Air Pollution Control Innovations

The University of California, Davis (UCD) operates an anaerobic biodigester that converts 50 metric tons of food waste per day into 100 MMBtu/d of renewable energy biogas. The digester is sited near campus at a decommissioned landfill.

The biodigester produces a digestate liquid waste stream. It’s odor and high ammonia concentration render it unsuitable for composting or direct land-applied fertilizer. To avoid expensive hauling costs, a distillation column strips ammonia out of the digestate into the vapor phase so that the digestate can be treated in an existing Wastewater Treatment Plant (WWTP). An Ammonia Scrubber Package is needed to meet air emission limits and to recover a saleable liquid fertilizer product from the vapor phase ammonia.

Ammonia is an odorless gas that is harmful to human health with a permissible exposure limit (PEL) of 50 ppm. The scrubber must have high removal efficiency and be capable of treating a low flow rate exhaust and be robust and reliable.

The customer selected an Envitech ammonia lab scrubber. The scope of supply includes a fiber reinforced plastic (FRP) packed bed absorber, instruments pre-wired to a control system with HMI, pre-assembled pump, piping, valves and fittings, ID fan with VFD, and free-standing interconnect duct and stack.

Ammonia laden stripped gas enters the scrubber and travels vertically upward through the packed bed, counter-current to downward flowing recirculation liquid. Scrubbing liquid is collected in the sump and is re-circulated to the top of the packed bed. Sulfuric acid (H2SO4) is metered into the recirculation line to neutralize ammonia and is controlled by pH. A blowdown stream purges ammonia sulfate (NH4)2SO4 reaction products which can be sold as fertilizer. A mist eliminator at the top of the scrubber removes entrained water droplets before exiting through an induced draft fan and stack.

The ammonia scrubber will be commissioned in the 1st half of 2020 and will meet the design parameters and performances below.

DESIGN PARAMETER

• Inlet flow rate: 1,000 acfm (capable of up to 2,000 acfm)
• Inlet temperature: 160^oF
• Gas Composition:  Air with 1.4% mole ammonia
• Ammonia Removal: > 97.5% permitted (capable of > 99% removal).

Click on the link below to download a case study and other packed bed scrubbing literature.

An agricultural solutions company, American Peat Technology, transforms locally harvested unprocessed peat into a consistent granular media. The media is used as a natural microbial carrier to inoculate millions of acres of food crops each year. The transformation process relies on drying harvested material in industrial rotary dryers. A fraction of the material becomes entrained in the flue gas as particulate emissions. The facility is expanding operations to double the capacity. A scrubber solution is needed to reduce total plant particulate emissions.

The customer selected two identical Envitech horizontal Venturi scrubbers. The scrubbers are comprised of a variable throat Venturi scrubber and a chevron style entrainment separator mounted on an equipment skid. The scope of supply for each scrubber includes a control system, re-circulation pump with pre-assembled piping, valves and fittings. Instruments are pre-mounted in the piping where possible and pre-wired to a junction box on the skid. The horizontal configuration provides a compact design to fit inside the building with easy maintenance access to valves and instruments.

The skid arrangement allows the scrubbers to be shop assembled and tested prior to shipment.  The combination of a variable throat Venturi with a chevron style mist eliminator allows a wide turn-down ratio while maintaining high performance. The use of a wet scrubber instead of a bag-house eliminates the potential for bag fires that could be caused by occasional hot embers entrained in the gas.  The facility is also able to make use of the latent heat absorbed by the scrubber, making use of hot recirculated scrubber water to thaw out frozen peat in the winter before it is fed to the dryers. 

The scrubbers were commissioned in December 2019 and are now operational. Both scrubbers are used for two dryers providing a wide operating range. The scrubbers meet the design parameters listed below:

DESIGN PARAMETERS

• Inlet flow rate: 25,000 acfm
• Inlet temperature: 185^oF
• Inlet Particulate: 15 lbs/hr 
• Particulate Removal: > 99%

Click on the link below to download a case study and other Venturi scrubbing literature.

