Professional Documents
Culture Documents
V. A. SASTRY,
Department of Chemical Engineering,
Indian Institute of Technology,
Madras.
avai'able for dust collection, but it cannot be used for Nylon 90-110
Orion 120-175
very fine fractions. For collecting dust particles of less
Silicone covered glass cloth 250-350
than 5 micron diameter at an efficiency of more than
Abestes 350
90%, fabric filter, wet separators or electrostatic pre- Dccron 175
cipitators have to be used.
•October-December, 19S7 23
Table 2 : Chemical Resistance of various filter Fabrics of fine materials, (2) volume of gases are very large,
(3) water availability and disposal are problems and
Chemical Resistance
Fabric
(4) valuable dry material is to be recovered.
Acid Alkali
The design factors of electrostatic precipitators
•C'olton •• •. •• Poor Fiarlygood have been discussed by Schmidt and Flodin. Electro-
Wool Good Poor static precipitators are now being used in our country
Vinyon Good Poor for pollution control in cement plants, chemical indus-
Nylon .• •• •• Poor Good
tries, refineries, carbon black industry, etc.
Asbestec . . . . . • Poor Good
Orion Good Poor
The efficiency of electrostatic precipitators in col-
lecting fly ash in thermal power plants varies from 98
The heat and chemical resistance of filter fabrics to 9 9 . 9 % . In cement industries in India, the capital
.such as these used in bag filters have improved stea- plus running cost of electrostatic precipitators would
dily in the past decade through the use of such syn- work out to approximately Rs. 4 / - per tonne of dust
thetic materials as glass fibre. removed annually.
•October-December, 19S7 25
The absorbents commonly used for different gases gaseous pollutants by absorbents are: (1) contact of
is given in Table 4. the gaseous or vaporous pollutant with the solid ab-
sorbent, (2) separation (deserption) of the absorbed
Table 4 : The Common Absorbing Solutions used for Removing
gaseous pollutant from the solid absor- ;nt by regene-
Different Gaseous Pollutants from Gas Streams
ration or replacement of the absorbent and (3) recovery
Gaseous Pollutant C o m m o n A b s o r b e n t used in Solution of the gases for the final disposal. The efficiency ol" re-
Form moval of gases by absorbents depends on (1) the phy-
sical and chemical characteristics of the absorbent in-
Sulphur dioxide Dimethylaniline, jniKtu.ro of xylidine
and water ( 1 : 1 ) ammonium sulphite, cluding the surface area per gram of absorbent and
basic aluminum sulphate, cthanol (2) the concentration and nature of gas to be absorbed.
amines (monoclhenol amine, dicthano!
ajnine, methyl dictlutnol amine or Desorption is accomplished by raising the temperature
iryothanol amine), sodium sulphite,
ammonium sulphite and bisulphite,
of the granular bed above the uoiling temperature of
water, alkaline water, a suspension the pollutant by superheated steam, submerged heating
of calcium hydroixde, calcium sulphite
calcium sulphate, barium thionates elements or combustion gases. Desorption may also be
a n d sulphates. performed by reducing the pressure. The absorbents
Hydrogen sulphide Sodium hydroxide and phenol mix commonly used for removal of different gases are
(mole ratio 3 : 2) tripotassium phos- :,'n in Table 5.
phate, sodium alajnine or potassium
dimethyl glycine, otluiriolamines, soda
ash solution containing suspended
iron oxide or hybroxide, soda ash Table 5 : The Common Absorbents used for Removing Different
alone, sodium thioaisonate, a m m o - Gaseous Pollutants from Gas Streams
niacal liquor from coke ovens.
Hydrogen fluoride Water, sodium hydroxide. Gaseous Adsorbents used in solid form
Oxides of nitrogen Water, aquous nitric acid. Pollutant
ing agent. The application usually consists of spraying 11:1-12.5:1 11:1-13:113:1-15:1 11:1-12.5:1
Air-fuel ratio
on, over or about the odoriferous area by means of
Exhaust Analysis
calibrated atomising nozzles.
