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UNIT 5

AIR POLLUTION

Air
It is the clear gas in which living things live and breathe. It has an indefinite shape and
volume. It has no color or smell. It has mass and weight.

Composition of air
By volume, dry air contains 78% nitrogen, 21% oxygen, and 1% other gases. Air also
contains a variable amount of water vapor, on average around 1% at sea level, and 0.4% over
the entire atmosphere.

Air pollution
Air pollution is defined as the presence of one or more contaminants like dust, mist, smoke
and color in the atmosphere that are injurious to human beings, plants and animals.

Sources of air pollution

A. Natural Sources
1. Volcanic Eruption
2. Forest Fire
3. Biological Decay
4. Pollen Grain

B. Artificial Sources
1. Thermal Power Plant
2. Vehicular Emission
3. Fossil Fuel Burning
4. Agricultural Activities

Types of sources

There are four main types of air pollution sources:

1. Mobile sources – such as cars, buses, planes, trucks, and trains

2. Stationary sources – such as power plants, oil refineries, industrial facilities, and
factories

3. Area sources – such as agricultural areas, cities, and wood burning fireplaces

4. Natural sources – such as wind-blown dust, wildfires, and volcanoes

Causes of air pollution

1. Rapid Industrialization
2. Fast Urbanization
3. Rapid Growth in Population
4. Growth of Vehicles on the Road
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PROPERTIES OF AIR POLLUTANTS

i. Sulphur oxides (SOx):

SO2 is produced by volcanoes and in various industrial processes. Since coal and petroleum
often contain sulphur compounds, their combustion generates sulphur dioxide. Further
oxidation of SO2, usually in the presence of a catalyst such as NO2, forms H2SO4, and thus
acid rain. This is one of the causes for concern over the environmental impact of the use of
these fuels as power sources.

ii. Nitrogen oxides (NOx):

Especially nitrogen dioxide are emitted from high temperature combustion. Nitrogen dioxide
is the chemical compound with the formula N02. It is responsible for photochemical smog,
acid rain etc.

iii. Carbon monoxide:

It is a colourless, odourless, non-irritating but very poisonous gas. It is a product by
incomplete combustion of fuel such as natural gas, coal or wood. Vehicular exhaust is a
major source of carbon monoxide.

iv. Carbon dioxide (CO2):

A greenhouse gas emitted from combustion but is also a gas vital to living organisms. It is a
natural gas in the atmosphere.

v. Volatile organic compounds:

VOCs are an important outdoor air pollutant. In this field they are often divided into the
separate categories of methane (CH4) and non-methane (NMVOCs). Methane is an extremely
efficient greenhouse gas which contributes to enhanced global warming.
Other hydrocarbon VOCs are also significant greenhouse gases via their role in creating
ozone and in prolonging the life of methane in the atmosphere, although the effect varies
depending on local air quality. Within the NMVOCs, the aromatic compounds benzene,
toluene and xylene are suspected carcinogens and may lead to leukaemia through prolonged
exposure. 1, 3-butadiene is another dangerous compound which is often associated with
industrial uses.

vi. Particulate matter:

Particulates, alternatively referred to as particulate matter (PM) or fine particles, are tiny
particles of solid or liquid suspended in a gas. In contrast, aerosol refers to particles and the
gas together. Sources of particulate matter can be manmade or natural.
Some particulates occur naturally, originating from volcanoes, dust storms, forest and
grassland fires, living vegetation, and sea spray. Human activities, such as the burning of
fossil fuels in vehicles, power plants and various industrial processes also generate significant
amounts of aerosols.
Averaged over the globe, anthropogenic aerosols—those made by human activities—
currently account for about 10 per cent of the total amount of aerosols in our atmosphere.
Increased levels of fine particles in the air are linked to health hazards such as heart disease,
altered lung function and lung cancer.

