The most effective method to control air pollution is to prevent the formation of pollutants or to reduce their emission at the source itself.
(i) Source correction methods: In case of industrial pollutants, the designing and development of plants may be so selected so as to have minimum emission of air pollutants.
Examples:
(a) By suitable design modification of the tanks, evaporation from petroleum refineries can be minimized.
(b) Use of correct grade of raw material like low-sulphur oil and coal is recommended.
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(ii) Cleaning of gaseous effluents’. These techniques control pollution by the removal of pollutants from the exhaust. These methods are used in combination with source correction methods.
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(a) For gaseous pollutants:
The gaseous pollutants are removed by absorption in a liquid, or adsorption on a solid. Catalytic converters are also used as they convert gaseous air pollutants into harmless gases.
(b) For particulates:
Following techniques are generally used for control of particulate emissions:
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I. Gravitational settling chambers,
II. Cyclone separators,
III. Fabric Filters,
IV. Electrostatic precipitators,
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V. Wet scrubber etc.