Question

Which one of the following is the most efficient device to eliminate particulate matter from industrial emissions?
(A) Cyclonic separators
(B) Trajectory separators
(C) Pyrolysis
(D) Incineration
(E) Electrostatic precipitator

Answer 1

Hint: Particulate matter is more harmful to health as compared to any other gaseous pollutants. They are small sized so thus cannot be removed by all the devices, only certain specific devices can be used to remove small particulate matter, one such device is an electrostatic precipitator, which uses an electric field in order to remove the particles. It removes 99% of the impurities.
Step by step solution:
As a result of the presence of compounds in the atmosphere that are hazardous to human health and the health of other living things, or that impair the climate or materials, air pollution is the contamination of the air. Air contaminants come in a variety of forms, including gases, particles, and biological substances.
In industrial settings such as power generation, gas turbines, chemical processes, and others, the cyclone separator has long been used to separate solid particles from contaminated gas streams. The centrifugal force of a cyclone causes particles to be pushed to the outer borders of the separator due to their bulk. Arriving air is naturally compelled to adopt a quickly rotating spiral motion, or "double vortex."
One method for converting biomass into an intermediate liquid product that can be further processed into drop-in hydrocarbon biofuels, oxygenated fuel additives, and petrochemical substitutes is pyrolysis. Pyrolysis is the heating of an organic substance—like biomass—without oxygen. Any organic (carbon-based) product can be subjected to pyrolysis, a thermochemical process. It can be applied to both pure items and mixes. In this process, the material is heated to a high temperature while also undergoing chemical and physical separation into various molecules in the absence of oxygen.
Incineration is the process of burning garbage at a high temperature (rapid oxidation). It is a process that eliminates organic components in waste materials and is also referred to as controlled-flame combustion or calcination. For this burning process, new ways that produce energy are being explored.
A filtration tool used to remove tiny particles from flowing gas, such as smoke and small dust, is known as an electrostatic precipitator (ESP). It is the most often utilised tool for reducing air pollution. They are employed in sectors such as thermal energy plants and steel mills.
Therefore, option (E) is correct.
Note: Cyclonic separators are also used to remove air pollutants (it is also a major device used to overcome air pollution) but this device can only remove large particles and not particulate matter (these are way more harmful than any other pollutant). But, an electrostatic precipitator can remove small particulate matter as well.