The Easiest Way to Control Air Pollution!



 
Our lifestyle and the way our industries operate has led to a rise in air pollution. This phenomenon has several negative effects. To highlight a few:

  • A UN expert has predicted that air pollution can cause around 7 million premature deaths every year.
  • More than 30000 lives in the United States can be saved by merely reducing the air pollution levels
  • If China can cut Ozone pollution it can save around 330000 lives by 2050.
  • Air pollution reportedly speeds up the ageing of the lungs and increases the risk of developing chronic lung diseases.  

These effects have put our future in jeopardy. Actions must be taken to curb the effects of air pollution before it’s too late. Several industries can take strong action against air pollution by installing air pollution control systems.

But what are these systems? What do they do? Air pollution control system is an umbrella term. It basically comprises of equipment and systems that are used to eliminate or regulate pollutant emission. These pollutants can be in the form of particulate matter or gas. 

One such effective air pollutant control system is scrubbers. It is one of the most commonly used devices to control air pollution. They can remove gases as well as particulates. They are commonly used in exhaust streams. Particulates and gases are removed by scrubbing before letting the emissions out into the atmosphere.

Historically scrubbers were pollution control devices that used liquids. This liquid was used to wash pollutants from the gas stream. Scrubbers have proved highly successful in controlling gas emissions, and have been the go-to choice for controlling air pollution. There are two major classifications of scrubbers: Wet scrubbers and dry scrubbers.

Wet scrubbers

Wet scrubbers are also called wet absorption scrubbers or wet collectors. The purpose of a wet scrubber is to clean air, gases or fuel gases of pollutants and dust particles. The functioning of wet scrubbing involves contact of particulate matter or target compounds with the scrubbing solution. Water is one of the solutions that is used. Sometimes, solutions of reagents are used. These reagents specifically target certain compounds. To improve the removal efficiency of the pollutants, residence time in the scrubber is increased or the surface area of scrubber solution is increased. Wet scrubber can be used for heat recovery as well.

Dry scrubbers

Dry scrubbers are also called dry adsorption scrubbers. They are used to remove acid gases. It injects chemical agents that are dry and neutralizing in nature. These chemicals are injected into the emission stream. This causes the chemicals in the emission stream to undergo a chemical reaction. This chemical reaction neutralizes pollutants or converts them into harmless substances. When the chemical reaction concludes, the spent agents are collected. In some cases collected agents can be reused for future dry scrubbing purposes. Sometimes the spent agents cannot be collected and must be disposed off. Specialists are needed to dispose this scrubbing waste.  

Air pollution is a challenge that has posed difficult questions. Pollution control systems like scrubbers may be one of the answers.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

What are Bi-Drum Boilers? How Do They Work?

Image
Bi-drum boilers are used for purposes of power generation and as process steam generators. This type of boiler is used up to 100MW for generating power. Bi-drum boilers are non-reheat units which are getting wiped out due to high heat rate of the plant. These boilers are used for generating high steam pressure which is used for power generation owing to their ability to accommodate high load of fluctuation and respond to load changes with more agility compared a single drum boiler. The two drums in the bi-drum boiler are connected using a large number of convective heat transfer tubes known as bank tubes or boiler bank tubes. These tubes are about one thousand in number. The bank tubes and the drum at the bottom that contains water will have a water level that will be up to the normal working level of water in the upper drum. The water availability in the bi-drum boiler makes it very adoptable for large load changes. Flue gases enter the bank tubes which are placed towards t...
Read more

How Do Electrostatic Precipitators Work?

Image
Reducing air pollutants is vital for human health and the health of the environment. Poor air quality has harmful effects on human health, particularly the respiratory and cardiovascular systems. Pollutants also damage plants and buildings, and smoke or haze can reduce visibility. Industries are largely responsible for causing pollution. They are also the ones who have access to a number of pollution control devices that absorb, filter, dilute, and disperse pollutants. One such device for pollution control is the electrostatic precipitator. This device works by removing particles and smoke from a gas stream using an electrostatic charge. Dust particles travel past wires that have a high direct current (DC) voltage applied, which ionises the surrounding gas. This corona discharge causes the particles to pick up a small electrostatic charge, without impeding the gas flow. Originally designed for recovery of valuable industrial-process materials, electrostatic precipitators are used a...
Read more

Quick overview of the Import & Export of Chemicals in India

Image
The chemical industry in India offers building blocks and essential raw materials for numerous industries such as paints, paper, textiles, pharmaceuticals, agrochemicals, soap, and detergents, etc. Let’s go through a few statistics of the chemical industry: The chemical industry in India is ranked 4th in Asia and 6th in the world. The global chemical industry is expected to be worth $4.7 trillion. The chemical companies in India contributes 3.4% to the global chemical industry. As of 2018, the chemical industry (including pharmaceuticals and fertilizers) stood at $163 billion. The Chemical sector in India is expected to grow at 9% per annum to reach $304 Bn by FY 2025. The expansion is anticipated to be pushed by rising demand in end-use segments for Specialty Chemicals and also for petrochemical intermediates. In 2015-16, the Chemical and Chemical Products sector accounted for 2.39percent of the GVA, compared to 2.23percent in 2014-15.18 Note: With India possessing a l...
Read more