Boiler Operation Pollution Causes & Prevention

The 2 types of industrial pollutions are as under,

1. Air Pollution
2. Water Pollution

1. Air Pollution

The main emissions from coal-based power plants that contribute to air pollution include sulphates, nitrates, mercury, and secondary particulate matter (which is largely formed by SOX emissions). Coal, fly ash, and secondary particles from thermal power plants and industries in Delhi contribute 35% of PM2.5 in the winter and 41% of PM2.5 in the summer. Since Delhi has 13 thermal power plants with a capacity of over 11,000 MW within a 300-km radius, these emissions are often blown into the NCR by the north-westerly winds. Beyond Delhi, in the Indo-Gangetic belt, satellite imagery shows a direct increase in particulate matter around Delhi, which can be correlated with the presence and growth of coal-based power plants in the region. More than half of the current operational power plants are in 5 states: Maharashtra, Uttar Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Madhya Pradesh, and Gujarat. In addition, the Ministry of Power says that there are 47,800 MW of power plants under construction. About 40% of the existing power plants are privately owned.

Prevention

Ash Handling System: In thermal power plants, an ash handling system is used to collect and dispose off discharged ash, once it has been cooled down to a manageable temperature, which is then used in various industries like construction, cement plants, and other allied industries.

Controlling source of pollution

• Pollution prevention approaches to reduce, eliminate, or prevent pollution at its source, should be considered. Examples are to use less toxic raw materials or fuels, use a less-polluting industrial process, and to improve the efficiency of the process.
• The Clean Air Technology Center serves as a resource on air pollution prevention and control technologies, including their use, effectiveness and cost. Examples are mechanical collectors, wet scrubbers, fabric filters (bag-houses), electrostatic precipitators, combustion systems (thermal oxidizers), condensers, absorbers, adsorbers, and biological degradation.
• Controlling emissions related to transportation can include emission controls on vehicles as well as use of cleaner fuels such as green fuel(biomass).

2. Water Pollution

Water with dissolved and suspended substances discharged from various industrial processes, such as the water released during manufacturing, cleaning and other commercial activities, is termed industrial wastewater. The nature of the contaminants present in industrial wastewater depends on the type of the factory and the industry. Examples of industries that produce wastewater are the mining industry, steel/iron production plants, industrial laundries, power plants, oil and gas fracking plants, metal finishers and the food/beverage industry. The various contaminants commonly found in industrial water outlets are chemicals, heavy metals, oils, pesticides, silt, pharmaceuticals and other industrial by-products.

          In general, it is difficult to treat industrial wastewater, as individual examination of the set-ups and specific treatment plants are required on an industry-based level. Therefore, to deal with this, on-site filter presses are installed to treat the effluent wastewater.

Industrial sectors and their major water pollutants:

Various types of technologies and strategies are being developed and employed for contamination removal from wastewater released from several industries. Some of the strategies developed and used by some major wastewater producing industries for treatment of effluents are mentioned below:

• Treatment of Wastewater Containing Heavy Metals
• Treatment of Wastewater Containing Phenolic Compounds
• Treatment of Wastewater Released from the Paper and Pulp Industry
• Treatment of Wastewater Released from the Textile Industry
• Treatment of Hyper-saline Effluents

For overall socio-economic growth and welfare, research is encouraged into the development of such techniques that can reduce the use of freshwater by industrial sectors as well in the development of efficient and effective water treatment methods. New developments and continuous monitoring of the execution strategies of various programmes and interventions related to industrial wastewater treatment are absolutely necessary for the amelioration of any toxic effects.