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The effect of air pollution control devices in coal-fired power plants on the removal of condensable and filterable particulate matter

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Abstract

Total particulate matter (TPM), including condensable and filterable particulate matter (CPM and FPM), is one of the pollutants that need to be controlled in the coal combustion process. In this study, CPM and FPM were sampled from sixteen coal-fired power units and two coal-fired industrial units. The removal effects of air pollution control devices equipped in the units on the migration and emission of particles were investigated by analyzing samples from inlets and outlets of apparatus. The average removal efficiency of TPM by dry-type dust removal equipment, wet flue gas desulfurization devices, and wet-type precipitators reached 98.57 ± 0.90%, 44.89 ± 15.01%, and 28.45 ± 7.78%, respectively. The removal efficiency of dry-type dust removal equipment and wet-type precipitators to TPM is mainly determined by the purification effect of FPM and CPM, respectively, and both types of particles contribute to the removal efficiency of desulfurization systems to total TPM. The concentrations of CPM (12.01 ± 5.64 mg/Nm3) and FPM (1.95 ± 0.86 mg/Nm3) emitted from ultra-low emission units were the lowest, and CPM is the dominant particle, especially the higher proportion of organic components in CPM.

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Data availability

The datasets used and/or analyzed during the current study are available from the corresponding author on reasonable request.

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Funding

The research was supported by the National Key Research and Development program of China (2018YFB0605200).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. State Key Laboratory of Clean Energy Utilization, Institute for Thermal Power Engineering, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou, 310027, China

    Yujia Wu, Zhenyao Xu, Siqi Liu, Minghui Tang & Shengyong Lu

Authors
  1. Yujia Wu
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  2. Zhenyao Xu
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  3. Siqi Liu
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  4. Minghui Tang
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  5. Shengyong Lu
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Contributions

Yujia Wu: conceptualization, formal analysis, data curation, and writing—original draft preparation. Zhenyao Xu: software. Siqi Liu: investigation. Minghui Tang: methodology. Shengyong Lu: supervision.

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Correspondence to Shengyong Lu.

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Wu, Y., Xu, Z., Liu, S. et al. The effect of air pollution control devices in coal-fired power plants on the removal of condensable and filterable particulate matter. Environ Sci Pollut Res 30, 70277–70287 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11356-023-27246-0

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11356-023-27246-0

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