International Journal of Environmental Science and Technology (2019) 16:1677–1690

https://doi.org/10.1007/s13762-018-1826-4

ORIGINAL PAPER

New scrubber for air purification: abatement of particulate matter

and treatment of the resulting wastewater
F. Ferella1,2 · S. Zueva1 · V. Innocenzi1 · A. Di Renzo1 · A. Avveduto2 · L. Pace2 · P. Tripodi3 · F. Vegliò1

Received: 4 August 2017 / Revised: 7 January 2018 / Accepted: 29 May 2018 / Published online: 2 June 2018
© Islamic Azad University (IAU) 2018

Abstract
The present paper deals with an innovative scrubber (air pollution abatement) used to remove particulate matter and other
pollutants from air. Air pollution abatement scrubbers were placed in different urban areas and in industrial production sites.
In particular, the results obtained in one fiberglass production facility showed a reduction in particulate matter of 46.3–99.9%
in the size range 0.50–0.00 µm throughout the experimentation period. The aqueous solutions coming from the scrubbers,
placed in different sites, were collected, analyzed and treated in order to regenerate the water and make it available for the
periodic refilling of the scrubber’s tanks. Coagulation, precipitation, carbon adsorption and Fenton processes were applied
in order to design a suitable integrated process able to treat all the samples coming from the scrubbers. The reduction in total
suspended solids, total dissolved solids, phenols and chemical oxygen demand was higher than 85% by the Fenton process,
demonstrating that water is completely recoverable and reusable. Alternatively, the treated water can be discharged into a
surface water body. Based on the results from the experimental campaign, a mobile plant was designed in order to treat such
wastewater. Depending on the physicochemical parameters of the wastewater, specific treatments can be chosen and carried
out by such mobile plant.

Keywords Air pollution · Fenton · Particulate matter · Scrubber · Wastewater

Introduction contribution from industry and farming/agriculture activities

In the recent decades, the significant development of indus-
trial, commercial and agriculture activities caused an expan-
sion of the urban population. Consequently, emission of pol-
lutants grew rapidly, leading to a worsening of the air quality
both in the cities and in their surrounding areas (Chan and
Yao 2008). Road transportation and heating systems are
the two main urban sources of atmospheric emissions. Fur-
thermore, around urban areas, there is often a significant
Editorial responsibility: M. Abbaspour.
* F. Ferella
ferellafrancesco@virgilio.it
1
Department of Industrial Engineering, Information
and Economics, University of L’Aquila, Via G. Gronchi 18,
67100 L’Aquila, Italy
2
Società Progetti Innovativi srl, Via C. D’Andrea,
67100 Bazzano, AQ, Italy
3
Is Clean Air Italia srl, Piazza della Manifattura 1,
38068 Rovereto, TN, Italy
(Mcdonald 2012), as well as from power generation, espe-
cially burning of coal (Ferella et al. 2013). These kinds of
emissions, i.e., traffic and heating, have the common charac-
teristic of being densely distributed on the territory, although
one of these sources is mobile.
The main pollutants present in the urban air are nitro-
gen oxides (­ NOx), sulfur oxides (­ SOx), particulate matter
(PM1–PM10), volatile organic compounds (VOCs), heavy
metals, carbon monoxide (CO), light hydrocarbons ­(CH4,
­C6H6), pollen, spores and compounds like polycyclic aro-
matic hydrocarbons (PAHs) aggregated into particulate
matter.
Particulates can form atmospheric aerosols, very danger-
ous as these small particulates (fine particles < 2.5 µm and
ultrafine particles < 0.1 µm) are the most detrimental when
inhaled by humans (Seaton et al. 1995). Long-term exposure
to ­NOx and VOCs can cause several damages; in fact, it is
more severe on the very young, elderly and those with pre-
existing respiratory diseases (Gouveia and Fletcher 2000).
According to recent studies from the European Envi-
ronment Agency, about 90% of people living in the largest