CO % 4-6 0-6 1-4 - 2-4
N o , ml/m 3 10-50 100 -40000 1000-3000 10-50
Odour masking on a commercial scale is a relative- Hydro carbons,
ml/m 8 500-1000 50-500 200-3C0 4000-1200
ly new development with the following possible applica-
tion routes; (1) spraying, vaporising or atomising the Unburn! Fuel
/^supplied fuel 4-6 2-4 2-4 20-60
selected odorant into air, (2) adding to a process
(1 ml/pi 3 —1 ppni)
wherever possible, (3) adding to scrubbing liquors and
6
•October-December, 19S7
Diesel-powered vehicles create relatively minor poi- Emissions of hydrocarbons from the crank case
Itilioit piobtnir. umipaicil to gasoline powwul which." . til atitoimibiH'?; I'itu Ik* liiigolv climimttpii by nosiiivr
The diesel engine exhausts only about a tenth of tire crank case ventilation (PCV) system. These system^
amount of carbon monoxide exhausted by a gasoline recycle crank case ventilation air and blowly gases
engine, although its hydrocarbon emissions may ap- the engine intake instead of venting them to the
proach those of the gasoline engine Blowby is negli- atmosphere.
gible in the diesel, since the cylinders contain only air
on the compression stroke. Evaporative emissions arc E V A P O R A T I V E EMISSIONS
also low because the diesel uses a closed injection fuel
Through a short term experiment ' ^termination
system and because the fuel is less volatile than gaso-
of Indian Im:'!.ute of Petroleum it has been estimates
line. The major problems of diesel engine are smoke
that an average Indian passenger car would emi:
and odour.
20 Kg of hydrocarbons through evaporation annually.
. . controlling evaporation of fuel from the carbure -
E X H A U S T EMISSIONS tor and fuel system, are being developed that store
fuel vapours in the crank case or in charcoal canister
The important exhaust emissions from a gasoline that absorb hydrocarbons, for recycling to the engine
engine are carbon monoxide, unburnt hydrocarbons, Evaporative emissions mig; also be dealt with b>
nitrogen oxides and particulates containing lead com- changing the properties of gasoline such us reducing
pounds. These emissions vary with air-fuel ratio, spark the volatility of. fuel and replacing the C, and - elo-
timings and the engine operating conditions. finic hydrocarbons in the fuel with the less-reaca\c
C< and C 5 paraffine hydrocarbons. Mechanical -
To meet the exhaust emission standards for car- can also be used to control evaporative emissions.
bon monoxide and hydrocarbons, the automobile manu-
facturers have used two basic methods. The first is to The panel on Electrically Powered Vehicles n
inject air into the exhaust manifold near the exhaust USA estimated that the systems used now to cenircl
valves, where exhaust gas temperature is highest, thus carbon monoxide and hydrocarbon in autoe.\hu'.:>;s - i -
inducing further oxidation of unoxidise or partially- $25 to $50 to the cost of the car. The p^ne'. s-1J
oxidised substances. The second basic method is to de- that it should become commercially feasible in the n o :
sign cylinders and adjust the fuel-air ratio, spark tim- decade to reduce emissions from automobiles using in-
ing and other variables to reduce the amounts of internal combustion es... ;e to 500 ml/'m 3 (500 ppm
hydrocarbons and carbon monoxide is the exhaust to hydrocarbons, 0.5% carbon monoxide and 250 ml; sf
the point where air injection is not required. (250 ppm) nitrogen oxide. The systems used, t..e pin;"
estimated, might add $50 to $300 to the cost of the
Devices and methods to control hydrocarbon emis- car produced in 1975-1989.
sions fall into three classes: (1) devices that modify
engine operating concisions such as intake manifold C O N T R O L O F H Y D R O C A R B O N EMISSIONS
vacuum breakers, carburation mixture improvers, th FROM AUTOMOBILES
tie retarders, etc. (2) devices that 'troat' exhaust gases Devices and methods ? control hydro, -boa emis-
such as afterburners, catalytic converters, absorbers and sions fall into three classes.
adsorbers and filters, (3) use of modified or alternate • 1. Devices that modify engine operating cona -
fuels. tions.
