KWAME NKRUMAH UNIVERSITY OF SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY, KUMASI
BSc. Chemical Engineering (4th year)
CHE 468
Environmental Engineering Tech Tutorials
1.0 Basics and unit conversions
1. Exactly 500.0 mL of carbon monoxide (CO) is mixed with 999,500 ml of air. Calculate the
resulting concentration of CO in ppm. (ans: 500ppm)
2. (b) Exactly 500.0 mL of CO is mixed with 1.000 m3 of air. Calculate the resulting
concentration of CO in ppm. (ans 499.75 ppm)
3. (a) What is the 8-hr AAQS for ozone, expressed in ug/m 3? (ANS: 147). Hint; see AAQS table
(b) What is the 24-hr AAQS for sulfur dioxide, expressed in ug/m 3? (ans; 367)
(c) Assume that a sample of air at 25 °C and containing SO 2 gas at a concentration equal
to the AAQS is raised to 150 °C. What is its SO2 concentration at 150 ℃, in ppm and in
ug/m3? (ans 258)
(hint see table for AAQS conc in ppm and these are at 1 atm and 25 C)
4. The secondary NAAQS for SO2 is 0.5 ppm (for a 3-hour averaging time). Calculate the
equivalent concentration in ug/m3 at standard temp. and pres. (STP: T = 25 ℃, P = 1 atm).
5. For an SO2 emission rate of 22,000 lb/day and an exhaust gas flow rate of 2.0 million
m3/hour (after the scrubber) measured at 150 ºF and 1 atm pressure, calculate the
concentration of SO2 in the exhaust gases (ppm) and in ug/m 3.
2.0 Design of Incinerators
1. Calculate the mass flow rate of methane required for an after-burner to treat 2465 acfm
of polluted air. The air enters at 200 °F, and the desired exhaust temperature is 1350 ºF. It
is estimated that the burner will bring in 200 scfm of outside air. The fuel gas enters at 80
F, and the burner air enters at 80 ºF. The lower heating value (LHV) of methane is 21,560
Btu/lbm. Assume 10% overall heat loss negligible heat effects from VOCs combustion.
Also, ignore any heat gained by the oxidation of the pollutants. ( NB: Standard Cubic Feet per
Minute – scfm and acfm - Actual Cubic Feet per Minute). Also, specify the length and diameter of
this after-burner given that the design velocity is 15 ft/s and the desired residence time is
1.0 sec. (Ans: 2.53 Ibm/min, 15 ft and 3.32 ft)
2. Calculate the length and diameter of the reaction zone of an afterburner that treats 2000
acfm of polluted air (measured at 250 °F). The gases in the afterburner are at a temperature
of 1400 ºF for a residence time of 0.50 sec. Assume the burner will bring in 10 acfm of
methane and 350 acfm of outside air (both measured at 80 ºF and 1 atm). The gas velocity
in the after-burner is 20 ft/sec.
3.0 Design of ESP
1. (a) Calculate the total collection area for a 98% efficient ESP that is treating 10,450 m3/min
of air. The effective drift velocity is 6.0 m/min. (Ans: 6813 m 2)
(b) Assuming the plates are 6 m high and 3 m long and that there are two sections in the
direction of flow (mechanical fields), calculate the number of plates required. (ans: 192)
2. An ESP must treat 500,000 acfm with 99% efficiency. Assuming an effective drift velocity
of 0.4 ft/sec, calculate the required plate area in ft2, and the number of plates if each is 20 ft
tall by 10 ft long, and there are 4 mechanical fields.
Wednesday, June 25, 2025
KWAME NKRUMAH UNIVERSITY OF SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY, KUMASI
BSc. Chemical Engineering (4th year)
CHE 468
3. A 98% efficient ESP follows the Deutsch equation. If the gas flowrate changes and the
efficiency drops to 94%, calculate the ratio of the new gas flow rate to the old gas flow rate.
4. For a fixed gas flow rate and drift velocity, calculate the ratio of plate areas for two
precipitators-one at 90% efficiency and the other at 99% efficiency.