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1678 International Journal of Environmental Science and Technology (2019) 16:1677–1690
European cities are exposed to pollutant concentrations
above the harmful threshold estimated by the World Health
Organization (WHO), with huge costs in terms of safety,
health and environmental damages (EEA 2013a, b). Moreo-
ver, long-term exposure to fine PM was related to natural-
cause mortality, even for pollutant levels below the actual
European average annual limits (Beelen et al. 2014).
Some efforts were focused to improve environmental
urban conditions, for instance, treaties, laws and advices
from environmental conferences and international panels;
furthermore, extensive efforts were focused on the develop-
ment of a wide range of devices for removing particulate and
gaseous indoor pollutants (Zhang et al. 2011). PM can be
removed by using mechanical HEPA (high-efficiency par-
ticulate) air filters or powered electronic air cleaners (e.g.,
ionizers). However, filters tend to quickly lose efficiency
when sorbents become saturated, and thus require regular
maintenance (Fisk et al. 2002; Sublett et al. 2010). The unit
operations and processes for removing organic airborne
contaminants include wet and dry scrubbing, condensa-
tion, flare, thermal oxidation, catalytic oxidation, gas-phase
carbon adsorption and gas-phase biofiltration. Filtration,
cyclones, electrostatic precipitation and wet scrubbing are
the typical processes for removal of PM and inorganic con-
taminants like metals. All these applications could improve
the quality in indoor urban environments; however, no
experimental activity for application in outside urban envi-
ronments was found in the literature. In this context, the
preliminary experiments, described in the present paper,
aimed at testing a possible remediation strategy of urban
air pollution. The proposed strategy is to install a network
of densely distributed, economical and sustainable air pol-
lution absorbers inside the industrial workplaces and urban
areas, which may lower the pollutant levels in the breath-
able bottom layers and reduce bulk urban canopy emissions.
The air pollution abatement (APA) technology is a network
of easily operating and adaptable wet scrubber system that
can be installed in both indoor and outdoor environments.
Currently, each scrubber treats nearly 2300 m3/h of ambient
air, requires an electrical power of 550 W and produces a
noise of 55 dBA/1 m. Basically, input air is injected into the
vessel where a water vaporization device causes the PM to
precipitate, depositing the particles in the aqueous solution
tank: This simulates the natural cycle of rain without any
generation of special waste and with a limited consump-
tion of energy. As regards gaseous pollutants, the abatement
takes place by means of dissolution or absorption processes
of the gas in the liquid solution (Henry’s law). The collected
wastewater contains all the atmospheric substances captured
in the process. Hence, it is required to treat such wastewater
that could be discharged into the urban sewage network or,
alternatively and more profitably, used to refill the scrub-
bers instead of using freshwater. The Italian Environmental
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Regulation D.Lgs. 152/2006 lists the maximum concentra-
tion for metals, organic compounds and microbiological
parameters of wastewater in order to determine whether it
can be discharged into water bodies like sewage network,
rivers, lakes or sea, as well as for reuse, both industrial and
agricultural. Such water, once treated, can be reused together
with a small makeup, in order to approach a zero-liquid dis-
charge process. Regarding wastewater, there are no refer-
ences related to integrated processes for treatment, as this
kind of equipment is the first one that will be installed in
urban areas, manufacturing and other industrial facilities.
The process, and thus the relevant plant, should be able to
treat wastewaters coming from APA devices installed in dif-
ferent kinds of production facilities. Moreover, such plant
should also process wastewater from scrubbers installed in
urban areas like roads, parking areas, highways and bus sta-
tions, where contamination of air is very hard due to the
presence of buses and cars. In the latter case, the waste
solutions produced by APA scrubbers can be considered as
wastewater generated during the first minutes of a rainfall,
when water runs off the streets, collects and transports sev-
eral kind of materials like sand, leaves, dust from brake pads
(containing heavy metals, ceramics and organics), CO, S ­ Ox ,
uncombusted hydrocarbons and N ­ Ox. The wet scrubber is
one standard equipment used for purifying hot flue gases
to treat the fugitive emissions. Different aqueous solutions
can be used, depending on the particular compounds con-
tained in the flue gas or emissions. Wet scrubber is furnished
with spray towers and packed columns, where the gas is
countercurrent to the liquid flow. Purification of wastewater
coming from scrubbers is usually carried out by applying
different techniques such as physical, chemical, drum and
disk filtration, membrane filtration, advanced oxidation sys-
tems and equalization tanks (Rabah 2013). Physical methods
usually includes flocculation, sedimentation, froth flotation
and adsorption (Ebeling et al. 2005; Amuda and Amoo
2007; Sansalone and Jong 2008; Paganelli et al. 2011). In
this paper, the results of a preliminary experimental mixed
campaign, i.e., carried out in both industrial and urban sites,
are shown. This campaign wanted to demonstrate the effec-
tive abatement of PM, especially the finest, with an aqueous
scrubber. The innovation lies in the particular arrangement
of the internal nozzles that creates a nebulised aqueous
layer able to capture the PM. Moreover, the particular fluid
dynamics of the internal pipelines also creates a “cyclone”
effect; the third filtration effect is carried out by the innova-
tive filter composed of 7–10 layers in which air is obliged to
pass through a multiple “S” path. The gaseous compounds
are absorbed by the aqueous solution, where non-hazardous
additives can be added to enhance the absorption. Regarding
the APA devices tested in the present paper, there are some
original issues:
International Journal of Environmental Science and Technology (2019) 16:1677–1690
• Integrated air–water treatment process;
• These devices are mobile, so they can be moved in dif-
ferent places in closed environments like metro stations,
factories, storehouses and, generally speaking, dusty
warehouses. Many suction devices are installed under
the roof, so that most of the PM, especially the heaviest,
remains in the bottom layers close to the ground, where
people work;
• No hazardous compounds are used in the aqueous solu-
tion;
• The spent aqueous solution from the scrubbers can be
collected and treated in a centralized wastewater treat-
ment plant that can even be mobile, in order to reuse
water without a great consumption of freshwater (makeup
water only). This approaches a zero-liquid discharge pro-
cess.
• These devices are suitable for very dusty factories where
standard suction equipment is not able to guarantee a
healthy working environment, as provided for by law.
This experimental campaign is a general test for the real
Smart Clean Air City project in the city of L’Aquila: 14 APA
scrubbers type “totem”, integrated in the urban environment
and equipped with touch screens to provide advertisement
and/or public information about the city, will be installed.
The aim of this paper is to show the results of some tests
of particulate matter (PM) abatement in different environ-
ments, in particular in a fiberglass processing plant and the
loading area of one incinerator’s combustion chamber. The
PM monitoring tests were conducted in two different sites:
one fiberglass processing plant located in the city of Aprilia
(Rome, Italy) and the loading area of the combustion kiln of
one urban waste incinerator in the city of Padova, Italy. Air
remediation occurred for 11 months in Aprilia and 1 month
in Padova in 2016.
Hence, a series of water treatments were carried out in
order to treat the wastewater coming from the two afore-
mentioned plants plus other six samples collected from APA
placed in other locations, as indicated in “Wastewater treat-
ments” section. The goal of the wastewater treatments was
to obtain recycled water with physicochemical properties
suitable to be reused in the same devices. Furthermore, the
design of a mobile plant for treatment of wastewater gener-
ated by APA scrubbers is also shown.
Brief description of the scrubber
A methodology for air pollution remediation in towns and
industrial facilities is proposed with the use of a dense net-
work of wet scrubbers to reduce air pollution. The air clean-
ing system APA is patented (Tripodi and Tripodi 2015a,
b) and well described in Avveduto et al. (2015). There are
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versions of the APA scrubber that can be adapted to the
different requirements of the process. For air pollution
abatement in urban environment, the stainless steel version
equipped with touch screen and monitoring control unit for
pollutants is usually used. Instead, for industrial and pure
research applications, a cylindrical unit is usually chosen,
made up of polypropylene (PP) or AISI 316 stainless steel
when the device is connected to flue gas pipelines and,
hence, exposed to high temperature (> 130–140 °C) and cor-
rosive chemical compounds. The latter version can also be
equipped with special catalysts in order to remove CO and
uncombusted hydrocarbons, as well as ­NOx, below the con-
centration limits provided for by environmental regulations.
The capacity of each scrubber n was 2300 m3/h of air. The
operating principle and the two APA scrubber versions used
in the experimental campaign are shown in Fig. 1. The wet
scrubber removes the pollutants from the air flow incorpo-
rating them in liquid droplets, usually an aqueous solution,
produced by a sprayer system and in wet plates. Regarding
gaseous pollutants, the abatement takes place by means of
dissolution or absorption processes in the liquid. The waste-
water, containing such atmospheric contaminants captured
from air, needs to be treated to comply with according to
the environmental regulations, i.e., concentration limits into
urban sewage networks or industrial wastewater treatment
plants.
Characterization of the experimental sites
Fiberglass processing plant
Carcinogenic volatile compounds, epoxy resins, styrene
(IARC 1987) and harmful airborne glass fibers (ACGIH
2001; Hoet and Lauwerys 2001) characterize the air qual-
ity of a fiberglass workplace. In a recent study (Avveduto
et al. 2015), the effect of the wet scrubber operation on
the VOC concentration inside the processing department
(named Large) of a fiberglass plant was presented. A reduc-
tion of about 40% in C ­ nHm compounds concentration has
been monitored during the experimentation. Here, the results
related to the particulate matter monitoring are reported. The
air remediation occurred in the so-called Large and Small
operating departments, where manufacturing and finishing
of fiberglass products are, respectively, carried out. The APA
wet scrubbers were placed next to the main workstations.
The volume of the Small department was around 200 m3,
about one-third of the Large one.
The APA technology was the only air remediation sys-
tem adopted in the factory’s rooms. APA wet scrubber sys-
tems were operative only during the daily working activi-
ties (8:00–19:00), except for the first 10 days of remediation
when the wet scrubbers ran 24 h. The small artisan business
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1680 International Journal of Environmental Science and Technology (2019) 16:1677–1690

