I’ve made several blog posts regarding the removal of hazardous air pollutant (HAPs), including lead, from a secondary lead smelter in CA using a Wet Electrostatic Precipitator (WESP). There is also an article published in the August 2010 issue of Pollution Engineering on this system. My last blog post references a letter to the EPA reporting metals reductions as high as 98% and 99% and reductions of lead from 615 lb/yr to 1.22 lb/hr. The facility is now achieving emissions that are several orders of magnitude lower than other secondary lead smelters.
Envitech is in the design phase for a new project that will apply the WESP technology to an industrial facility that has lead emissions similar to stack emissions from a controlled secondary lead facility. The WESP system guarantees 95% lead removal from inlet concentrations of 0.003 gr/dscf.
The system was selected after the facility performed a thorough evaluation of different technologies including HEPA and cartridge filters as well as other WESP suppliers. The system will be operational in Q1 2013 with stack test results due by the middle of 2013.
Envitech is implementing cost reductions that will enable reduced capital expenditure for future installations and make the technology more economically feasible to be considered best available control technology (BACT) by the EPA. This new system will be a good surrogate to further demonstrate the performance of the Envitech WESP system to get the lead out!
Click on the link below to download a white paper from the International Conference on Thermal Treatment Technologies and Hazardous Waste Combustions (IT3/HWC) on a WESP system for a secondary lead smelter.