Different Technologies That Businesses Can Use To Help Control Air Pollution In Industrial Areas

13:54 22 May 2020

The control of air pollution has never been more radical than today. However, that hasn't always been the case. It was only after scientists discovered that the excessive presence of acidifying substances like sulfur dioxide and nitrogen oxides have adverse effects on planetary health. Therefore, in the U.S., after the 1990 Clean Air Act Amendment has been implemented, the need for filtration devices to control air pollution has been rapidly growing. 

Businesses dealing with production processes on an industrial scale have to make sure the exhausted air and wastewater are filtered, dust collected, and any other hazardous or even toxic substances not discharged into the ecosystems. As environmental demands increase, the global market for air quality control systems is growing.

According to the World Health Organization (WHO), the dust found in the work environment comes in multiple forms — mineral, metallic, chemical, and organic. Baghouses or fabric filters are the first choices for businesses because they have a particulate collection of 99,9%. Fabric filters are considered to be superior control devices for collecting fine particulates and dust. Therefore, fabric filters are becoming as popular as electrostatic precipitators (ESP) in many industries. Other dust collection systems available on the market are Cartridge Style Dust Collectors, Multi Cyclones, and Wet Scrubbers manufactured by Industrial Boilers America.

Baghouses

Baghouses with fabric filters are efficient particulate collectors because of the dust cake formed on the surface of the bags. The fabric provides a surface on which dust collects. This process results in the formation of dust cake on the fabric filter. Therefore, the fabric filter must be cleaned periodically.

Since the early 1980s, advances in textile engineering enabled the development of the so‐called technical fibers that have introduced some of the most important and spectacular high-performance textiles. The textiles were developed for specific end uses, among which were also filtration. As a result, technical textiles were installed in baghouses or fabric filters to serve as control devices that separate contaminants of air or gas that have been emitted during manufacturing processes. To control the emission of different production processes, as power plants, chemical producers, food manufacturers, textiles, and garment manufacturers, the filter fabrics can be further engineered to a specific desired outcome. So, it's all according to the properties of the solids that need to be filtered.

The baghouses are oval or round tubes made of woven or nonwoven materials. Woven filters have various weaving patterns that determine the amount of space between individual fibers. This affects the strength and permeability of the fabric. The tighter the weave is the lower the permeability will be and more efficient the filtration of fine particles. Nonwoven filter materials, on the other hand, contain randomly placed fibers. Since the pollutants have various sizes and chemical composition, the fabric intended for filtering is engineered differently according to the nature of the contaminants present in the air or the gas. The fabric filter for a particular matter is thin, light, and highly porous compared to a gas filter. Similarly, the fabric filters are designed to operate within a certain temperature range.

To ensure specific properties of the filtration fabrics are met, they undergo further functional finishing treatments. The fabric finishings are intended to enhance dimensional stability during use, filtration collection effectiveness, better dust discharge, and resistance to damage due to moisture or chemicals. Additional benefit enabled by functional finishing treatment of fabrics for filtration is the acid gas control which is not possible with some other forms of particulate control.

 

Cartridge Dust Collector

Cartridge dust collectors are used in many industries. Unlike filter bags, these dust collectors use cartridges. The cartridges are usually cylindrical or oval shaped and open on either end lined with a pleated nonwoven filtering media. They are especially effective at collecting very fine and light bags of dust. Compared to baghouses, they allow for more airflow in a smaller unit. Cartridge Dust Collectors have a Small footprint and are simple to maintain. The cartridges are quickly and easily changed without any need for entering confined space or contact with hazardous materials.

Electrostatic precipitators

Electrostatic precipitators are a technology used to remove particles in a gas stream using an electrostatic force. ESP has been used in various gas-cleaning applications for almost a century. ESP can be used for small household air cleaners up to substantial industrial gas-cleaning systems to trap fine particulate matter, such as dust and smoke from the air stream, in applications where a large amount of gas needs treatment. These air cleaners are usually used to clean air from bags of dust, smoke, and fumes in industrial workplaces. However, the most significant application of electrostatic precipitation is controlling environmental pollution problems caused by many heavy-industry processes.

Multi Cyclones 

Cyclone separators are cleaning systems that utilize a centrifugal force created by a spinning gas stream to separate particles from gas. They are used for the collection of medium-sized particles. Their simple construction of no moving parts allows lower capital and maintenance costs than for baghouses and ESPs. Since this technology does not meet emissions standards, it is used as a pre-cleaners for other control devices.

Wet Scrubbers

The most commonly used type of air pollution control is wet scrubbers. They are used to remove gases and other chemicals, particulates, and wet scrubbers. They are also the most extensive in terms of complexity of equipment, moving parts, a requirement for controls, and operation and maintenance requirements. Wet scrubbers can be engineered to tackle a single pollutant. Also, wet scrubbers can be engineered for multipurpose removal. 

Conclusion

Thanks to the developments in air quality control, systems have been made significantly more effective. The use of fabric filters is expected to increase as the global environmental agencies' emission limits become stricter. Likewise, we expect the control system to further improve in the future to contribute to maintaining air quality. These technologies can help businesses with large-scale industrial manufacturing processes to ensure they meet emission limits and environmental impacts.