Fig. 1  APA scrubber used in the

experimental campaign: a oper-
ating principle; b APA running
at Romana Maceri in Arezzo;
c APA scrubber running at the
other sites

has a production activity fragmented over time, with inter- i.e., during the full operation of the power line (furnace
vals of stop or minimal activity. So, the data analyzed here on), according to logistic and safety constraints.
are only relative to intensive working days, in which all the
different stages of production were carried out.

Municipal solid waste incinerator Materials and methods

Significant amounts of solid wastes, such as fly ashes and
bottom ashes (combustion residues), are produced by the
combustion of urban wastes. According to (Jung et al.
2004) and (Durmusoglu et al. 2006), these kinds of ashes
are characterized by the presence of carcinogenic organic
compounds and heavy metals. In the present paragraph,
the remediation action occurred in a 10 MW power line of
a municipal solid waste incinerator is showed. The experi-
mentation was carried out in the rear zone of the furnace
area. High PM concentration, arising from the extraction
of the ash from the combustion chamber of the furnace,
characterizes the site. The APA wet scrubbers were placed
in front of the ash extractor, in a sector of about 180 m3 in
volume. APA scrubbers were put into operation 24 h/day
during the remediation period. Air monitoring was carried
out before and during the study in the working hours only,
Particulate matter
During the experimental campaign, no air treatment
devices were operative in the workplaces; periodic air
replacement occurred by window ventilation only. Meas-
urements of particle number concentration were taken by
an AeroTrak Optical Particle Counter (OPC) Model 9306
produced and calibrated by TSI. The device is based on
laser light scattering and provides the concentration of six
size channels in the range 0.30–25 μm ([0.30–0.49 μm],
[0.50–0.99 μm], [1.00–2.99 μm], [3.00–4.99 μm],
[5.00–9.99 μm] and [10.00–25.00 μm]). The particle con-
centration is taken with a frequency of 1 min, when an air
volume of 1.5 L for each sample is analyzed. The OPC was
placed 150 cm above the ground.

