SAFETY AND

POLLUTION CONTROL
Lecture 3

Dr. Godfred Ohemeng-Boahen

Department of Chemical Engineering, KNUST
 Cyclones Separators
Schematic flow diagram of a standard cyclone
• Particles move outward due to
centrifugal force (they want to
continue in their original direction
of motion rather than curving).

• Particles then collide with the

outer wall and slide to the bottom
of the device due to gravity force
(inner walls must also periodically
be manually cleaned). NB: Cyclone separators are also known as
Dust separators or dust extractors.
Types: Reverse flow and axial flow
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 Cyclones: Standard cyclone dimensions
Dimensions of a standard
Cyclone Separator

Once D is determined, it can be

Cylindrical section
used to calculate other cyclone or body/barrel
dimensions.

Conical section

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 Standard Cyclone Dimensions

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 Cyclones: Standard cyclone dimensions
General relationship of collection efficiency vs particle size for cyclones.
Factors affecting the efficiency
of a cyclone separator
• Particle density, size,
flowrate, pressure drop, cone
length, body length, ratio of
gas outlet diameter to body
diameter, smoothness of the
internal surfaces.

NB: Efficiency vs size curves represent broad generalizations, not exact relationships.
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 Cyclone Separators

………….. 1

From eqn.1, dp is directly proportional to the gas viscosity (μ) and inlet
duct width (W) and inversely related to the number of effective turns
(N), inlet gas velocity (V) and density difference between the particles
(ρp) and the gas (ρa).

It is worth noting that in eqn. 1, dp is the size of the smallest particle

that will be collected if it starts at the inside edge of the inlet duct.
Thus, in theory, all the particles of size dp or large should be collected
with 100% efficiency.
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 Cyclones: Lapple Design Equation
Equation 1 shows that, in theory, the smallest diameter of particles
collected with 100% efficiency is directly related to gas viscosity and
inlet duct width and inversely related to the number of effective turns,
inlet gas velocity and density difference between the particles and the
gas.

In practice, collection efficiency does, in fact, depend on these

parameters. However, the model has a major flaw: it predicts that all
particles larger than dp will be collected with 100% efficiency which is
correct. The discrepancy is the result of all our approximations.

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Cyclones: Lapple Design Equation cont.d
• Lapple (1951) developed a semi-empirical relationship to calculate a
“50% cut diameter” dpc, which is the diameter of particles collected
with 50% efficiency. The expression is

Where dpc = diameter of particle collected with 50% efficiency.

NB: The similarity between the last two equations. The only difference
is a factor 2 in the denominator.

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 Cyclones: Lapple Design Method
Particle collection efficiency versus particle size ratio for standard conventional
cyclones

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 Cyclones Separators
Advantages Disadvantages
• Low capital cost • Can achieve >98% efficiency
depending on particle size and
• No moving parts – low cyclone design, but higher
maintenance efficiencies produce higher pressure
• Can withstand harsh operating drop and higher operating costs.
conditions (high temperature
and pressures) • High operating costs (due to
pressure drop).
• Can handle large volumes
• Suitable for liquid mist. • Doesn’t readily accommodate
variations in Q (Q must be kept close
to the design Q).
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 Cyclones: Applications
• Larger particle sizes.

• Used as pre-cleaners for baghouses or ESPs, so that these devices can

be sized smaller.

• Used in process industries for recovering and recycling catalysts.

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 Cyclones: Design problem
1. Consider a conventional cyclone of standard proportions as described by
Lapple (1951), with a body diameter of 1.0 meter. For air with a flow rate of
150m3/min at T=350 K and 1atm, containing particles with a density of 1600
kg/m3 and a size distribution as given below, calculate the overall collection
efficiency. Gas viscosity=0.075kg/m-h and gas density=1.01 kg/m3.

2. Design a conventional Lapple cyclone to function as a precleaner of a gas

stream that flows at 120 m3/min. The cyclone must achieve a minimum overall
efficiency of 70% for the following particulate distribution, with maximum
allowable ΔP of 3000 Pa. The particulate density is 1500kg/m3, the gas density
is 1.0kg/m3, and the gas viscosity is 0.07kg/m-hr. Specify your final choice of
body diameter, overall cyclone efficiency, inlet gas velocity, and pressure drop.
(assume K=14)

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 Equations

• Hv = pressure drop, expressed in number of inlet velocity head.