vii. Persistent free radicals – connected to airborne fine particles could cause
cardiopulmonary disease.
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viii. Toxic metals – such as lead, cadmium and copper.

ix. Chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs) – harmful to the ozone layer emitted from products
currently banned from use.

x. Ammonia (NH3) – emitted from agricultural processes. Ammonia is a compound with the
formula NH3. It is normally encountered as a gas with a characteristic pungent odor.
Ammonia contributes significantly to the nutritional needs of terrestrial organisms by serving
as a precursor to foodstuffs and fertilizers. Ammonia, either directly or indirectly, is also a
building block for the synthesis of many pharmaceuticals. Although in wide use, ammonia is
both caustic and hazardous.

xi. Odours – such as from garbage, sewage, and industrial processes

xii. Radioactive pollutants – produced by nuclear explosions, war explosives, and natural
processes such as the radioactive decay of radon.

A. Natural contaminants
The contaminants exist naturally in air that causes pollution.
Example:
1. Natural fog
2. Pollen grains
3. Bacteria
4. Products of volcanic eruption

B. Aerosols
The particulates exist in air that causes pollution.
Example:
1. Dust
2. Smoke
3. Mist
4. Fume

C. Gases and vapors

The gases and vapors released to atmosphere that cause air pollution.
Example:
1. Sulphur compounds: SO2, SO3, H2S, Mercaptans
2. Nitrogen compounds: NO, NO2, NH3
3. Oxygen compounds: O3, CO, CO2
4. Halogen compounds: HF, HCL
5. Organic compounds: Aldehydes, Hydrocarbons
6. Radioactive compounds: Radioactive gases

D. Primary pollutants
Primary Pollutants are those that are directly emitted in the atmosphere in the harmful farm.
Example:
CO, NO, CO2, SO2

E. Secondary pollutants
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Secondary Pollutants are those that are formed by reacting with other components or some
basic component of the atmosphere to form new pollutants.
Example:
Oxides of Nitrogen react with moisture in the atmosphere to give Nitric acid.

CONTROL OF AIR POLLUTANTS

In an industrial setting, air pollution control equipment is an umbrella term referring to
equipment and systems used to regulate and eliminate the emission of potentially hazardous
substances. It includes particulate matter and gases produced by manufacturing, process
system, and research applications into the air, atmosphere, and surrounding environment.
Industries:

within the work environment.

air pollutants from various sources.

AIR POLLUTION CONTROL EQUIPMENT

Types of control equipment

1. Gravitational Settling chambers
2. Centrifugal collectors
3. Cyclone collector
4. Dynamic precipitators
5. Wet scrubbers
6. Spray towers
7. Wet cyclone scrubbers
8. Venturi scrubbers
9. Electrostatic precipitators
10. Fabric filter

1. Gravity separators
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A Gravitational Settling Chamber is a rectangular chamber in which several horizontal trays

are fixed. When the polluted gas enters the chamber, its velocity is kept low so that the
particulates get sufficient time to settle down due to gravity. The high density pollutants settle
down at the bottom of the chamber which are then removed. The gas velocities in the settling
chamber must be sufficiently low for the particles to settle due to gravitational force.

The gas velocity less than about 3 m/s is needed to prevent re-entrainment of the settled
particles.

The gas velocity of less than 0.5 m/s will produce good results.

Minimum particle size to be removed: > 50 μm

Efficiency of Gravity settling chambers : < 50 %.

Curtains, rods, baffles and wire mesh screens may be suspended in the chamber to minimize
turbulence and to ensure uniform flow. The velocity of the particles in the settling chamber
can be obtained by Stokes' law as follows:

Vs = (g(ρ p - ρ ) D2 ) /18 μ

Where,
D = Diameter of the particle.
g = acceleration due to gravity
ρ p = density of the particle
r = density of the gas
μ = viscosity of the gas

Advantages
i) low initial cost,
ii) simple construction,
iii) low maintenance cost,
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iv) low pressure drop,

v) dry and continuous disposal of solid particles,
vi) use of any material for construction, and
vii) temperature and pressure limitations will only depend on the nature of the construction
material.