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International Journal of Environmental Science and Technology (2019) 16:1677–1690
Wastewater treatments
Experiments were performed with eight wastewater samples,
collected from different industrial or urban places, including
the fiberglass plant and the urban waste incinerator. In par-
ticular, wastewater collected from APA scrubbers installed
in urban areas (square and next to one highway) as well
as industrial facilities like equipped warehouse for storage,
drying and composting of solid digestate, fiberglass produc-
tion, gasifier for syngas production. The list of the sites is
the following:
• Sample 1. Scrubber placed in one downtown square open
to car traffic. Location: Bolzano;
• Sample 2. Scrubber placed at the Bolzano Sud toll bar-
rier. Location: Highway A22, Bolzano;
• Sample 3. Scrubber placed in the storage warehouse
of solid digestate coming from the anaerobic diges-
tion of the organic fraction of the municipal solid waste
(OFMSW). Location: Green Asm, Nera Montoro, Terni;
• Sample 4. Scrubber placed in the warehouse for drying
of solid digestate. Location: Green Asm, Nera Montoro,
Terni;
• Sample 5. Scrubber connected to the flue gas pipeline
after combustion of syngas obtained by gasification of
wooden pellets. Location: Romana Maceri, Arezzo;
• Sample 6. Scrubber placed in the resin application room
of fiberglass factory. Location: Moto Special, Aprilia;
• Sample 7. Scrubber placed in the finishing room of a
fiberglass factory. Location: Moto Special, Aprilia;
• Sample 8. Scrubber placed in a warehouse for extraction
of furnace’s ash. Location: ETRA, Padova.
The study consisted of four sets of experiments. The first
set was used to study the effect of filtration on the waste-
water treatment efficiency. The second set was able to
determine the effect of aluminum sulfate and iron sulfate
as coagulants. The third set of experiments was carried out
to determine the effect of the Fenton process. Finally, the
fourth set was needed to study the effect of activated carbon
(AC) as sorbent.
Aluminum sulfate ­A l 2(SO 4) 3 20%w/v, iron sulfate
­Fe2(SO4)3 20%wt/vol and hydrated lime Ca(OH)2 10%wt/
vol were used as coagulants in coagulation tests. The con-
centration of the chemical elements in samples was deter-
mined by X-ray fluorescence (XRF, Spectro XEPOS 2000).
Chlorides, sulfates and chemical oxygen demand (COD) in
wastewater before and after treatment were measured with
Dr. Lange’s kit, cuvette tests LCK 311 and LCK 114A. Total
solids (TS), total suspended solids (TSS) and total dissolved
solids (TDS) were measured by Standard Method 2540 for
solid determination in the ambit of water and wastewater
treatment industry (Eaton et al. 1998). For TS, 15 mL of
1681
wastewater was placed in a pre-weighed aluminum weigh
pan and weighed again with slurry inside. The sample was
then placed in an oven at 105 °C and dried for 48 h. Samples
were cooled in a desiccator, and a final mass of dry total
solids was obtained. For TDS and TSS determination, the
slurry was filtered with a 0.2-µm syringe filter. 10 mL of
the collected clarified filtrate was added to a pre-weighed
aluminum weigh pan, and the same analysis described above
for TS determination was repeated. Samples were cooled and
the final mass of TDS was obtained by weight difference.
The final solids missing in the mass balance were considered
TSS, determined by subtracting TDS from TS. Each analysis
was repeated twice, and the results were reported as mean
values. Average size of the suspended particles was meas-
ured using a Zetasizer Nano ZS90 (Malvern Instruments)
equipped with a He–Ne laser (633 nm, 5 mW).
A quantitative analysis was carried out by atomic absorp-
tion spectroscopy (AAS) (spectrometer SpectrAA 200, Var-
ian) in order to evaluate the accurate content of metals in
wastewater. The samples were put in 1-L bottles and stored
in the refrigerator at 5 °C. Samples were analyzed without
any dilution, as the concentration of metals was rather low.
pH measurement was taken by means of PS-2 pH meter
which was calibrated with 4.00 and 7.00 pH standard buffer
solutions. The optical density (OD) method at fixed wave-
length of 500 nm (UV–visible spectrophotometer UV-2700,
Shimadzu) was used to measure the turbidity of wastewater.
Coagulation experiment
Coagulation experiments were carried out in a jacketed
stirred reactor tank. Time and speed for mixing were
adjusted with an automatic controller. Different amounts
of reagents were added and mixed at room temperature to
guarantee thorough mixing between effluent and coagulant.
Afterward, the precipitate was separated from the solution
by sedimentation. The coagulation experiments were con-
ducted to determine the effect of different reagent concentra-
tion on separation and treatment efficiency.
The study consisted of three sets of experiments. The
first set was done to study the effect of coagulants. For each
coagulant, the concentration was varied in order to find the
optimum value that provided the best coagulation treatment.
Adsorption experiments
Batch adsorption tests were carried out at constant room
temperature by adding 1 g of activated carbon (AC) to
100 mL of wastewater sample in 250-mL flasks. Flasks
were mechanically shaken in a laboratory shaker (Innova
2000) at 2000 rpm for 2 h in order to achieve the equilib-
rium state; after that, the adsorbent was separated by vac-
uum filtration at 0.45 µm and the filtrate was analyzed. The
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1682 International Journal of Environmental Science and Technology (2019) 16:1677–1690
adsorption efficiency was expressed as a percentage of the
adsorbed compound compared to its initial concentration:
[( )/ ]
E (%) = C0 − C C0 ⋅ 100, (1)
where C0 and C are the initial and residual concentration,
respectively.
The study consisted of two sets of experiments. The first
set was used to study the effect of AC on the wastewater
treatment efficiency. The second set was used to investi-
gate the effect coagulation followed by sorption by AC.
Advanced oxidation process (AOP)
The Fenton’s process was selected as AOP for treatment
of the samples collected from each of the APA scrub-
bers located in different sites. The pH of the solution was
adjusted to 3.3 with concentrated ­H2SO4; thus, different
amounts of ­FeSO4 were added. Finally, the solution was
heated to 35 °C and the required volume of 30%vol. ­H2O2
solution was placed in the flask to achieve the concentra-
tion of 30 g/L. The flask was put under stirring for 1 h;
finally, 35%wt NaOH solution was added until pH 8.8 was
achieved; hence, the sample was left under stirring for 1 h
and 30 min without stirring for sedimentation. Afterward,
COD and TSS were measured. The wastewater was also
characterized in terms of pH, apparent color, turbidity,
total phenols, sulfate, chloride, phosphorous, nitrogen
and metals content before and after the Fenton’s oxida-
tion tests.
Experimental design and data analysis
Central composite design (CCD) contains an imbedded
factorial or fractional factorial design with center points
that is augmented with a group of “star points” (Myers and
Montgomery 2002). In statistics, a full factorial experiment
is an experiment whose design consists of two or more fac-
tors, each with discrete possible values or levels, and whose
experimental units take on all possible combinations of these
levels across all such factors. Such an experiment allows the
investigator to study the effect of each factor on the response
variable, as well as the effects of interactions between factors
on the response variable. Previous coagulation experiments
highlighted that a slight overdosage of coagulants could
impact the efficiency in a negative manner. Therefore, in
order to determine the optimum amount of coagulant, two
EoA = 100 ∗
­22 full factorial designs were chosen in this experimental
campaign, using A ­ l2(SO4)3 and F ­ e2(SO4)3 alternatively as
first factor and shaking time as second factor. Factors and
relevant levels of investigation are given in Table 1. Mathcad
Software was used for data analysis.
13
Table 1  Factors and levels investigated in coagulation tests
Coded factor Factor Level
−1 0 +1
X1 Coagulant dosage, g/L
Al2(SO4)3 0.1 0.2 0.3
Fe2(SO4)3 0.2 0.4 0.6
X2 Mixing time, s 75 120 165
Results and discussion
Fiberglass processing plant
During the first 10 days of experimentation, the APA sys-
tems ran continuously for 24 h. A 5-day continuous air
monitoring was carried out before and after that period
in order to establish the initial and final particulate matter
levels. The test was performed at full scale in the fiber-
glass factory. The results of such tests are shown in Fig. 2,
where the comparison between the particle concentration
(PC) measured at different granulometric ranges, before
(red) and after (blue) the initial remediation action in (a)
Large and (b) Small rooms, respectively, is shown.
Data in Fig. 2, in log scale, were calculated as average
of the measurements in 5 days before (red) and 5 days after
(blue) the remediation action. The average values obtained
in 5 days take into account all types of working activi-
ties, characterized by specific air pollution emissions:
This led to the right quantification of the scrubber action.
Moreover, only data between 8:00 and 19:00 (working
hours) were recorded in order to make the two sets of
data comparable. Finally, the use of an arbitrary unit in
the graphs of Fig. 2 is due to confidentiality issues (non-
disclosure agreement, NDA, signed with the company).
Before the APA action, the particle concentration (PC)
decreases with the size of granulometric range, except for
the [5.00–9.99 μm] size range. This size distribution is
typical of industrial processing plants characterized by
very high level of airborne material. Instead, after the APA
action, the PC is a monotonically decreasing function for
all dimensional ranges monitored. The effect of the wet
scrubber system on the particulate matter concentration
occurs for all the granulometric ranges investigated, in
both the Large and Small room. As reported in Table 2, the
observed efficacy of abatement (EoA), defined as:
⟨PCbefore ⟩ − ⟨PCafter ⟩
, (2)
⟨PCbefore ⟩
is generally higher for particles with the highest diameter
and ranges from 23% (Large room [0.50–0.99 µm]) to 99%
([> 10.00 µm]).
International Journal of Environmental Science and Technology (2019) 16:1677–1690 1683