4.0 Design of Cyclones
1. A particle dispersoid consists of 300 spherical particles: 100 1-um particles, 100 10-um
particles, and 100 100-um particles. A cyclone is 10% efficient on the 1-um particles, 50%
efficient on the 10-um particles, and 99% efficient on the 100-um particles. All particles
have the same density, and the 1-pm particles have unit mass. Calculate the number
efficiency and the mass efficiency of collection. (hint: mass of a spherical particle is
proportional to the cube of its spherical diameter)
Soln
2. An air pollution control system at a plant consists of a cyclone precleaner followed by an
ESP. The air entering the cyclone has a PM concentration of 2.5 g/m 3. The concentration
in the gases exiting the ESP is 0.02 g/m3.
a. What is the overall collection efficiency of the system?
b. If it is known that the cyclone is 75% efficient, what is the collection efficiency of the ESP?
3. Dusty air at a fertilizer plant flows through a 70%-efficient cyclone and then through an
ESP. The inlet air to the cyclone has a dust loading of 50 grains/cubic foot.
a. In order to meet a control standard of 98.5% collection efficiency for the fertilizer plant
as a whole, what is the allowable concentration of dust (in grains/cubic foot) in the air that
exits from the ESP?
b. The outlet air from the ESP actually contains dust at 0.50 grains/cubic foot. Calculate
the efficiency of the ESP.
4. For the following particle size distribution, calculate the efficiency of a Lapple
conventional cyclone with a body diameter of 0.50 meters. The particulate density = 1200
Wednesday, June 25, 2025
KWAME NKRUMAH UNIVERSITY OF SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY, KUMASI
BSc. Chemical Engineering (4th year)
CHE 468
kg/m3, the gas density = 0.90 kg/m3, the gas viscosity u = 0.06 kg/m-hr, and the inlet gas
velocity V¿ = 25 m/s.
5.0 Baghouses
1. What fabric or fabrics might be best suited for filtering particles from (a) a 180 ºF gas
stream that contains ammonia, and (b) a 250 ºF gas stream that contains SO2?
2. Estimate the net cloth area [ans: 16000] for a shaker baghouse that must filter 40,000 cfm
of air with 10 grains of flour dust per cubic foot of air. Also specify the number of
compartments [ans 5] to be used and calculate the total number of bags [ans 1600]
required if each bag is 8 feet long and 6 inches in diameter.
3. Given the filter drag model parameters, Ke = 0.577 in.H2O-min/ft and Ks = 0.00986 in.
H2O-min-ft/gr, design a reverse-air baghouse to filter 20,000 ft 3/min of Limestone dust
with filtration time of 60 minutes and a cleaning time of 8 minutes. In your design specify
the number of compartments (ans 3), the air-cloth ratio (filtration velocity) [ans 2.75],
the total number of bags required [ans 348] and the number of bags per compartment
[ans 116], if each bag is 10 ft long and 1 ft in diameter. Also specify the maximum pressure
drop that will be experienced during the run, for a dust loading of 15gr/ft 3. Find the time
interval between the cleaning of any 2 compartments (run time).
4.
Wednesday, June 25, 2025
KWAME NKRUMAH UNIVERSITY OF SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY, KUMASI
BSc. Chemical Engineering (4th year)
CHE 468
Useful Tables and Eqns
From ideal gas eqn and the definition of ppm, the ff are relevant for use;
Vp---- volume of pollutant
Vt---- total volume of air
C(g/L) = , g/L (if R=0.08206 L.atm/mol.K) or g/m3 (if
R=8.314 J/mol.K or Pa.m3/mol.K). Be careful !!!!
To convert to C(ug/m3), multiply C(g/L) by 109
Wednesday, June 25, 2025
KWAME NKRUMAH UNIVERSITY OF SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY, KUMASI
BSc. Chemical Engineering (4th year)
CHE 468
ESP
Wednesday, June 25, 2025
KWAME NKRUMAH UNIVERSITY OF SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY, KUMASI
BSc. Chemical Engineering (4th year)
CHE 468
Incinerator
Wednesday, June 25, 2025
KWAME NKRUMAH UNIVERSITY OF SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY, KUMASI
BSc. Chemical Engineering (4th year)
CHE 468
Cyclone
Baghouses
Wednesday, June 25, 2025
KWAME NKRUMAH UNIVERSITY OF SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY, KUMASI
BSc. Chemical Engineering (4th year)
CHE 468
Wednesday, June 25, 2025