2. Devices that treat exhaust gases.
C R A N K CASE EMISSIONS 3. Use of modified or alternate fuels.
Crank case emissions consist of engine blowby Devices proposed for modifying engine operating
which leak past the piston mainly during the compres- conditions, usually called induction devices have as th:!:
sion stroke, and of oil vapours generated into the goal improvement of combustion during all or a por-
crank ease. The quantity of blowby depends on engine tion of the driving cycle. They may be generally classi-
design and condition and operating .conditions. Worn fied as follows:
out piston rings and cylinder liner may greatly in-
1. Fuel cut off during d e c l a r a t i o n .
crease blowby. These gases mainly contain hydro-
carbons and aacount nearly 25% of the total hydro- 2. Intake manifold vacuum breakers.
carbons emissions from a passenger car. 3. Exhaust system vacuum breakers.
•October-December, 19S7 29
ip—ssmemt of Emissions f r o m Industries device depends on many parameters, namely, the tem-
perature and pressure encountered, the moisture con-
The emission from industries are usually assessed
tent of the gas, the physical and chemical properties
^ following methods (a) material balance, (b) using
of the dust and the gas stream to be sampled. The
• emission factors and (c) carrying out stack sampling,
different types of trapping media used in collection of
r The first two methods give the theoritically possible
dust samples from stack gases bubblers and their
r emission and the third one measures the actual emis-
characteristics are shown in Table 12.
sions coming out of any industry.
From input and output quantities following mate- Table 12 : Characteristics of Trapping Media used in (he Collec-
tion of Dust samples from Gaseous Streams
rial balance calculations, the emissions can be assess-
ed. Emisision factor is a statistical average of the Trapping medium Characteristics of the medium
mass of pollutant emitted from each source of pollu-
tion per unit quantity of material handled, processed A l u n d u m thimble Resistant to temperature upto 540°C
a n d high moisture contents; suitable f o r
or burnt. By using emission factor for the specific high dust loading.
process, one can calculate the total emission of diffe- Paper thimble Suitable for temperature upto 120°C,
low moisture contents a n d high dust
rent pollutants by knowing the quantity of material loading.
manufactured, processed or burnt. Fibre glass filters Suitable for high dust loading; higlv
collection efficiency.
Membrane filters ±tigh collection efficiency; low resis-
The purpose of stack sampling is to determine tance to gas flow.
Bubblers D u s t not suitable in water; resistant to
the actual quantity and types of pollutants that are corrosion.
contained in the gases emitted from a source. The
purpose of stack sampling survey is (a) to provide REFERENCES
basic data for the design of air pollution control 1. Desai, H. B. " A i r pollution control technology in petroleum,
equipment, (b) to check the performance of control refineries" Proc. Symp. Air. Pol. Control• Techniques, CLI,
C P H E R I & S O C L E N Bombay (Sep. 1973).
equipment, to determine the compliance or otherwise 2. Sinha, J. K. "Pollution from cement industry" Proc. 3rd
of emissions with emission standards or norms and Cement Industry Operation Seminar, New Delhi (1973).
(d) to determine the emission factors for use in the 3. Engineer, N. B. a n d Doshi, V. C. "Air pollution in cement
industry" Proc. Symp. Air. pollution control Techniques,
compilation of emission inventories. C P H E R I & S O C L E N , Bombay (Sep. 1973).