Fig. 2  Particle size measurements, log scale and arbitrary units, in the Large (a) and Small (b) manufacturing departments of the fiberglass pro-
cessing plant

Table 2  Efficacy of abatement for PM for different size ranges, after Consequently, before the initial remediation action, the PC
the initial continuous 10-day operating period of the system in the Small room is 10–30% higher than the levels moni-
Efficacy of abatement (%) tored in the Large room. Despite these initial differences in
concentration, the PC in the Small area after the intensive
Granu- [0.50– [1.00– [3.00– [5.00– [> 10.00]
lometric 0.99] 2.99] 4.99] 9.99] remediation action is similar to that in the Large room. In
range order to evaluate the long-term air treatment efficacy of the
[µm] technology, the PC level was monitored during the whole
Small 46.3 94.1 82.3 95.8 99.9
period of remediation. The percentage ratios between the
room average concentration ⟨PCx ⟩, measured after x days from
Large 23.4 92.1 83.9 99.5 99.9 the beginning of the experiment, and the initial mean value
room ⟨PCbefore ⟩ are listed in Table 3.
As discussed above, the P ­ Cx measurements are aver-
aged over several days to take into account the day-to-day
The EoA values are similar for Large and Small variability of working phases. It is possible to observe that
room. The only significant difference occurs in the range the PC in the dimensional ranges [> 10 µm], [5–9.99 µm],
[0.50–0.99 µm], where the EoA in Small is about twice [3–4.99 µm] and [1–2.99 µm] is stable below 20% of the
than in the Large room. This is in part due to the differ- pre-remediation value, in both the Large and Small room.
ent rate and type of emissions related to the different pro- For the range [0.5–0.99 μm], PC is stabilized to about 70 and
duction processes that take place in those areas. Moreover, 50% of the pre-remediation concentration in the Large and
the Small area is one-third in volume than the Large area. Small room, respectively.

Table 3  Long-term efficacy of Days

�
⟨PCx ⟩ ⟨PCbefore ⟩ (%)
the air remediation system
Large area Small area
Range [µm] Range [µm]
0.5–0.99 1–2.99 3–4.99 5–9.99 > 10 0.5–0.99 1–2.99 3–4.99 5–9.99 > 10

0 100 100 100 100 100 100 100 100 100 100
10 77 16 8 4 1 54 18 6 4 1
30 70 15 7 3 1 50 16 5 3 1
60 72 15 6 1 1 52 15 4 1 1
180 75 14 7 2 1 53 16 5 2 1
360 73 15 6 1 1 52 15 2 1 1

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1684 International Journal of Environmental Science and Technology (2019) 16:1677–1690

Municipal solid waste incinerator

All the tests were carried out at full scale in the area next
to the furnace of the incinerator. In Fig. 3, the coarse par-
ticulate concentration (PC), i.e., bottom ash, is plotted; PC
was monitored in the furnace area of solid waste incinerator
carried out in a previous experimentation (Avveduto et al.
2015). The raw data are relevant to the periods during which
the wet scrubber was disabled (red points, scrubbers off)
and enabled (green points, scrubbers on) for a total of 30
working days characterized by the full operation of the line
(furnace on). The furnace-off state, occurred after the air
remediation, is also plotted. APA operation clearly affects
the bottom ash concentration.
The results of a second test performed in the experi-
Fig. 4  Comparison between the average PC measured at different size
mental conditions described in “Municipal solid waste channels during the APA disabled (blue bars) and enabled (pink bars)
incinerator” section are reported in Fig. 4. The compari- periods in the furnace area of the urban solid waste incinerator. The
son between the average PC measured at the different size APA-off concentrations are normalized to 100
channels when the scrubber was disabled (blue bars) and
enabled (pink bars) is shown. The data refer to furnace-on
state. The mean concentrations related to APA-off period
(blue bars) are normalized to 100. The average values

