7401ENG: Air Quality Monitoring and Control in Oil Refineries Project

This project focuses on air quality monitoring and control technologies within the context of oil refineries. It begins with an introduction to the problem of air pollution in refineries, highlighting the sources of pollutants such as oxides of nitrogen, carbon monoxide, oxides of sulfur, and hydrocarbons. A detailed literature review then examines various technologies used to mitigate air pollution. These include fabric filters, wet scrubbers, cyclone separators, gravity settling chambers, and electrostatic precipitators. Each technology is described, and their advantages and disadvantages are discussed. The project also includes design considerations and calculations for specific technologies like cyclone separators and filter designs, providing a comprehensive understanding of air quality control methods in the oil refining industry. The assignment concludes with a summary of the findings and a list of references, along with poster designs for a cyclone separator and filter.

AIR QUALITY MONITORING AND CONTROL
[Author Name(s), First M. Last, Omit Titles and Degrees]
[Institutional Affiliation(s)]

INTRODUCTION
There is production of a lot of dusts from the refineries of the oil. Some of these particulate
matter produced tend to be unsuitable for human health. When this kind of the particulate matter
combines with those of lead, it becomes very hard for the young children to learn since they
directly affect the intelligence level of the brain. The potential sources of the air pollution include
the oxides of nitrogen from catalyst regenerators, flares among others. Carbon monoxide
compounds which results from catalyst regenerators and decoking. Oxides of sulphur which
emanates from treating units, cracking of sulfur among others cause pollution as well (Ghorani,
Riahi & Balali 2016). Finally there are Malodorous gases and vapors and hydrocarbons.
LITERATURE REVIEW
There are different technologies which are being used for the control of the particulate matter of
different sizes. All these technologies have design and unmistakable parameters. They move in
their cost and efficiencies as well as their operation mode. Some of these technologies include
the following:
 Fabric filters
 Wet Scrubbers
 Cyclone Separators
 Gravity Settling Chambers
 Electrostatic Precipitators
 The fabric filters:
FABRIC FILTERS

Fabric filters tis the one among the best techniques being used in collecting particulate matter
within the waste gases of the industrial. The application of fabric filter depends on the principle
of filtration, which is considered to be the most efficient, reliable as well as the economic
methods of removing particulate matters in the gases. The bag houses are the term use to define
the equipment used in controlling air pollution by applying the fabric filters.
Usually the material component which are used for the development of this kind of texture
ranges from Polyester, Teflon, Stainless steel, fibre glass and cotton. The characterization of the
sacks is usually done when the houses in the bag augment in its zone of the filtration by adding
the texture which has been arranged at the bottom of the media channel. The sacks are further
stuffed in different parts of the channel so that they can assist in the procedure of the cleaning
during the disconnection. The houses of the pack are thus used in the control of the broadcasting.
Figure 1: Fabric Filters (Tan et al 2018)

Advantages
 Its productivity of accumulation is high
 The weight drop is low in the texture channel
 It is possible for one to reassemble the fabric channel at the plant of the processing
 They can be worked at the variety which is very extensive.
Disadvantages
 The filtration unit of the texture is usually at risk of flame
 Its surface territory requires parcel
 It cannot handle wet gas steam in it.
WET SCRUBBERS
The technique of wet scrubbers is usually regarded s one of the effective devices used in the air
pollution control. This is because they are used in the particulate removal or even gases from the
industrial exhaust or stream. The wet scrubber’s operation is usually achieved by introduction of
a dirty stream of gas along with the liquid which is to be used in the process of the scrubbing
which is basically water.
The gases or the particulate are usually collected within the selected liquid that is used as a
scrubbing medium. The wet scrubbers are usually very convenient as far as pollution control is
concerned since it will assist in the removal of both gases and particulates within a single unit in
the entire system. In the case of the oil refining, the design of the wet scrubbers musty be very
specific in regard to the connection.