A pigment manufacturer operates batch reactors that emit very low volumes of highly concentrated ammonia. Batches occur over a 20-hour period and ammonia concentrations varies from <1 to 96%.

Ammonia is an odorless gas with a permissible exposure limit (PEL) of 50 ppm. Ammonia can also form explosive mixtures in air with a lower explosive limit (LEL) of 15% and upper explosive limit (UEL) of 28%.

The customer needs to recover a 25-28% (w/w) aqueous solution of ammonia for re-use as a raw material while meeting air emission limits. The recovered ammonia can have no potential silicone due to sensitivity of the end-product. The system must be robust and safe to operate.

The customer selected a custom designed Envitech ammonia recovery system based on Envitech’s proprietary design for low flow rate applications. The scope of supply includes a compressor, a packed bed concentrator, a packed bed absorber, instruments, PLC and HMI control system, and an equipment skid containing pre-assembled vessels, instruments, control system, pumps, piping, valves, fitting, and instruments with pre-wiring. Panel and components are explosion proof. Vessels are 316SS fabricated to pressure vessel ASME code for 90 PSI. All components are specially selected to ensure no possible silicone contamination.

The gas is drawn out of the reactor using a specially selected compressor ideally suited to handle corrosive, low flow rate gases and to generate high pressures while generating an upstream vacuum.

The concentrator uses recirculated water to absorb and concentrate ammonia. A 2nd stage absorber recovers residual ammonia to meet air emission limits.
Blowdown from both stages purge concentrated ammonia for re-use as raw material.

The recovery system will be commissioned in early 2020 and will meet the design parameters and performances below.

DESIGN PARAMETER

• Inlet flow rate: 50 acfm
• Inlet temperature: 68^oF
• Carrier gas composition:  N₂
• Peak ammonia concentration: 96%
• Concentration of recovered ammonia: > 25%
• Ammonia removal: > 98% 

Click on the link below to download an ammonia recovery system case study and other scrubbing literature.

A Saudi petrochemical plant operates a hydrogenation reactor to reduce organic compounds using a catalyst. In-situ regeneration is desired to restore the catalyst for additional processing. This improves operational efficiency and safety. The facility is evaluating technology options to achieve this goal. One approach is to
contact the catalyst with a carrier gas at elevated temperature to promote oxidation, resulting in SO₂ emissions.

A wet scrubber is needed with this approach to remove SO2 before exhausting to atmosphere. The scrubber will be installed outdoors in a harsh coastal environment with summer temperatures exceeding 114^oF. It will operate 3 to 5 days every 18 months and needs to be stored properly to maintain operational condition between uses.

The scrubber is to be built in conformance with over 12,000 pages of detailed refinery specifications with extensive quality assurance requirements.  Because of a tight schedule, a scrubber engineering order is initiated in parallel to evaluating other technology options. This reduces scrubber delivery time if the carrier gas oxidation approach is selected.

The customer selected an Envitech scrubber for the engineering order after extensive evaluation. The equipment scope includes a quencher, packed bed absorber, instruments, recirculation pump, pre-assembled piping, valves, and fittings with pre-mounted instruments. Pre-mounted instruments are pre-wired to control boxes. Components meet Class I, Div 2 area classification.

The quencher and vessel are designed using T316SS with internal and external coating. Piping is T316SS conforming to ASME B31.1. Welds are specified to be magnetically and X-ray tested using certified welders.

The design submittal includes more than 90% of final engineering deliverables. The design order was complete and meets the design conditions outlined in the table below.

Although designed as stationary equipment, this type of scrubber can also be designed for mobility for use in other applications or acid gases. Alternate materials of construction are available such as FRP or alloy steels.