Fig. 3  Raw data of coarse particulate performed by OPC in the furnace zone of the urban solid waste incinerator

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International Journal of Environmental Science and Technology (2019) 16:1677–1690 1685

calculated during the working hours of different days take
into account all the possible activities carried out in the
workplace area, making possible the correct quantifica-
tion of the scrubber action. The effect of the air cleaner
system on workplace air quality occurs for all the investi-
gated particle size ranges, with an average decrease in PM
concentration ranging from 25% [0.30–0.49 μm] to 67%
[10.00–25.00 μm]. In particular, bottom ash greater than
2.50 μm was reduced, on average, of about 65%.
Wastewater analysis
The composition of the eight wastewater samples was
determined at the laboratory of Chemical Engineering
of the University of L’Aquila, where all the wastewater
treatments were also carried out. The concentration of the
samples is given in Table 4. As it may be noted, the chem-
ical composition of wastewater varies considerably from
one site to another, depending on the type of industry or
urban location. Each scrubber was kept in operation for
a period of 3 months, except those located in Aprilia and
Padova. The water samples coming from APA scrubber
n.4 (Nera Montoro, Terni) present all kinds of pollutants,
a condition which does not occur for the water samples
coming from other scrubbers. Therefore, although experi-
ments were conducted on all water samples, results are
be given in this paper only in relation to sample n.4, as
these are the most comprehensive and meaningful ones.
Effect of sedimentation/filtration on the wastewater
treatment efficiency
Gravitational force has less influence on smaller particles
than larger ones due to their lower mass. Sedimentation
is used as a natural filtration stage, where particles bigger
than 1 mm (sand, clay, agglomerated particulate matter,
leaf scraps, etc.) settle in short time. Particles in the range
0.1–1 µm are colloidal and thus do not settle. According to
the results of the tests, the suspended particles were present
with different particle sizes: 0.154, 29.571 and 1041.412 µm.
Indeed, particles with size lower than 500 µm are normally
considered stable, and the process of sedimentation occurs
slowly.
The sedimentation experiments were carried out in
a cylinder with 20 cm in height and a diameter of 3 cm,
at temperature of 22 °C ± 3 °C. Samples of 200 mL were
taken from each valve at 0, 30, 60, 120, 180, 240, 300 and
360 min, and an analysis of the TSS was carried out. The
effect of sedimentation was determined in terms of abate-
ment of the most important chemical parameters. The rate
of sedimentation and reduction in organic pollution for the
wastewater samples was rather weak and varied from 10 to
24%. Sedimentation alone in this case did not show high
efficiency in removal of TSS, as well as in phenols, COD
and TDS abatement.
Effect of coagulant on wastewater treatment
efficiency

Coagulation performance of different coagulants was evalu-

ated in terms of residual turbidity and TSS. It was found that

Table 4  The composition of wastewater coming out from APA wet scrubbers
Parameter Sample 1 Sample 2 Sample 3 Sample 4 Sample 5 Sample 6 Sample 7 Sample 8

pH 7.9 8.2 6.21 6.2 7.7 8.5 8.7 6.8

TS, mg/L 580 16,580 3450 1050 2360 480 1120 350
TSS, mg/L 375 60 1800 250 1540 320 580 100
TDS, mg/L 120 16,520 1578 764 478 160 540 250
COD, mg/L 18.8 75 835 401 284 19 61 30
Phenols, mg/L 0.2 0.1 1.76 2.20 2.00 0.1 0.2 1.8
NH4, mg/L 3.7 – 362 93.5 9.52 – – –
NH4–N, mg/L 2.9 – 281 73.6 7.4 – – –
NO3–N, mg/L 3.2 – 142 4.9 2.4 – – 2.4
NO3, mg/L 14.2 – 319 22.1 11.5 – – 10.6
Chlorides, mg/L 1.3 63,300 1.09 1.2 1.9 192 474 8.1
PO4, mg/L – 0.208 – 1.4 – 0.05 0.05 –
PO4–P, mg/L – 0.071 – 0.4 – 0.02 0.01 –
Na, mg/L 24.7 6552 20.6 20.1 22.7 32.7 76.4 205
Anionic surfactants, mg/L 0.7 1.1 6.6 4.6 0.5 0.2 0.3 –
Cationic surfactants, mg/L – 0.07 0.1 0.2 – 0.09 2.1 –

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1686 International Journal of Environmental Science and Technology (2019) 16:1677–1690

both coagulants were effective for TSS removal and pro-

duced an optimum turbidity removal efficiency of 90–92%.
The total COD, chlorides and phenols removal achieved
maximum values of 45–55%; regarding ­PO4–P, the abate-
ment was 87%. The COD removal efficiency had a trend
similar to that of the turbidity, which suggests that at least
50% COD is mainly produced by TSS in the wastewater.
Coagulation experiments highlighted that a slight over-
dosage of coagulants could impair the removal efficiency.
Therefore, in order to achieve the optimum dosage of
coagulant, a central composite design (CCD) was applied
by means of two factors, i.e., the coagulant dosage and the
agitation time. Factors and relevant levels of investigation
are given in Table 1.
Response surface plots for turbidity removal (Fig. 5a,
b) show clear peaks, which identify optimum values of the
factors: agitation 110 s; ­Al2(SO4)3 dosage of 0.19 g/L and
­Fe2(SO4)3 dosage of 0.43 g/L.
It was found that under optimum conditions both coag-
ulants were effective in TSS reduction. The total yield of
COD, TDS and phenols removal reached maximum values
in the range of 50–70%, whereas the reduction was 87% for
­PO4–P (Fig. 6).
As a conclusion, the results of the study showed that
coagulation was an effective technique for the wastewater
samples.

