Control of Air Pollution

Techniques used to limit or eliminate chemicals that can affect both environment or human health from being released into the atmosphere are known as air pollution control. Alongside wastewater treatment, solid waste management, and hazardous waste management, air pollution control is one of the most important aspects of pollution control.

When certain compounds are present in high enough concentrations and for long enough periods of time in the air, it is classified as polluted. There are negative consequences for human health, property, and visibility in the atmosphere. Pollution can come from both natural and manmade sources, making the atmosphere vulnerable. Volcanic eruptions and forest fires, for example, can have long-term global consequences. However, only pollution brought about by human activities, such as manufacturing and transportation, is amenable to mitigation and control.

Combustion is the source of the majority of air pollutants. The combustion of coal for fuel created severe air pollution in London and other major European towns during the Middle Ages. The usage of fossil fuels increased the intensity and likelihood of air pollution episodes beginning in the 19th century, following the Industrial Revolution.

The introduction of movable sources of air pollution, such as gasoline-powered highway vehicles, wreaked havoc on city air quality. Meaningful and long-term attempts to regulate or limit air pollution emissions from fixed and portable sources, as well as to regulate air quality on regional and local scales, did not begin until the middle of the twentieth century.

In developed countries, the primary focus of air pollution legislation has been on safeguarding ambient, or outdoor, air quality. This entails limiting a small number of “criteria” pollutants that are known to contribute to urban haze and chronic public health issues. Fine particles, carbon monoxide, sulphur dioxide, nitrogen dioxide, ozone, and lead are among the criterion pollutants. There has also been acknowledgment of the detrimental effects of trace levels of several additional air pollutants called “air toxics” since the end of the twentieth century. Organic compounds, which include molecules containing carbon, hydrogen, and other atoms, make up the majority of air toxics. 

Against those contaminants, specific emission rules have been enacted. Furthermore, the long-term and far-reaching impacts of “greenhouse gases” on atmospheric chemistry and climate have been documented, and concerted international measures to limit those pollutants have been launched. CO₂, CFCs, methane, nitrous oxide, and ozone are examples of greenhouse gases. The United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) determined in 2009 that greenhouse gases posed a health risk and may be regulated as air pollutants.

Reduced pollutant emissions from cleaner fuels or processes are the best strategy to protect air quality. Pollutants that aren’t removed in this way must be collected or captured by appropriate air-cleaning systems as they are produced and before they can escape into the atmosphere. The following is a list of these gadgets. This article focuses on air pollution control technology, which is used to eliminate particulate and gaseous pollutants from stationary sources including power plants and industrial sites. (An emission-control system describes how to reduce air pollution through mobile sources.)

Control of particulates

A multitude of physical procedures can be used to remove particles from a polluted airstream. Cyclones, scrubbers, electrostatic precipitators, or baghouse filters are all common examples of fine particulate collection equipment. When particles are gathered, they stick together and form agglomerates that can be easily replaced from the equipment and disposed of, usually in a landfill.

Because each air pollution control project is different, it’s difficult to predict which kind of particle-collection device (or combination of devices) would work best; therefore, control systems must be created on an individual basis. Corrosivity, reactivity, shape, density, and, particularly, size and size distribution are important particulate characteristics that determine the selection of collection devices ( range of different particle sizes in the airstream).

 Airstream parameters (such as pressure, temperature, and viscosity), rate of flow, removal efficiency requirements, and permissible resistance to airflow are among the other design considerations. Cyclone collectors are commonly used to reduce industrial dust emissions and also as pre-cleaners for other collecting systems. Wet scrubbers are used to regulate flammable or explosive dusts or mists from industrial and chemical processing plants, as well as hazardous-waste incinerators; they can handle hot airstreams and adhesive particles. Electric power stations frequently employ electrostatic precipitators or fabric-filter baghouses.

Conclusion

Pollution in the air must be reduced for both human and environmental health. Human health is harmed by poor air quality, especially the cardiovascular and respiratory systems. Pollutants can harm plants and structures, or smoke or haze can make visibility difficult.

You may reduce air pollution at the neighbourhood level by walking, cycling, or taking public transportation instead of driving. You may also drive to reduce fuel consumption and pollutants by keeping your automobile in good condition.

You can purchase goods that take little or no energy to produce and use, or that can be recycled. Farmers could reduce air pollution through conducting hazard-reduction burning at periods when smoke consequences are minimal. Sugar cane can also be picked while still green, reducing the amount of smoke. By absorbing, filtering, diluting, or spreading pollutants, industries can utilize pollution control systems to eliminate them.