DESIGN PARAMETERS

• Inlet flow rate: 3,200 acfm
• Inlet temperature: 510^oF
• Carrier gas composition:  N₂
•  Inlet SO₂: 64 lb/hr
• Outlet SO₂:  < 50 ppmv

US Magnesium is implementing an electrolytic expansion project located in Rowley, UT. A scrubbing system is needed to remove particulate from a chlorine gas stream that originates in the anode compartments of electrolytic cells that produce magnesium metal. A significant portion of the particulate is less than 1 micron in size, making it difficult to remove.

Chlorine is an important by-product of the electrolytic process. Scrubbed chlorine flows to a chlorine plant for further processing and liquefaction. The scrubbing equipment must be designed and constructed in a manner to minimize air in-leakage and chlorine emissions. Materials of construction must be selected to withstand severe corrosive characteristics of > 90% chlorine (Cl₂) gas.

Particulates in the gas leads to maintenance associated with downstream filters in the chlorine plant. It is therefore necessary to maximize removal efficiency to minimize filter maintenance costs.

The customer selected an Envitech high efficiency Venturi Scrubber. The equipment includes a fixed throat fiber reinforced plastic (FRP) Venturi scrubber and horizontal chevron style entrainment separator. Additional scope of supply includes instruments, pre-assembled pump skid with redundant titanium pumps (1 operating and 1 spare), pre-assembled CPVC piping, redundant fans with titanium wheel and housing, interconnect FRP ductwork, dampers, and equipment skid and platforms.

Because a large fraction of particulate is submicron in size and difficult to remove, the fans and vessels are designed to operate at -70” water column pressure drop.

An Envitech Venturi scrubber was installed on the original process in 1999. The new scrubber for the expansion project was installed in 2011. Both systems continue to operate with high reliability and uptime. The table below summarizes key design parameters for the new Venturi scrubber.

DESIGN PARAMETER

• Inlet flow rate: 8,200 acfm
• Inlet temperature: 130^oF
• Gas Composition:  > 90% Cl₂ gas
• Pressure drop: 60" W.C.
• PM Removal: > 75%

Click on the link below to download a case study and other Venturi scrubbing literature.

Hot mix asphalt (HMA) plants combine aggregate and petroleum byproducts to form paving material.  HMA plants can be permanent, transportable (skid-mounted), or portable.  For large asphalt projects, it is economical to use transportable or portable HMA plants so as to set up near the project and reduce the delivery time of asphalt to the site.  Large HMA manufacturers thus transport their manufacturing equipment from site to site.

The most common HMA plant is a batch mix plant.  A batch plant consists of an aggregate dryer to dewater the aggregate, a mixer to combine the aggregate with asphalt cement, and a load-out bay for transferring the final product to trucks for transport.  Auxiliary equipment includes a cyclone for aggregate collection after the dryer, a secondary collection device for particulate emissions, a blue haze control device to curb VOC emissions.  Reclaimed asphalt pavement (RAP) is typically used to reduce costs and promote sustainability within the industry.  The stage at which RAP is introduced depends on the qualities of the RAP and the desired properties of the final asphalt product.

According to the EPA, there are two primary techologies for the secondary collection devices: Venturi scrubbers and baghouses.  Venturi scrubbers are wet devices that capture particulate through inertial impaction.  Venturis are fractional efficiency devices capable of efficiently capturing particulate as small as 1 micron.  Venturis are inherently self cleaning: water sprays continuously from the Venturi throat and the accelerated gas shears any wall buildup.  Thus, Venturis are excellent in the removal of sticky particulate that would foul other forms of particulate control. Also, as a wet process, Venturis have the ability of capturing condensables and water soluble vapors.  The alternative technology for secondary particulate capture is a baghouse.  A baghouse achieves particle collection by filtering the gas through a physical barrier. Baghouses can efficiently remove submicron particulate, provided that the particulate is filterable.  Baghouses are not able to capture condensibles, but can capture some acid gases if an appropriate dry chemical is added to the dryer flue gas.