Advanced oxidation process (AOP)

The Fenton’s oxidation experiments were carried out under

different ratios of chemical reagents, i.e., ­[H2O2]:[Fe2+]. The
optimal conditions were found to be [COD]:[H2O2] ratio
equal to 1:9 and [­ H2O2]:[Fe2+] ratio equal to 4.5:1. Firstly,
the pH of the solution was adjusted to 3–3.5 with concen-
trated ­H2SO4. The required amount of F ­ eSO4 was first added
to the mixture. The Fenton reaction starts after the sequential
addition of the required amount of ­H2O2. After the end of the Fig. 5  Response surface plot for turbidity removal with ­Al2(SO4)3 (a)
reaction, that lasted 1 h, the pH was adjusted to 8–10 by 10% and ­Fe2(SO4)3 (b)
Ca(OH)2; hence, Fe(OH)3 precipitated in 1 h without agita-
tion. Final samples after 1 h of sedimentation were taken
for COD measurement. All the experiments were replicated
twice. During the Fenton oxidation process and pH adjust-
ment to 8, a large amount of flocks of various sizes were
observed in the wastewater sample. According to Walling Effect of activated carbon on wastewater treatment
and Kato (1971), the small ferric hydroxy flocs are formed efficiency
by complex chain reactions of ferrous and hydroxide ions.
The simple pH adjustment of the effluent from 8 up to 10 Results of the two sets of experiments with activated
contributed to the removal of around 15% of COD and phe- carbon (AC) are shown in Fig. 7, in terms of TDS, N ­ O 3,
nol, as well as 20% of TOC. Chemical oxidation by means ammonium and phenols reduction. As it can be inferred,
of Fenton’s reagents has proven to be a viable alternative AC used as sorbent was very effective in phenols removal,
to the oxidative destruction of organic pollutants in mixed ­ H4–N and
but did not have high positive effect on TDS, N
waste chemicals, with a COD and TDS removal of 93 and ­NO3–N removal. TDS can be reduced in case of prelimi-
84%, respectively. nary coagulation with subsequent adsorption.

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International Journal of Environmental Science and Technology (2019) 16:1677–1690
Fig. 6  Effect of coagulants on treatment efficiency
Fig. 7  Effectiveness of wastewater treatment with AC
Fig. 8  Effectiveness of wastewater treatment with different methods
Effect of different treatments
Figure 8 and Table 5 show the effectiveness of each of the
four different treatments performed on wastewater during
this research, i.e., sedimentation, coagulation, advanced oxi-
dation and adsorption.
It is evident that no single treatment is effective enough
to ensure an adequate purification, in case one would dis-
charge such water in a surface water body. The last col-
umn lists the concentration limits provided for by the
1687
Italian environmental regulation D.Lgs. 152/2006: It can be
inferred that, if not recycled in the APA scrubber, the water
can be discharged into a water body once treated with the
Fenton process. Instead, all the concentration limits are fully
accomplished in case of discharge in the sewage network.
Consequently, the mobile plant required to recycle the waste-
water coming from the APA scrubbers should be designed
to perform a mix of the treatments mentioned above. From
these experimental results, the best treatment process should
be chosen based on the original wastewater parameters. For
wastewater with low COD values (below limits) and high
phenols concentration, coagulation plus adsorption can be
recommended. Instead, for wastewater with high value of
COD, the Fenton process is the most suitable. The decision
flowchart, which depends on the initial physicochemical
parameters of the wastewater, is shown in Fig. 9.
Wastewater mobile plant
The design of the mobile pilot plant (MPP) for treatment
of water coming from the APA scrubbers, according to the
optimal conditions found during the experimental tests, was
carried out in this paragraph. It was considered that several
APA scrubbers are installed in various strategic areas of the
city (e.g., in bus stations, malls, parking areas, roads) plus
others in different industrial facilities, for a total number
of 100, that could be a reasonable number in a city with
100,000 inhabitants with a small industrial area. Each scrub-
ber has a nominal capacity of 300 L, and every month the
tank is drained and refilled with freshwater; hence, the nomi-
nal capacity of the plant was set at 3 m3/batch for 1 batch/
day. It should be taken into account that each scrubber is
filled with around 200–250 L/unit and that some water is
lost because of evaporation and transportation by the air
flow, although one demister is installed in each device. This
issue is enhanced during the summer, when the higher tem-
perature promotes evaporation. The duration of each batch
is 8 h. In the MPP, several operation units are present: They
can be combined in different sequence, depending on the
source and characteristics of the wastewater. The processes
carried out in the MPP have the aim to reduce the amount
of pollutants, TSS, COD, nitrates, metals and phenols in
order to reuse such water. This is the main aim of the plant,
since the consumption of each APA device is rather high
and the zero-liquid discharge approach should be pursued.
The process includes the following stages: sedimentation
of TSS, pH adjustment by means of an alkaline reagent and
acid, coagulation, addition of iron sulfate and hydrogen per-
oxide for the Fenton process and final addition of lime. Acti-
vated carbon can be required for adsorption of organics and
other recalcitrant pollutants, if contained in the wastewater.
Finally, the suspension is filtered to separate the liquid from
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1688 International Journal of Environmental Science and Technology (2019) 16:1677–1690