4. " R e p o r t of the sub-committee appointed by the panel on
The dust in a gas steam is usually collected in a cement industry" Cement Industry Assn. Bombay (1973).
filtering media which allows the gas to pass through 5. Mathura, H. B., Ja, G. S. and Bakshi, R. K. " C o n t r o l of
particulate emissions from iron a n d steel industry" Proc.
and retains the dust upt'o a certain minimum size. Symp. Air pollution Control Techniques, CLI, CPHERI &
The dust can also be collected through impingement S C C L E N , B o i r b a y (Sep. 1973).
6. A n o n "Industrial plants and stations show progress in pollu-
by bubbling through water. The selection of trapping tion control" power, 114, 27 (1970).
J uty-September, 1987 31
Pollution Problems from Different Industries
DR. C. A. SASTRY,
Professor and Head,
Centre for Bio-Sciences &
Bio-Technology, I.I.T.
Madras.
Table 1 : Air Pollution Problems from some Typical Industrial and other sources
Fertiliser indus try and aluminium manufacturing plants Hydrogen fluoride, ammonia, fluorides, fertiliser dust and sulphuric
acid mist.
Heavy chemical industry like acid plants, synthetic fibre, etc. Acid fumes.
Lead casting and melting, pigments, etc. Tin, lead, etc. fumes and oxides solvents and thinners.
Tanneries and leather industry Mercaptans and sulphides
Cement industry Cement a n d lime dust
Paints, pigments and dye industry Nitrobenzene and aniline, thinners, solvents and base material
C a r b o n black manufacture Polynuclear hydrocarbons, carbon soot a n d hydrogen sulphide
Coal tar industry Polynuclear hydrocarbons and aerosols of tar
Paper and paper products Hydrogen sulphide and mercaptans
Refinery and pelro-chejnical industry Hydrogen sulphide, hydrocarbons, odours of mercaptans
Metallurgical industry Metallic fumes, dust
Electrolytic manufacture of chlorine Chlorine
Coal burning (power plants) Soot
Vehicle emission
(a) Petrol Hydrocarbons, H C H O
(b) Diesel Hydrocarbons, H C H O
J uty-September, 1987 25
Table 2 : Potential Sources of Pollutants in a Petroleum Refinery
Hydrocarbons Air blowing, barometric condensers, blind changing, blow-down system, boilers, catalyst regeneratorss
compressors, cooling towers, decoking operations, flare, heaters, incinerators, loading facilities, pro-
cessing vessels, pumps, sampling operations, tanks turn around operations, v a c u u m jets, effluent-
handling equipment.
Sulphur oxides Boilers, catalyst regenerators, decoking operations, flares, heaters, incinerators, treaters, acid sludge
disposal.
Carbon monoxide Catalyst regenerators, compressor engines, coking operations, incinerators.
Nitrogen oxides Boilers, catalyst regenerators, compressor engines, flares.
Particulate matter Boilers, catalyst regenerators coking operations, heaters, incinerators.
Odours Air blowing, barometric condensers, drains process vessels, steam blowing tanks, treators, effluent
handling equipment.
Aldehydes Catalyst regenerators, compressor engines.
Ammonia Catalyst regenerators.
However with adequate controls the levels of the The prevailing environmental conditions in our
above emissions could be brought down to reasonable country has been studied by Central Mining Institute,
values. In the Esso refinery at Bombay, reductions Dhanbad and the concentration of air borne dust at
have been achieved as given (1) in Table 4. different operations in ten cement factories reported
(2). The findings of these studies are shown in Table
Table 3 : Estimated Daily Emissions from A Refinery Processing 5.