Recently, Envitech has developed an economical Venturi scrubber that can be either built on a skid for easy transport, or built on a truck bed for portability.  Envitech's Venturi scrubber is capable of meeting even the most stringent PM-10 requirements for particulate control, and works well with downstream blue haze control devices. Our Venturi scrubber is also anti-fouling and capable of consistently meeting control targets even with difficult RAP and exotic formulations with minimal maintenance.   

As an equipment supplier of custom engineered wet scrubber equipment, Envitech frequently provides lunch and learns (L&L’s) to engineering companies to help educate engineers about the basics of available technology.

Figure 1 below is a summary chart of predominant wet scrubber technology options. The main product categories include packed bed absorbers, Venturi scrubbers, and wet electrostatic precipitators (WESPs). Each wet scrubber type serves a different purpose and is used in different circumstances. For instance, packed bed absorbers are primarily used to remove gaseous emissions like SO2, HCl, or HF. We often receive packed bed absorber inquiries for particulate removal, however, this would be a misuse of technology. Packed bed absorbers remove some particulate but they are not nearly as efficient as other options.

Figure 1: Wet scrubber technology summary

Venturi scrubbers are used for particulate removal. Just like we sometimes receive packed bed absorber inquiries for particulate removal, we’ll occasionally get Venturi scrubber inquiries for acid gas removal. This would also be a misuse of technology. Venturi scrubbers achieve some acid gas removal, but they have poor mass transfer compared to a packed bed absorbers.  

Venturi scrubbers use mechanical forces to remove particulate. Particles are captured through a process of impaction between particles in the gas and water droplets in the Venturi throat. A high differential velocity is created between particles and droplets by accelerating the gas in the throat. A pressure drop in the throat provides energy to capture the particles. Smaller particles less than 1 micron in size avoid capture by behaving like gas molecules and finding slip streams around the water droplets. Venturi scrubber performance drops offs exponentially for submicron particulate. Overall removal efficiency may be limited for a gas stream with a high concentration of submicron particulate. Venturi scrubbers are a good choice for industrial dryers or other applications with large size particulate.

Wet electrostatic precipitator (WESP) are the third type of wet scrubber summarized in the table. Like Venturi scrubbers, they are also particulate removal devices. They differ from Venturi scrubbers in a couple of ways, 1.) electrical, not mechanical forces are used to capture particulate, and 2,) they are efficient at capturing submicron particulate. Figure 2 shows a performance comparison between a WESP and Venturi scrubber. It can be seen that performance drops off dramatically for Venturi scrubbers for particles less than 1 micron in size. WESP’s on the other hand remove particles regardless of particle size.

Figure 2: WESP, Venturi scrubber performance comparison versus particle size.

The summary in Figure 1 also shows how each wet scrubber technology differs in regulatory control. A packed bed absorber is typically controlled for recirculation flow rate and liquid pH. A Venturi scrubber is controlled by recirculation rate and pressure drop. A WESP is controlled by voltage. Control limits are typically spelled out in the operating permit.

Finally, some examples of applications are given for each type of wet scrubber. It should be noted that there are many applications that have multiple types of pollutants. A hazardous waste incinerator, for instance, contains particulate, acid gases, and specific heavy metals like cadmium and lead. A fraction of particulate is submicron in size and difficult for a Venturi scrubber to remove. It is common for different types of wet scrubbers to be combined into a multi-pollutant device. Figure 3 shows a common arrangement for an incinerator scrubber. The gas is first cooled in a quencher. A packed bed absorber removes acid gases. A Venturi scrubber removes particulate and a WESP removes the submicron particulate and heavy metals.