• K = constant that depends on cyclone configuration and operating condition.

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 Solution to Design Problem 1
• Cyclones Size Mass Mass
range, ) percent size (
D = 1m (
From the standard cyclone 0–2 2 1 0.025 0.05
dimensions 2–4 18 3 0.1877 3.3786
(Conventional-Lapple); from 4 – 10 30 7 0.557 16.71
Table 1, 10 – 20 30 15 0.852 25.56
20 – 40 15 30 0.959 14.385
H = 0.5m, w = 0.25,
40 – 100 4 70 0.992 3.968
100 1 100 0.996 0.996

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 Design problem 2 (contd.)
)=6
Computing for from, we get;
= 6.24

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 Volatile Organic Compounds (VOCs)
• Includes pure hydrocarbons and partially oxidized compounds
(organic acids, aldehydes, ketones).

• There are hunderds of individual compounds each with its own

properties and characteristics.

• Combustion processes, various industrial operations and solvent

evaporation are the main sources.

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 VOC: Control Methods
• Incineration
The two methods for incineration are direct thermal oxidation
and catalytic oxidation.

Vapor incinerators (also called thermal oxidizers or afterburners)

can sometimes be used successfully for air polluted with small
particles of combustible solids or liquids.

Incineration can be used for odor control, to destroy a toxic

compound, or to reduce the quantity of photo-chemically reactive
VOCs released to the atmosphere.

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 VOC: Control Methods
Alternatives to incineration are recovery of vapors, which can be
achieve by recompression, condensation, or carbon adsorption or
liquid absorption coupled with either recovery or chemical
oxidation.

The main advantage of incineration is its potential for very high

efficiency.

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• Biofilters

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VOC Incineration: The three “Ts” of Incineration
• The three Ts of Incineration are:
Temperature
Time
Turbulence

• In 1973, Danielson suggested that for good destruction, afterburners

should be designed for temperatures of 1000 – 1500 OF, for residence
times of 0.3 – 0.5 sec, and for flow velocities of 20 – 40 ft/sec (to promote
turbulent mixing).

• Recently, these general guidelines have been modified to include higher

temperatures (1200 – 2000 OF) and longer residence times (0.2 – 20 sec) in
order to promote complete destruction of the VOCs.
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VOC Incineration: The three “Ts” of Incineration
• Mathematically, the three “Ts” are related to three characteristics time – a
chemical time, a residence time and a mixing time as follows:
tC=1/k Chemical time
tr=V/Q=L/u Residence time
tm=L2/De Mixing time
where,
V: Volume of the reaction zone, m3
Q: Flow rate (at T in the afterburner) , m3/s
L: Length of the reaction zone, m
u: gas velocity, m/s
De: effective (turbulent) diffusion coef. m2/s
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VOC Incineration: The three “Ts” of Incineration
• Peclet number:
Pe= Mixing time/residence time
• Damkohler number:
Da=Residence time/chemical time

If Pe is large and Da is smallmixing is the rate controlling process in

the afterburner.

If Pe is small and Da is largechemical kinetics is the rate controlling

process.

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VOC Incineration: Predicting VOC Kinetics
• Though kinetics is important to the proper design of an afterburner,
kinetics data are scarce and are difficult and costly to obtain by pilot
studies.

• Due to lack of detailed data, past methods for determining the design
or operating temperature of an incinerator were very rough.