Disadvantages
i) large space requirements and
ii) only comparatively large particles (greater than 10 micron) can be collected.

2. Centrifugal separators

Exert more force than gravity force on the particles so that they can be removed from the gas
stream. Cyclones use centrifugal forces for removing the fine particles. They are also known
as centrifugal or inertial separators. The cyclone consists of a vertically placed cylinder which
has an inverted cone attached to its base. The particulate laden gas stream enters tangentially
at the inlet point to the cylinder. The velocity of this inlet gas stream is then transformed into
a confined vortex, from which centrifugal forces tend to drive the suspended particles to the
walls of the cyclone. The vortex turns upward after reaching at the bottom of the cylinder in a
narrower inner spiral. The clean gas is removed from a central cylindrical opening at the top,
while the dust particles are collected at the bottom in a storage hopper by gravity.

The efficiency of a cyclone chiefly depends upon the cyclone diameter. For a given pressure
drop, smaller the diameter, greater is the efficiency, because centrifugal action increases with
decreasing radius of rotation. Centrifugal forces employed in modern designs vary from 5 to
2500 times gravity depending on the diameter of the cyclone. Cyclone efficiencies are greater
than 90% for the particles with the diameter of the order of 10 μ. For particles with diameter
higher than 20 μ, efficiency is about 95%.
Minimum particle size to be removed: > 5 - 25 μm
Efficiency of Gravity settling chambers : < 50 - 90 %
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Advantages

i) low initial cost,

ii) simple in construction and operation,
iii) low pressure drop,
iv) low maintenance requirements,
v) continuous disposal of solid particulate matter, and
vi) use of any material in their construction that can withstand the temperature and pressure
requirements.

Disadvantages

i) low collection efficiency for particles below 5 - 10 μ in diameter,

ii) severe abrasion problems can occur during the striking of particles on the walls of the
cyclone, and
iii) a decrease in efficiency at low particulate concentration.

3. Fabric filters

Fabric filtration is one of the most common techniques to collect particulate matter from
industrial waste gases. The use of fabric filters is based on the principle of filtration

Bag house
A bag house or a bag filter consists of numerous vertically hanging, tubular bags, 4 to 18
inches in diameter and 10 to 40 feet long.
They are suspended with their open ends attached to a manifold.
The number of bags can vary from a few hundreds to a thousand or more depending upon the
size of the bag house
The bags are housed in a shell made of rigid metal material

Hopper
Hoppers are used to store the collected dust temporarily before it is disposed in a landfill or
reused in the process.
Dust should be removed as soon as possible to avoid packing which would make removal
very difficult.
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They are usually designed with a 60 degrees slope to allow dust to flow freely from the top of
the hopper to the bottom discharge opening.
A discharge device is necessary for emptying the hopper. Discharge devices can be manual or
automatic.

Filter media
Woven and felted materials are used to make bag filters.
While selecting the filter medium for bag houses, the characteristics and properties of the
carrier gas and dust particles should be considered.
The properties to be noted include:
a) Carrier gas temperature
b) Carrier gas composition
c) Gas flow rate
d) Size and shape of dust particles and its concentration

Operation of a bag house

1. The gas entering the inlet pipe strikes a baffle plate, which causes larger particles to fall
into a hopper due to gravity.
2. The carrier gas then flows upward into the tubes and outward through the fabric leaving
the particulate matter as a "cake" on the insides of the bags.
3. There are many types of "filter bags" depending on the bag shape, type of housing and
method of cleaning the fabric.

Operating problems
•Various problems during the operation of a bag house are:
a) Cleaning -
b) Rupture of the cloth
c) Temperature
d) Bleeding
e) Humidity
f) Chemical attack

4. Particulate scrubbers
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Scrubbers are devices that remove particulate matter by contacting the dirty gas stream with
liquid drops. Generally water is used as the scrubbing fluid. In a wet collector, the dust is
agglomerated with water and then separated from the gas together with the water.

