ABSTRACT
Limiting gaseous emissions into the air is both technically difficult and expensive. Although rain is Nature’s vacuum cleaner-the only air-cleansing mechanism available-it is not very efficient. Good air quality depends on pollution prevention (i.e., limiting what is emitted) and sound engineering policies, procedures, and practices. The control of gaseous air emissions may be realized in a number of ways. In this chapter, we discuss many of these technologies and the sources of gaseous pollutants emitted from various sources and their control points (see Figure 16.1). The applicability of a given technique depends on the properties of the pollutant and the discharge system. In making the difficult and often complex decision of which gaseous air pollution control to employ, it is helpful to follow the guidelines based on experience and set forth by Buonicore and Davis (1992) in their prestigious engineering text, Air Pollution Engineering Manual. Table 16.1 summarizes the main techniques and technologies used to control gaseous emissions. After defining key air emission and pollution terms, we discuss the air control technologies given in Table 16.1. Much of the information contained in this chapter is adapted from Spellman (1999) and USEPA (1981). The excerpted materials have been rearranged and edited to make the materials more concise for the reader’s use.