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 Predicting VOC Kinetics: 1. Ross`s Approach
• Ross(1977) summarized the Substance Autoignition Substance Autoignition
Temperature, temperature,
older method by suggesting that O
F O
F
the design temperature be set Acetone 1000 Acrolein 453
several hundred degree
Fahrenheit above the VOC Ethanol 799 Hydrogen 500
autoignition temperature. sulfide
Cyclohexane 514 Styrene 915
• Autoignition temperature: the
temperature at which Phenol 1319 Toluene 1026
combustible mixtures of the
VOC in the air will ignite without
external source of ignition.
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Predicting VOC Kinetics: 2. Lee et al. Approach
• A purely statistical model to predict the Ts required to give various
levels of destruction in an isothermal plug flow afterburner based on
their experimental studies.
• T99.9= 594-12.2W1+117W2+71.6W3+80.2W4+0.592W5-20.2W6-
420.3W7+87.1W8-66.8W9+62.8W10-75.3W11
• T99= 577-10W1+110.2W2+67.1W3+72.6W4+0.586W5-23.4W6-
430.9W7+85.2W8-82.2W9+65.5W10-76.1W11
• T99.9= T for 99.9% destruction efficiency, F
• W1=number of carbon atoms
• W2= aromatic carbon flag (0=no,1=yes)
•02/18/2024
W3= C C double bond flagSafety
(0=no,1=yes)
& Pollution Control_ CHE 459 25
Predicting VOC Kinetics: 2. Lee et al. Approach
• W4= number of N atoms
• W5= autoignition Temperature, F
• W6= number of O atoms
• W7= number of S atoms
• W8= hydroge/carbon ratio
• W9= allyl (2-propenyl) compound flag (0=no,1=yes)
• W10= carbon-double-bond-chlorine interaction (0=no,1=yes)
• W11= natural log of residence time

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 Predicting VOC Kinetic: 3. Cooper et al.
Approach
• Cooper et al. combined collision theory with empirical data and proposed
a method to predict an effective first order rate constant k for hydrocarbon
incineration over the range from 940 to 1140 K.

• The method depends on MW and the type of the hydrocarbon. Once k is

found, Tdesign can be obtained.

• Recall that the rate constant k can be written as:

• Where,
E = activation energy, cal/mol, A = pre-exponential factor , , R = ideal gas law
constant, 1.987 cal/mol.K, T = absolute temperature, K
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Predicting VOC Kinetics: 3. Cooper et al. approach
• The pre-exponential factor can be given by:

• Where:
Z = collision rate factor
S = steric factor
= mole fraction of oxygen in the afterburner
P = absolute pressure, atm
R = gas constant, 0.08205 L.atm/mol.K
• The steric factor, s accounts for the fact that some collisions are not effective
in producing reactions due to molecular geometry and can be calculated by

Where MW = molecular weight of hydrocarbon.

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 Predicting VOC Kinetics: 3. Cooper et al.
Approach
• The activation energy is correlated molecular weight as:
E = -0.00966 (MW) + 46.1

• Once A and E have been estimated, k can be calculated for any

desired temperature.

In an isothermal pluf flow reactor (PFR) the HC destruction efficiency,

the rate constant and the residence time are related as:

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𝜂 =1− ¿ ¿ Safety & Pollution Control_ CHE 459 29
 Predicting VOC Kinetics: 3. Cooper et al.
Approach
• Collision rate for various hydrocarbons

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 Predicting VOC Kinetics: 3. Cooper et al.
Approach
• Problem
Estimate the temperature required in an isothermal plug flow
incinerator with a residence time of 0.5 sec to give 99.5% destruction of
toluene by using the 3 methods given.
• Solution
Method 1: Autoignition T + 300 F=1026+300 = 1326 F
Method 2: Lee et al.
T99.9= 594-12.2(7)+117+0+0+0.592(1026)-0-0+87.1(11.4)-0+0-
75.3ln(0.5) =

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 Predicting VOC Kinetics: 3. Cooper et al.
Approach
• T99= 577-107+110.2+0+0+0.586(1026)-0-0+85.2(1.14)-0 + 0-
76.1ln(0.5) =

• T99.5 can be calculated by taking a linear average:

T99.5=(T99.9+T99)/2=1378 OF

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 Predicting VOC Kinetics: 3. Cooper et al.
Approach
• Method 3: Cooper et al.
First calculate required k
−𝑘𝜏 𝑟
E = -0.00966(MW) + 46.1
S = 16/MW = 16/92 = 0.174
Z=
𝜂=1−𝑒
Then calculate A
Z ' SyO2 P 2.85(10)11 (0.174)(0.15)(1) 10 1
A   9.07(10) s
R' 0.08205

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 Predicting VOC Kinetics: 3. Cooper et al.
Approach
Now find T

− 𝐸 / 𝑅𝑇
𝑘= 𝐴 𝑒
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 Thermal Oxidizers: Design Consideration
for Thermal oxidizers
• The process of a VOC thermal oxidizer involves selection of
Operation temperature
Residence time
Sizing the device to achieve those with the proper flow velocity
• Factors
Oxygen content
Type of operation (continuous or intermittent)
Concentration of VOCs

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 Thermal Oxidizers: Design Consideration
for Thermal oxidizers
• Material and energy balances are performed on the device to
calculate the flow rate of fuel gas required to raise the air T at a given
flow rate to the required T.

