverse air flow
iii. Pulse-jet cleaning
 Mechanical shaking operate by directing the dirty
gas into the inside of the bag.
 Reverse air flow cleaning a compartment is isolated
and a large volume of gas flow is forced
countercurrent to normal operation
 Pulse-jet baghouses, the particulate matter is
collected outside of the bag.
The dust cake is removed by directing a pulsed jet
of compress air into the bag.
Example 7-11 (page 620)
Solution:
1. Nothing that the air-to-cloth ratio units of m/s
are equivalent to m³/s.m², calculate the net cloth
area required with one compartment off line for
cleaning:
A = Q/V
= 20 m³/s/0.01m³/s. m²
= 2000 m²
2. The net number of bags is the total area divided
by the area of one bag:
2000 m²/(π)(0.15 m)(12 m) = 353.67 or
354 bags
3. With one-eighth of the bags off line, an additional
one-eighth of the net number required:
354bags/8 = 44.25 or 44 bags
4. The total number of bags is 354 + 44 = 398.
Liquid scrubbing
Used when the particulate matter to be collected is
wet, corrosive, or very hot, the fabric filter may not
work.
Typical scrubbing applications include
i. Control of emission of talc dust
ii. Phosphoric acid mist
iii. Foundry cupola dust
iv. Open heart steel furnace fumes.
Principle of operation of the liquid
scrubber is that a differential
velocity between the droplets of
collecting liquid and the particulate
pollutant allows the particle to
impinge onto the droplet.
Venturi scrubber
 Electrostatic Precipitation (EPS)
High efficiency, dry collection of
particles from hot gas streams can be
obtained by electrostatic
The EPS is usually constructed of
alternating plates and wires
A large direct current potential
(30 – 75 kV) is established between the
plates and wires