10 kt/d
(without rigorous controls)
Table 5 : Air Borne Dust Concentrations at Different Locations
Pollutant Estimated range of emissions in a Cement Factory
t/d
-j
and Steel Industry cesses. Various kinds of dust collectors and gas
cleaning equipment are being employed in steel mills
The steel industry is one of the major sources
to suit different operations.
air pollution. During the operation o\ an ffiXegf^.-
cJ steel plant many harmful materials are emitted
which are in the form of fumes, dust, smoke and Non-Ferrous Metal Industries
gases. The processes with high potential for air pollu- The non-ferrous metal industries such as copper,
tion are (1) metarial handling, (2) coke making and lead and aluminium are also major sources of air
(3) steel making. Raw materials used include, (a) pollution.
iron ore, (b) coal and (c ) lime and dolomite. AH
Copper sulphide is the major ore used for pro-
the materials handling operations like unloading of
duction of copper. The ore is crushed, slurry is made
raw materials, coal handling and washing are gene-
treated in flotation cells and the rich ore is sent to
rally carried out in open air. The emissions from
the smelter. The rich ore is normally roasted in a
stocking and handling of raw materials can be re-
multiple hearth furnace to remove moisture, to burn
duced to a great extent by the correct use of grabs,
part of contained sulphur and to preheat the material
covered tipplers and conveyors.5 Production of metal- before changing into reverberatory furnace. The
lurgical coke is essential for blast furnance operation, emissions from this industry include dust and sulphur
as coke helps the reduction of iron ore and pig iron. dioxide of about 2 — 8% in the flue gases.
The very nature of coking process results in the emis-
sion of pollutants like smoke, grit and dust. The Lead is produced from lead sulphide and its
rate of emission is highest during the charging opera- manufacturing method is more or less identical to
tion, the actual quantity varying widely from plant to copper production. The major emissions are dust,
plant depending upon the condition of the oven, the fumes and sulphur dioxide. During sintering the sul-
type of coal used and the mode of operation at phur dioxide ranges between 1.5 to 5% in the emis-
each plant. sion. Dust load varies from 2 — 15 g/m 3 during
sintering, 5 — 15 g/m 3 in blast furnace waste gases
Refining of steel by oxygen generates copious and 3 — 20g/m 3 in reverberatory furnace gas.
fumes containing very fine iron oxide particles. The The aluminium metal is produced by electrolytic
most commonly employed processes of steel-making reduction of alumina- Gases like CO, C0 2 , HF,
use either an open hearth furnace, oxygen-converter CF 4 , SO;>, are liberated along with dust, alumina, etc.
furnace or an electric arc furnace. Fumes from The carbon monoxide is burnt to carbon dioxide.
oxygen-converter furnace are more intense compared The major pollutants emitted are gaseous fluorine com-
to those from other furnaces. Oxygen converter fur- pounds, sulphur dioxide and fluoride particulates.
naces using top blown oxygen process give out 8 to
12 kg of fumes per tonne of steel produced. The Fertilizer Industry
potential sources of pollutants in iron and steel in- The major fertilisers made in India include phos-
dustry are shown in Table 6. phatic fertilisers, urea ammonium sulphate, ammonium
nitrate, nitrophosphates and combination of some of
Table 6 : Potential Sources of Pollutants in iron and steel Industry these. The raw materials required (sulphuric acid,
Pollutant M a j o r source nitric acid, phosphoric acid, ammonia, etc.) are made
in the industry itself. The potential sources of pollu-
Dust or particulates Material handling dolomitic plant, LD
converters, electric smelting furnaces, tants and the type of emissions from a fertiliser in-
electric are furnace, grinding equipment, dustry is shown in Table 7.
etc.