Table 5  Wastewater parameters Before treat- After treatment Limit (sur-

before and after treatments ment face water
Fe2(SO4)3 Fe2(SO4)3 + AC Fenton body)

pH 6.2 3.7 7.2 8.0 5.5–9.5

TSS, mg/L 250 20 18 15 80
TDS, mg/L 764 360 180 135 –
COD, mg/L 401 178 142 30 160
Phenols, mg/L 2.2 1.2 0.2 0.3 0.5
NH4–N, mg/L 73.6 73.5 57.6 14.2 15
NO3–N, mg/L 4.9 3.7 2.1 3.4 20
PO4–P, mg/L 0.5 0.05 0 0 10 as P
Chlorides, mg/L 1.2 – – – 1200
Total surfactants, mg/L 4.8 4.4 4.1 0.7 2
Sulfates, mg/L 38 – – – 1000

Fig. 9  Decision flowchart for Clean

selection of the most suitable air
treatment sequence
Water
Wastewater after treatment
Scrubber
Polluted air

Wastewater

COD < 160 mg/L

Sedimentation
TSS < 100 mg/L
Precipitate

Fe2(SO4)3
Filter press
TSS > 100 mg/L
COD < 300 mg/L Filtrate
Coagulation
Phenols < 2 mg/L

Cake
Fe2(SO4)3 Activated carbon
Filter press
TSS > 100 mg/L
COD < 400 mg/L Adsorption Filtrate
Coagulation
Phenols > 2 mg/L
NO3-N, NH3-N < 30 mg/L
FeSO4 Cake
H2(SO4)3 H2O2 Ca(OH)2
Filter press
TSS > 100 mg/L
COD > 400 mg/L Filtrate
pH=3-4 Fenton pH=8
Phenols > 2 mg/L
NO3-N, NH3-N > 30 mg/L
Cake

the sludge that needs to be dehydrated and disposed of. The as it is able to treat several kinds of wastewaters coming
treated water can thus be stored in a big tank from which it is from APA scrubbers installed in urban environment as well
loaded in a small tanker truck for refilling of the APA scrub- as in several production facilities and thus characterized by
bers around the city. This MPP owns a very good flexibility, different pollutants (heavy metals, organics, solids).

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International Journal of Environmental Science and Technology (2019) 16:1677–1690
Details of equipment and operations
The principal peculiarity of the MPP lies in the flexibility
and portability, as it can be transported close to the scrubber
stations, if required. The best solution is to build the plant on
a couple of modular and independent skids, housed in stand-
ard 40-ft containers. This solution was chosen to maximize
the capacity of the plant and solve effectively the problem
of its management. Two skids are necessary to house all
the required equipment. The height of the system is 3 m
with a bottom grid of 5 cm, width of 2.47 m and length of
13 m. These dimensions are adequate for transportation on
wheel or by train. For the development of the layout, many
considerations were made and consequently each device was
designed in order to take advantage of the maximum avail-
able space. Moreover, the skid solution assured adequate
openings for ordinary operations and maintenance of all
the equipment. For these reasons, selection, positioning
and connection of the devices were accurately studied and
planned. The plant is also equipped with a compressor for
pneumatic control devices, electrical and PLC panel.
Equipment and pipe materials were chosen to resist to
corrosion of acids and alkaline reagents used in the process:
Polypropylene was chosen for reactors and tanks, whereas
AISI 304 stainless steel was used for pipelines, pumps and
the other devices. The main equipment are: storage tanks
for reagents (ferric and ferrous sulfate, polyethylene, lime,
hydrogen peroxide, sulfuric acid and sodium hydroxide);
three storage tanks for wastewater, water and process solu-
tions, one reactor for the wastewater treatment; one plate and
frame filter; one compressor; and one scrubber.
Conclusion
In this paper, a new integrated solution is provided for
removal of PM and other pollutants from urban and indus-
trial air, as well as flue gas produced in different manufactur-
ing processes. The innovative APA scrubber works with an
aqueous solution that, once spent, need to be regenerated in
order to save water and make the entire process environmen-
tally friendly. In particular, two APA scrubbers were posi-
tioned in industrial warehouses (fiberglass processing pant
and municipal solid waste incinerator) in order to reduce the
pollution and make air more healthy to workers: The results
showed a reduction in particulate matter of 46.3–99.9% for
PM’s size range from 0.50 to 10.00 µm over the experi-
mentation period. In the second part of the work, the main
goal was to set up an integrated process for treatment of
wastewater coming from eight APA scrubbers placed in dif-
ferent urban and industrial sites. The treatment was based
on several techniques in order to reuse the treated water as
makeup in the scrubbers themselves.
1689
The results obtained in wastewater treatments, i.e.,
sedimentation, coagulation, carbon adsorption and Fenton
process, demonstrated the feasibility of the purification,
although Fenton’s alone is able to remove TSS, TDS, COD
and phenols with yields greater than 85%. Nevertheless,
depending on the wastewater pollution load and type, it is
possible to choose the most appropriate sequence of treat-
ment, according to a specific decision flowchart. The treated
water is thus suitable to be reused in APA’s tanks, closing
the water loop; hence, only a small water makeup is required
in each scrubber. Nevertheless, such water could even be dis-
charged into a surface water body, and this demonstrates the
efficacy of the purification treatment. This approach results
in the maximization of water efficiency.
Based on the experimental results, a mobile wastewa-
ter treatment plant was designed: The project is based on
two 40-ft standard containers where the required devices
are installed; this arrangement provides flexible treatment
sequences that are chosen as a function of the wastewater
physicochemical parameters.
Acknowledgements The authors kindly acknowledge IsTech srl
(Roma) for its precious collaboration in the management of the
activities.
Funding This work was supported by the Italian Ministry for the
Economic Development (MISE), that has financed the project “Smart
Clean Air City L’Aquila,” Grant Number M/0007/03/X23, Decree n.
2622 of March 3, 2015.
Compliance with ethical standards
Conflict of interest The authors declare that they have no conflict of
interest.
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