Figure 3: Incinerator wet scrubber arrangement

Wet scrubbers can also be combined with dry scrubbers in certain circumstances. An upstream bag-house can remove particulate followed by a packed bed absorber for acid gas removal. A cyclone can be used to knock out large particulate before using a Venturi scrubber for the remaining particulate. A cyclone helps to minimize blowdown and water consumption. In some cases, a dry filter or carbon bed absorber can be integrated downstream of a wet scrubber for mercury and/or dioxin/furan. Click here to read a blog piece about an example of a wet scrubber combined with a carbon bed.

This about covers wet scrubber basics. If you’re with an engineering company and want to discuss scheduling a lunch an learn, please give Envitech a call. You can click on the icon below for a set of Envitech brochures.

Click on the icon below to download an Envitech brochure.

Envitech will be attending and exhibiting at the 37th International Conference on Thermal Treatment Technologies and Hazardous Waste Combustors (IT3/HWC) in League City, TX on October 2nd and 3rd, 2019. If you happen to be attending the conference, please stop by the Envitech booth or find me at the conference to say hello.

Three keynote panels will include high level experts and cover hot topics in the industry:

• PFAS Overview, Regulatory Approach, Testing and Destruction
• Emerging Air Quality Monitoring
• Lessons Learned from the United Kingdom's 2018 Novichok Nerve Agent Incident

Papers presented in technical sessions cover:

• Technologies and Trends in Incineration
• Plastics Recycle and Reuse
• Emission Monitoring
• Waste-to-energy, Emission Monitoring, Pyrolysis 

Envitech will present papers on the following two topics.

Technology Solutions for Sulfuric Acid Formation and Removal in Liquid Waste and Waste Gas Thermal Oxidizers

Petrochemical plants, refineries, and waste-oil re-refiners operate liquid waste or waste gas thermal oxidizers. The thermal oxidizers need a wet scrubber to neutralize and remove SO2. Flue gas entering the scrubber contain some sulfur trioxide (SO3) which is converted to sulfuric acid (H2SO4) in the quencher. Sulfuric acid is a submicron liquid aerosol that passes through the downstream packed bed absorber. Some facilities are now being regulated for H2SO4. This paper evaluates and compares candle filters versus wet electrostatic precipitators (WESP’s) for H2SO4 removal in these applications.

Sewage Sludge Incinerator (SSI) Mercury Control Technologies

Waste water treatment facilities operating sewage sludge incinerators (SSI) can reduce sludge volume and disposal costs by combusting dewatered sewage sludge. Emissions are regulated by the US EPA Maximum Available Control Technology (MACT) standard 40 CFR Part 60 and 62 to control particulate, lead (Pb), cadmium (Cd), SO2, HCl, dioxins/furans, and mercury (Hg). Many SSI’s need a control device specifically for mercury. This paper evaluates two mercury control technologies: sulfur‐impregnated activated carbon and Gore sorbent polymer catalyst (SPC) modules. Several facilities have used sulfur-impregnated activated carbon but safety issues have arisen due to fires which have shut down some systems. The Gore SPC modules are a relatively new technology with at least seven installations. A comparison is made of capital cost, operating cost, mercury removal efficiency, fire and performance risks based on incineration of 3,000 lbs/hr of sewage sludge. Finally, an overview is provided for an Envitech SPC mercury control scrubber operating at one facility.

Click on the icon below to download an Envitech brochure.

Enivtech will be attending the 2019 International Conference on Thermal Treatment Technologies and Hazardous Waste Combustors  (IT3/HWC)  October 2-3 in Houston, TX. A paper will be given on “Technology Solutions for Sulfuric Acid Formation and Removal in Liquid Waste and Waste Gas Thermal Oxidizers”. The paper is available for download by clicking the button at the bottom of this blog piece.

Petrochemical plants, refineries, and waste-oil re-refiners operate liquid waste or waste gas thermal oxidizers. The thermal oxidizers need a wet scrubber to neutralize and remove SO2. Flue gas entering the scrubber contains some sulfur trioxide (SO3) which is converted to sulfuric acid (H2SO4) in the presence of water vapor. Sulfuric acid is a submicron liquid aerosol that can pass through downstream equipment, such as a packed bed absorber or a baghouse. Some facilities are now being regulated for H2SO4.