Sulphur dioxide All stack gases from furnaces and boilers
C a r b o n monoxide LD Converters, electric furnaces and Table 7 : Sources of Pollutants from Fertiliser Industry
other furnaces
Acid fumes Pickling tanks, acid regeneration plant and Potential source T y p e of emission
battery room
Oxide fujnes Electric furnances, LD converters Sulphuric acid plant SO2, S 0 3 a n d acid mist
Oil a n d solvent fumes Oil storage tanks, cold mills, painting Nitric acid plant Oxides of nitrogen
chambers of the maintenance shop Phosphoric acid plant Fluorides, phospheric acid mist
•Odour Pickling tanks, coke ovens, etc. A m m o n i a plant S 0 2 , oxides of nitrogen, ammonia
Heat Furnaces, boilers, confined work areas, Urea plant Urea dust, ammonia
work space near machines. Nitrophosphate plant Fertiliser dust, ammonia, fluorides
A m m o n i u m nitrate Dust, ammonia
Gases such as sulphur dioxide, oxides of nitrogen In the urea plant, there is possibility for leakage
•etc. are also emitted from some of the above pro- of ammonia from various places. The various loca-
J uty-September, 1987 27
lions from which ammonia normally leaks in a total such as raw materials used, products made, processes
recycle process include ammonia charge pumps, re- adopted and types of equipment used. Almost all the
covered solution charge pumps and recovery tower. pollutants are traced in the stack emissions from diffe-
In the gasification section, the gas produced contains rent chemical industries. The predominant ones are
46% carbon monoxide which is toxic. There is like- oxides of sulphur and nitrogen, hydrogen sulphide and
lihood of carbon monoxide pollution of atmosphere if fluoride, hydrocarbons and carbon monoxide (organo
any leaks develop in the system. Normally these leaks chemical industries), mercury and chlorine gas (chlor-
are very nominal and the air samples do not indicate alkali plants) and particulate matter.
presence of carbon monoxide.
The sources of different pollutants from chemical
Thermal Power Plants
industries are shown in Table 9.
Thermal power plants utilise fuel to produce
steam for power generation. The combustion of fuels Nature and quantity of pollutants discharged into
produce significant amount of air pollutant. The atmosphere by chemical industries depend upon raw
types of pollutant depend on the nature of fuel used. material, products, processes and equipment use.
If coal is used, fly ash, sulphur dioxide, oxides of.
nitrogen are the major pollutants. In the case of fuel Table 9 : Pollutants from Different Chemical Industries
oil sulphur dioxide, and oxides of nitrogen are major Pollutant Source
pollutants emitted to the atmosphere. The amount
of fly ash and sulphur dioxide released depend on the Sulphur dioxide Sulphuric acid plant, CS., plant, oil
refineries etc.
sulphur and ash content of the fuel used. Data on Hydrogen sulphide Viscose rayon, oil refinery, CS» plant,
particulate emission from coal fired boilers without air dye manufacture, tanneries.
pollution control is given6 in Table 8. Oxides of nitrogen Nitric acid manufacture, explosive in-
dustry, automobiles.
Table 8 : Particulate Emission from Coal Fired Boilers Hydrogen fluoride Fertilisers, chemical, aluminium indus-
(without rigorous pollution control) try.
C a r b o n monoxide Oil refinery, furnaces, automobiles.
Particulate in kg per t of
Types of furnaces coal burnt Mercury and chlorine Chloroalkali industries.
Hydrocarbons Organic chemical industry, refineries,
Pulverised automobiles.
General 7.3 A Particulates Mine quarries, pottery and ceramic,
Dry bottom 7.8 A power station, cement.
Wet bottom without fly ash reinjection 6.OA
Wet bottom with fly ash reinjection 10.8A
0.9A
Cyclone Absorbents and adsorbents like magnesium oxide
slurry, lime slurry, soda ash, ammonia alkalised
Spreader stoker
Without fly ash reinjection 6. OA
alumina, activated carbon, monoethanolamine are used
with fly ash reinjection 9.1A for removal of sulphur dioxide from stack gases from
All other stockers 2.3 A chemical industries. Hydrogen sulphide is removed
by adsorption on iron oxides, absorption in liquid
Note : A is multiplication factor representing % ash in coal caustic soda, combustion, catalytic conversion to sul-
values represent mass of particulates reaching control
equipment used on this type of furnace; they are not
phur or scrubbers. Oxides of nitrogen are removed
emissions. by adsorption, burning and catalytic combustion.