There are two(2) approaches for the material and energy balances.
These include:
• The traditional approach: assume an isothermal plug flow reactor
• The use of computer program to handle the calculations and allows
for non-isothermal operations.

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Thermal Oxidizers: Traditional Approach
Polluted air
Burner
(PA)
air (BA)

Fuel Exhaust
Gas (G) gas (E)
Burner
Reaction
Flame chamber
mixing
chamber

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 Thermal Oxidizers: Traditional Approach
Material and energy balance:
• Material balance:

. . . .
0  M G  M PA  M BA  M E Net heat of
combustion
Lower heating
• Energy balance: value kj/kg

. . . . .
0  M PA h PA  M G hG  M BA h BA  M E hE  M G (H c ) G
. h: Specific enthalpy kj/kg
  M VOC i (H c )VOC i X i  qL
Xi:Fractional conversion of VOCi

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 Thermal Oxidizers: Traditional Approach
• If we assume that enthalpy functions of all streams similar to those
for pure air and consider all heat losses (qL)as a simple fraction of the
heat input (fL):

. . . . .
0  M PA hTPA  M G hTG  M BA hTBA  M E hTE  M G (H c ) G (1  f L )
.
  M VOC i (H c )VOC i X i (1  f L )

. . .
. M PA (hTE  hTPA )  M BA (hTE  hTBA )   M VOC i (H c )VOC i X i (1  f L )
MG 
(H c ) G (1  f L )  (hTE  hTG )
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 Thermal Oxidizers: Traditional Approach
• Problem

Calculate the mass flow rate of CH4 required for an afterburner to treat 2645 acfm
of polluted air. It is estimated that the burner will bring in 200 acfm of ouside air.
The fuel gas enters at 80 F and the burner air enters at 80 F. The lower heating
value (LHV) of CH4 is 21560 Btu/lb. Assume 10% overall heat loss and ignore any
heat gained by the oxidation of the pollutants. [Densities of the inlet PA and BA are
0.060 and 0.074 lb/ft3; hTE= 328 hTBA= 4.8 hTBA= 33.6 hTG= 4.8]
[NB: Assume the amount of VOCs in the polluted air to be zero]

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Thermal Oxidizers: Traditional Approach
• Solution
MPA = 2465 acfm (0.060 lb/acf)=148 lb/min
MBA = 200 scfm (0.074 lb/acf)=14.8 lb/min

. . .
. M PA (hTE  hTPA )  M BA (hTE  hTBA )   M VOC i (H c )VOC i X i (1  f L )
MG 
(H c ) G (1  f L )  (hTE  hTG )

MG = 2.53 lb/min

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Thermal Oxidizers: Sizing the device
• Length of the reaction chamber (L) is given by
L=utr
• The volumetric flow rate (Q) from the ideal gas law:
.
𝑀𝐸 𝑅𝑇 𝐸
𝑄𝐸=
𝑃 ¿¿

• The diameter of the chamber (D)

√
.
4 𝑄𝐸
𝐷=
𝜋𝑢
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Thermal Oxidizers: Sizing the device
• Problem
Specify the length and the diameter of the afterburner of Example 11.2 given that the
design velocity in the main chamber is 15 ft/sec and the desired residence time is 1 sec.

• Solution
Length of the reaction chamber, L = utr=15(1.0) = 15 ft
ME=148+14.8+2.5=165 lb/min
The volumetric flow rate, Q from the ideal gas law:

.
M E RTE (165)(0.73)(1810)
QE    7790 ft 3 / min
P ( MW ) E 1.0(28)

√
The diameter of the chamber, D
√
. .
4 𝑄𝐸 4 / 7790 ¿
𝐷= = ¿=40 𝑖𝑛
𝜋 𝑢 𝜋 (15) (60)
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