Mechanism of particulate collection

i) Transport : The particle must be transported to the vicinity of the water droplets which are
usually 10 to 1000 times larger.
ii) Collision : The particle must collide with the droplet.
iii) Adhesion : This is promoted by the surface tension property. iv) Precipitation: This
involves the removal of the droplets, containing the dust particles from the gas phase.

Physical principles involved in the operation

i)Impingement
ii)Interception,
iii)Diffusion and
iv)Condensation

Types of scrubbers
i) Spray towers.
ii) Venturi scrubbers
iii) Cyclone scrubbers
iv) Packed scrubbers
v) Mechanical scrubbers

Advantages of scrubbers

i) Low initial cost.

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ii) Moderately high collection efficiency for small particles.

iii) Applicable for high temperature installations.
iv) They can simultaneously remove particles and gases.
v) There is no particle re- entrainment.

Disadvantages of scrubbers

i) High power consumption for higher efficiency.

ii) Moderate to high maintenance costs owing to corrosion and abrasion.
iii) Wet disposal of the collected material.

Applications

i) They're particularly useful in the case of a hot gas that must be cooled for some reason.
ii) If the particulate matter is combustible or if any flammable gas is present, even in trace
amounts, in the bulk gas phase, a scrubber is preferred to an electrostatic precipitator.
iii) Scrubbers can be used when there are waste water treatment systems available on the site,
with adequate reserve capacity to handle the liquid effluent.
iv) Scrubbers are also used when gas reaction and absorption are required simultaneously
with particulate control.

4. Electrostatic precipitators

Electrostatic precipitators (ESP) are particulate collection devices that use electrostatic force
to remove the particles less than 5 micron in diameter.
It is difficult to use gravity settlers and cyclones effectively for the said range of particles.
Particles as small as one-tenth of a micrometer can be removed with almost 100% efficiency
using electrostatic precipitators
The principle behind all electrostatic precipitators is to give electrostatic charge to particles in
a given gas stream and then pass the particles through an electrostatic field that drives them to
a collecting electrode

Working principle
i) Ionizing the gas.
ii) Charging the gas particles.
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iii) Transporting the particles to the collecting surface.

iv) Neutralizing, or removing the charge from the dust particles.
v) Removing the dust from the collecting surface.

Major components of electrostatic precipitators

i) A source of high voltage
ii) Discharge and collecting electrodes.
iii) Inlet and outlet for the gas.
iv) A hopper for the disposal of the collected material.
v) An outer casing to form an enclosure around the electrodes.

Components
The ESP is made of a rectangular or cylindrical casing. All casings provide an inlet and outlet
connection for the gases, hoppers to collect the precipitated particulate and the necessary
discharge electrodes and collecting surfaces. There is a weather-proof, gas tight enclosure
over the precipitator that houses the high voltage insulators.

Advantages of using the electrostatic precipitators

i) High collection efficiency.
ii) Particles as small as 0.1 micron can be removed.
iii) Low maintenance and operating cost.
iv) Low pressure drop (0.25-1.25 cm of water).
v) Satisfactory handling of a large volume of high temperature gas.
vi) Treatment time is negligible (0.1-10s).
vii) Cleaning is easy by removing the units of precipitator from operation.
viii) There is no limit to solid, liquid or corrosive chemical usage

Disadvantages of using the electrostatic precipitators

i) High initial cost.
ii) Space requirement is more because of the large size of the equipment.
iii) Possible explosion hazards during collection of combustible gases or particulate.
iv) Precautions are necessary to maintain safety during operation. Proper gas flow
distribution, particulate conductivity and corona spark over rate must be carefully maintained.
v) The negatively charged electrodes during gas ionization produce the ozone.

