ABSTRACT

To understand particulate control, one must first understand some fundamental concepts and properties of particulate. Figure 19.1 shows common terms associated with particulate material as a function of particle diameter. Particles of concern to air pollution are typically measured in microns (i.e., micrometers, or 1 × 10−6 m). Large or coarse particles are those considered to be well above 10 μm. Note for perspective that the diameter of a human hair is approximately 50-110 μm. Very small or fine particles are considered to be those less than 1 μm, or submicron. This size range includes smoke and fumes. Also notice that the size range considered lung-damaging dust ranges from approximately 0.7 to 7 μm. Dust in this size range gets into lungs and is the most difficult dust to collect with particulate control equipment for reasons that will be discussed later in this chapter.