The three major air pollutants from power station
are thus: particulate matter (fly ash and soot), sul- Sulphuric Acid Plants
phur oxides (SO^ and SOH) and oxides for nitrogen Sulphuric acid is produced by burning sulphur
(NO and NOu). Besides, these, there is possibility to sulphur dioxide, which is converted to sulphur
of emission of carbon monoxide and unburnt carbon; trioxide over vanadium pentoxide catalyst. The sul-
but in the modern thermal power stations with auto- phur trioxide is then absorbed in towers with circulat-
matic combustion control system, the formation of ing sulphuric acid to yield 98.5% commercial grade
these products is eliminated. Another pollutant from acid.
coal fired stations is coal dust emission from the coal
handling plant. In sulphuric acid plants usually pollutants dis-
charged are S0 2 and acid mist. There will be occa-
Chemical Industries sional gas leaks. In normally well operated plants gas
The nature and quantity of air pollutants let out leaks can be avoided to a great extent. Frequent
by chemical industry will depend on number of factors fertilizers. The estimated production of P2O5 and
Normally the conversion efficiency of SCX to SO:i 1986-87 1987-8 1988-89 1989-90
PaO s 1676 1917 2209* 2247*
by catalyst is 98 - -98.5%. By use of quench air HgSOt 5172 5416 5548 5898
system, SO- discharge in the system can be reduced.
* more nitro phosphates expected.
An absorption tower has to be operated with 98 to
99'i sulphuric acid. Any acid concentration beyond In a super phosphate plant rock phosphate is
this range of circulating acid strength induces thick ground in closed circuit grinding mills, to 80 — 85%
curdy white stack emissions. By proper control through 100 mesh. By using dust collector bags parti-
absorption tower operation, acid mist can be controll- culates from this section can be controlled to per-
ed. missable limits. Rock phosphate used contains
usually 3 — 4% fluorine of which about 25% is re-
A break-through in the process technology of leased during mixing operation with acid while the
manufacturiing sulphuric acid was achieved in 70's. remaining 75% is retained in single super phosphate.
Double catalyst, Double Absorption (DC DA) has At mixer exis the fluorine concentration will be about
gradually replaced the earlier single context technology 5500 — 6000 mg/NM. 3
on account of pollution control measure. The pro-
Among the gaseous pollutants, SO s has done
duction of sulphuric acid during 1985 in the country
more harm to the global environment than any other
is about 5 million tonnes. Capacity of more than
single chemical present in the stack emissions of in-
1.5 million tonnes of H 2 S 0 4 per year has been esta-
dustrialised nations. An official estimate puts a figure
blished in recent years with DCDA system. AH new
of about 5 million tonnes of SO. emissions in India
plants in India will be based on DCDA processes
from all sources including power plants during 1985.
since it is not only economically viable but profitable
If converted to sulphuric acid this would mean an
to use DCDA system for sulphuric acid plants with
acid of about 7 . 5 million tonnes.
capacity above 100 tonnes per day.
A comparison of standards laid down by IS! and
Super Phosphate Plants central pollution control board for gaseous pollutants
Sulphuric acid production in India in recent years for sulphuric acid and super phosphate plants is given
is closely following the growth rate of phosphatic in Table 11.
Table 11 : Comparison of Standards Laid Down by I S I and Central Pollution Control— Board
4. Sulphur trioxide
(a) Existing plants 5 kg/T of 100% H 2 S 0 4 50 m g / N M 3 or 0 . 0 1 kg/T of 100% H2SQ4
(b) New plants upto 200 T P D 5 kg/T of 100% H 2 S 0 4
(W) New plants above 200 T P D 0 . 5 kg/T of 100% H 2 S 0 4
July-September, 1987 29
Paper Industry can voltalize or be thermally degraded into vol-.—
Odorous and particulates pollutants are emitted substances which are subjected to heat. Volan_e
matter is driven oil and is condensed on cooling into
from diiferent stages of pulp and paper making.