Applications of electrostatic precipitators

Cement factories: a) Cleaning the flue gas from the cement kiln. b) Recovery of cement dust
from kilns.
Pulp and paper mills: a) Soda-fume recovery in the Kraft pulp mills.
Steel Plants: a) Cleaning blast furnace gas to use it as a fuel. b) Removing tars from coke
oven gases. c) Cleaning open hearth and electric furnace gases.
Non-ferrous metals industry: a) Recovering valuable material from the flue gases. b)
Collecting acid mist.
Chemical Industry: a) Collection of sulfuric and phosphoric acid mist. b) Cleaning various
types of gas, such as hydrogen, CO2, and SO2. c) Removing the dust from elemental
phosphorous in the vapor state.
Petroleum Industry: a) Recovery of catalytic dust.

AMBIENT AIR QUALITY STANDARDS

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An ambient air quality standard (AAQS) simply put is a limit on the amount of a given
pollutant in the air. An air quality standard may state a limit i.e. the level of pollutant x must
not exceed amount y. Alternatively a standard may stipulate a target i.e. by year z the level of
pollutant x must not exceed amount y. In some cases the air quality standards will have a mix
of both. Ambient air quality refers to the condition or quality of air surrounding us in the
outdoors. Ambient Air Quality Standards are the standards for ambient air quality set by the
Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) that is applicable nationwide.

Ministry of Environment and Forest (MoEF), Govt of India, vide gezette notification,
G.S.R826 (E), dated 16.11.2009 have notified the National Ambient Air Quality Standards by
amending the Environment (Protection) Rules 1986.
The following are the major changes have been effected.
1. As against three [(i) Industrial Area (ii) Residential, Rural & other areas (iii) Sensitive
Area] areas, the new standards is applicable for only two areas viz. (i) Industrial , Residential
, Rural, and other areas (ii) Ecologically Sensitive Area (Notified by Central Government )
2. The Industrial area, Residential, Rural, and other areas have been clubbed, Ecologically
Sensitive area to be notified by Central Government.
3. The new parameters included are particulate matter size less than 2.5 µm OR PM2.5
µg/M3 , Ozone, ammonia (NH3), Benzene , Benzo(a)pyrene(BaP) , Arsenic (As) and Nickel
(Ni )
4. Ambient air quality data generated under National Ambient Air Quality Monitoring
Programme (NAMP) has been compared with revised national ambient air quality standards
for the year 2010-11

NOISE POLLUTION

The noise pollution is defined as the unwanted sound which is released into the environment.
It disturbs the human being and cause an adverse effect on the mental and psychological well
being. It is measured in the units of decibels and is denoted by the dB. One dB is equal to the
faintest sound, a human ear can hear. World Health Organization (WHO) has recommended
75 dB as limit to industrial noise. The threshold limit value is 90 dB for 9 hours, 95 dB for 4
hours, 100 dB for 2 hours and 115 dB for 15 minutes per day. Above 115 dB, it crosses the
threshold of pain.

Sources of noise pollution

1. Industrialization
Most of the industries use big machines which are capable of producing large amount of
noise. Apart from that, various equipments like compressors, generators, exhaust fans,
grinding mills also participate in producing big noise.

2. Transport vehicles
Automobile revolution in urban centers has proved to be a big source of noise pollution.
Increasing traffic has given rise to traffic jams in congested areas where the repeated hooting
of horns by impatient drivers pierce the ears of all road users.

3. Household
The household is an industry in itself and is a source of many indoor noises such as the
banging of doors, noise of playing children, crying of infants, moving of furniture, loud
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conversation of the inhabitants etc. Besides these are the entertainment equipment in the
house, namely the radio, record-players and television sets. Domestic gadgets like the mixer-
grinders, pressure cookers, desert coolers, air- conditioners, exhaust fans, vacuum cleaners,
sewing and washing machines are all indoor sources of noise pollution.

