Abstract
This study reports the emissions of condensable particulate matter (CPM) and filterable particulate matter (FPM) in two coal-fired power plants with different air pollution control devices (APCDs). The mechanisms of CPM removed by existing APCDs in coal-fired power plants were explored, and a series of analyses were also carried out on the composition and characteristics of CPM. The results show that the removal efficiencies to CPM by electrostatic-bag-precipitator (EBP) and ESP are 77.34% and 79.23%, respectively, so the difference is not obvious because the interception filtration mechanisms of baghouses for CPM have less effect on CPM compared to FPM. The mechanism of EBP/ESP to remove CPM is mainly electrostatic adsorption and FPM’s adsorption. The concentration of CPM decreases when passing through WFGD. However, the WESP can increase the CPM in different ways. For example, the pollution of the circulation of the flushing fluid may cause the increase of CPM. In addition, CPM mainly includes three parts. The first part is organic fractions such as alkanes and esters; the second is the water-soluble ions that include SO42−, NH4+, and Cl−; and the third is Na, Ca, and other minerals. The research in this study is helpful to understand the impact of existing APCDs in coal-fired power plants on CPM and the sources of CPM.
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Acknowledgements
The authors appreciate the testing support given by the Analytical and Testing Centre at the Huazhong University of Science and Technology.
Funding
This work was supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (51922045 and 52036003).
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Yunfei Zhai: Conceptualization, Investigation, Formal analysis, Writing — original draft, Writing — review and editing.
Xiaowei Liu: Conceptualization, Writing — review and editing, Supervision, Project administration, Funding acquisition.
Jingkun Han, Yue Zou, Yubo Huang, Huakun Wang, Lei Liu: Investigation.
Minghou Xu: Conceptualization, Supervision.
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Zhai, Y., Liu, X., Han, J. et al. Study on the removal characteristics of different air pollution control devices for condensable particulate matter in coal-fired power plants. Environ Sci Pollut Res 29, 34714–34724 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11356-021-17952-y
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11356-021-17952-y