a blue haze of droplets, most of which are in
During digestion, some cellulose is demethylated which
range of 0.1 to 1 micron diameter. The most com-
reacts with sulfide to yield mercaptans and methyl
mon source of oil mists in the textile industry is ix
sulphide. Hydrogen sulphide may also be produced. tenter frame, because of the higher operating tempera-
Build-up of head pressure in the digester is inter- ture which range from 125 — 150°C. Compound
mittently relieved to the atmosphere, thereby contri- in tenter exhausts are partially oxidised and; therefore,
buting small volume of volatile and turpentine com- more odourous and corrosive. Other processes pro-
pounds. It is reported that Euclyptus pulping gives ing oil mists include heat setting and drying Te.\i_-
out very small quantities of isopropyl mercaptan. rizers produce the cleanest oil mists, consisting mainiy
Digestion parameters like pressure, temperature, nature of spinning oils.
•of wood, time and concentration of cooking materials
influence the quantities of pollutants discharged.
Plastilizers are driven off from all high tempera-
•Odorous noncondensable gases escape from blow heat
ture processes involving vinyl, such as extrusion coat-
recovery system, unless collected and treated. From
ing, tentering and calendering.
pulp washing, some occluded volatile sulphur com-
pounds are lost from the residual black liquor and
usually exhausted through roof vents above washers. Acid mists are produced during the carbonizing
•Considerable quantities of methyl mercaptans, methyl of wool and during some types of spray dyeing. Or-
sulphide and hydrogen sulphide leave multiple effect ganic solvent vapours are released during and after all
•evaporators through barometric leg of the jet condenser solvent processing operations. Solvent dyeing and
from chemical recovery section hydrogen sulphide, printing and the application of finishes from solvent
methyl mercaptan, sulphur containing compounds and solution create problems.
non sulphur organic compounds are released in small
•concentration into the atmosphere usually recovery Odours are often associated with oil mists and
furnances are provided with electrostatic precipitator. solvent vapours. In other cases odorant is present
Magnitude of loss of sulphur compounds from recovery mainly in vapour phase. The most common odour
furnaces is estimated as "sulphidity". Emissions problem of this type are the carrier odours from
from this source include hydrogen sulphide and mer- aqueous polyester dyeing and processes subsequent
captans. The dust concentration from the stack of to it. Resin finishing also produces odours, chiefly
recovery boilers vary from 600 — 2000 mg/NM, 3 of formaldehyde. Other sources of odours are sulphur
sulphur dioxide concentration 60 — 150 mg/NM 3 and dyeing on cotton, reducing or stripping dyes with
hydrogen sujphide 10:— 110 mg/NM. 3 Mercaptans hydrosulphide, bonding, laminating, black coating,
in digester gas (intermittent discharge) vary from bleaching with chlorine dioxide etc.
200 — 2500 mg/NM. 3 Methods used for control of
air pollution include black liquor oxidation, combus- Dust and fly ash are produced during processing
tion, chlorine oxidation, oxidation by air or ozone, of natural fibres and synthetic staple prior to and
scrubbing, stripping, absorption etc. Ventury scrubber during spinning, napping and carpet shearing.
and principle collectors used for collection of salt cok e
from refurnace effluent gases. To a lesser extent, most other textile processes
produce lint, which, while it is not a major pollutant
by itself, complicates abatement processes for other
Textile Industry pollutants.
Emissions from textile processes excluding steam
.generation fall into four general categories (a) oil and Air pollution abatement technique in textile in-
acid mi'st, (b) solvent vapours, (c) odours and (d) dustry include (a) those that destroy the pollutants,
dust and lint. (b) those that collect the pollutant in a revolatively
concentrated dry form and (c) those that wash the
Oil mists are produced when textile materials pollutants from exhaust gases into water or some
containing oils, plasticizer and other materials that other collecting fluild.