4. Public address system

People need only the slightest of an excuse for using loud speakers. The reason may be a
religious function, birth, death, marriage, elections, demonstration, or just commercial
advertising. Public system, therefore, contributes in its own way towards noise pollution.

5. Agricultural machines
Tractors, thrashers, harvesters, tube wells, powered tillers etc. have all made agriculture
highly mechanical but at the same time highly noisy.

6. Defence equipment
A lot of noise pollution is added to the atmosphere by artillery, tanks, launching of rockets,
explosions, exercising of military airplanes and shooting practices. Screams of jet engines
and sonic booms have a deafening impact on the ears and in extreme cases have been known
to shatter the window panes and old dilapidated buildings.

TYPES OF NOISE

(i) Environmental Noise

This type of noise is introduced into communication system and mainly includes cosmic
noise and atmospheric absorption noise. Minimum environmental noise is therefore in the
band 1 GigaHertz (GHZ) which is known as space windoe.

(ii) System Internal Noise

This type of noise is produced within the system. The minimum level of noise is called
thermal noise or white noise. It is also called Johnson noise.

(iii) Indoor Noise

This type of noise is created in the adjacent room or in the same room where noise is noticed.
Examples of indoor noise are crying of babies, banging of doors, movement of furniture,
conversation of the occupants etc.

(iv) Outdoor Noise

This type of noise is created from nearby streets. The largest source of outdoor noise is
automobile traffic Other examples are aero planes, railways.

NOISE MEASUREMENT

Sound travels in pressure waves. There are two important measures for describing the sound
pressure. (i) The frequency (cycles per second) of the waves that determines the pitch of the
sound. (ii) The amplitude or magnitude (measured in decibel (dB) units) which is a measure
of the loudness. Sound intensity, which is the amount of sound energy that flows through a
unit area of the medium in a unit time interval, is measured in Watts per square metre
(W/m2). Sound beyond 80 dB harms hearing system and so it can be safely regards as
pollutant. The largest noise a man can hear without much discomfort is thus about 80 dB.
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Noise can be defined as an unpleasant and unwanted sound.

A decibel is the standard for the measurement of noise. The zero on a decibel scale is at the
threshold of hearing, the lowest sound pressure that can be heard. To smith, 20 db is whisper,
40 db the noise in a quiet office. 60 db is normal conversation, 80 db is the level at which
sound becomes physically painful.

Level (in db) Effects

Up to 23 No disturbance

30—60 Stress, tension, psychological effects.

Damage to health, disturbance in stomach-gall function, pains in muscles,

60—90 high blood pressure, disturbance in sleeping

60—120 Damages to health and ontological (ear diseases) effects

Above 120 Painful effects in long run.

CONTROL OF NOISE POLLUTION

1. The source of noise must be reduced.

2. The path of transmission of sound must be stopped and the receiver of noise must be safe
guarded.
3. The amount of traffic must be reduced near the residential homes, educational institutes
and hospitals.
4. The machinery must be redesigned and the vehicles must be properly maintained.
5. The acoustical furnishing must be done so that the sound can be absorbed.
6. The industries must be built away from the residential areas and the legal laws must be
established and observed to protect the humans from noise pollution.
7. The workers working in factories should be provided with the ear protection ads such as
soft plastic and rubber ear plugs, head phones etc.
8. The space between the jamb and frame may be packed with sound absorbing material.
9. Plantation of trees can reduce the noise to the extent of about 6 – 10 dB.
10. Providing enclosures, shields and barriers is an effective and efficient method of reducing
noise pollution because these can cut off the sound waves from propagating.
11. Suitable sound absorbing materials such as hair felt, acoustical tiles, perforated plywood
and various porous materials are available to be fixed on walls, floor and ceilings in order to
reduce the noise level.
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12. The noise from ducts, exhaust or convey systems etc. can be controlled by making use of
sound absorption silencers.