Over the last decade, Envitech has supplied SO2 scrubbers for thermal oxidizers burning sulfur containing compounds in refining applications. Most of these do not have add-on controls for capturing sulfuric acid mist. More recently, however, Envitech has supplied two systems with candle filters for the capture of sulfuric acid mist. Another known system used a wet electrostatic precipitator for the capture of sulfuric acid mist. A potential fourth system with a large gas flow rate with expected SO3 emissions was evaluated for a wet electrostatic precipitator.

A thermal oxidizer converts sulfur containing liquid or gaseous waste in the presence of excess oxygen to sulfur dioxide (SO2). A fraction of SO2 is further converted to SO3. The reaction is:

SO2 + 1/2O2 => SO3

The conversion amount is influenced by many factors including the thermal oxidizer operating temperature, residence time, sulfur concentration, amount of excess air, and the presence of catalytic oxides and metal catalysts in the fuel. Literature suggests that even a well-performing thermal oxidizer still converts 1 to 5% of SO2 into SO3. Given the numerous factors influencing the formation of SO3¬, most designers select a conservative estimate of SO3 conversion, even when actual SO3 emissions have been measured, as variations in operation can generate substantially higher conversion.

Once formed in the thermal oxidizer, SO3 reacts with water in the downstream quencher to form sulfuric acid (H2SO4) by the reaction:

SO3(g) + H2O(l) => H2SO4(l)

At temperatures below 350°F, H2SO4 condenses into submicron liquid droplets which are difficult to remove because of their small size. Aerosol droplets pass through a quencher and packed bed absorber. A separate control device is needed for sulfuric acid removal that is suitable for submicron droplets.

Click on the link below to download the IT3/HWC conference paper to learn about “Technology Solutions for Sulfuric Acid Formation and Removal in Liquid Waste and Waste Gas Thermal Oxidizers”. The paper evaluates and compares candle filters versus wet electrostatic precipitators (WESPs) for H2SO4 removal in these types of applications.

A municipal waste water treatment plant operates a 2,750 lb/hr fluid bed sewage sludge incinerator (SSI). The incinerator had been shut down due to safety issues with the granulated activated carbon (GAC) mercury control scrubber. The plant sought expert help to evaluate and recommend a technology solution to replace the GAC and to get the SSI back in operation.

Based on extensive waste incineration gas cleaning experience, the facility contracted Envitech to evaluate the process, make recommendations, and implement a solution.

Envitech reviewed available literature and data to establish a conservative but justifiable design inlet concentration with sufficient capacity to meet a more conservative design condition without structural changes to the equipment.

An additional Envitech study compared W.L. Gore sorbent polymer catalyst (SPC) mercury control modules to sulfur impregnated activated carbon taking into account capital and operating cost, mercury removal efficiency, safety, and performance risk. The facility implemented Envitech’s recommendation for an Envitech SBC mercury control scrubber. A vessel constructed of fiber reinforced plastic (FRP) provides excellent corrosion resistance and low cost. An inlet heater duct with controls optimizes temperature for maximum performance. An internal duct with bottom outlet near grade direct connects to the existing stack. The vessel has extra capacity to double the number of SPC modules to meet the conservative inlet concentration if needed.

The equipment was commissioned in December, 2018. Inlet and outlet stack tests confirm greater than 96.4% removal and emissions less than 5% of the MACT limit for existing FB SSI. The Envitech SPC mercury control scrubber provides an economic, high performance, safe solution for continued incineration operation.  It can be applied to other types of applications that require mercury control downstream of wet scrubber equipment.  It provides a worthwhile technology to consider for mercury control.

Click on the link below to download a sewage sludge incinerator (SSI) mercury control scrubber case study and other SSI incinerator scrubbing literature.