Figure 2: Wet Scrubbers(Tan et al 2018).
Advantages
 Can work effectively even at very high temperatures
 It has no secondary dust sources
 Minimal fire hazards and explosions
 It has the ability to make both gases and particulate collections
Disadvantages
 It has problems related to corrosions
 Power required is high
 It has water pollution problems
 Product recovery is usually not easy

CYCLONE SEPARATORS
The technique of the cyclone separators is usually used in the expulsion of the particulate matter
from the gas or air. In some extreme cases, it has been used in the removal of the particulate
matter from the fluid without the use of channels. This is the vortex partition application. The
rotation force impacts as well as the impacts of the gravity can be utilized so that the bends can
be isolated from various liquids and different solids. This kind of strategy is also applicable in
the fine beads isolation from the liquid so that vaporous streams can be formed. The currents of
the winds are in the patterns of helical in with they begin from the wider section with the
consummations taking place at the base end. The product will thus leave the twister via a straight
stream of the gas (Yang, Chang & Yan 2015).
The particulates which are denser or bigger within the turning stream usually possess very high
latency after passing through bends which are tight in case of the tumble section. The tumble
which is at the lower section will strike the diving wall which is also known as the divider. The
particulates will then be expelled by the blowing wind. The framework is tapered and this will
act as a representation of a tornado in the spin which is actually rational. The particulates which
are little are expelled time by time. This kind of the system is known to be having a wind
geometry which is very violent and its rate is usually characterized by a particular purpose in
such kind of the typhoon. This will be regarded as an entire span for the expelled molecules from
such kind of the stream.

Figure 3: Cyclone Separators (Tan et al 2018)
Advantages
 The cost is relatively low
 The pressure drop is relatively low at ca.2
 Requires less maintenance since it is relatively simple
 The space required is small
 The collections well as disposal are usually dry.
Disadvantages
 The efficiencies of the collections is generally low for the matter of the particulate below
5 μm.
 Sticky dusts or particulate cannot be effectively handled.

Gravity Settling Chambers
Figure 4: Gravity Settling Chambers (Tan et al 2018)
The chambers which are settling and that utilization gravity might be characterized as
straightforward and furthermore the absolute most seasoned implies which are utilized to expel
suspended particles from businesses (Kumar et al 2013). The chamber operating principle is the
pollutant removal through the decrease of the stream velocity that is just enough to allow all the
solid particles settles on the floor (Cole & Grossman 2018). Those particular chambers that have
very high efficiency usually have inclusion of detectors or baffles that are meant to change the
gas flow direction.
.Advantages
 The costs are usually lower
 The cost of the energy is usually low

 Requires very less support and has minimal moving parts
 The quality of the product is just excellent
 The drops of the weights is equally low
 It has low sped gas. This implies that the machine will never be subjected to the scrubbed
area.
Disadvantages
 It does not deal with materials which are sticky
 The physical operation size is large
 The particulate matter given is given when efficiencies are high particularly in the case of
50 μm size particles.
Electrostatic Precipitators
Electrostatic Precipitators are also called ESP. They are very useful in the molecules control.
This particular technique uses power from the electricity to facilitate the movement of the
particles which are directed to the collection plate. The particles are impacted with the electric
charge. After the collection of the particles on the plate, they are expelled from the plate without
them being retained into the stream of the gas. Some of the precipitators expel the particles
through persistent or discontinuous wash with water (Zhang et al 2015)

Figure 5: Electrostatic Precipitators (Tan et al 2018)
Advantages of electrostatic precipitator
 Consist of dry accumulation therefore, air transfer is very clean.
 It cost of operation is considered to be relatively low
 The drop in weight is low
 The operation is continuous thus least support
 Can work under a very high temperature of 700 degrees Celsius by application of high
weight as well as pressure vacuums.
 It is capable with dealing with a vest gas stream at the rate of 50000 m3 in a minute

 It is the most efficiency in term of collection which is more than 99.9 percent within the
coarse whereas the particle which are considered to be fine stand at moderate low
utilization vitality (Cheng & Huff 2017)..
Disadvantages of electrostatic precipitator
 It is very dangerous especially during explosion with combustibles
 It is somehow extensive especially on the prerequisite of the space
 Sometime it become very difficult particularly during the process of particle gathering
 The cost of usage is very high that is about 160 USD per minutes
 Has a very high affectability to different changes in the gas stream having conditions lie
rate of the stream, temperature, particulate. gas organization as well as loading of
particulate.

REFERENCES
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