Industrial air purification: what are the main pollutants

Industrial air purification is pivotal to reduce what can be considered as the main industrial pollutants.

Which are the most harmful to human health and the environment? 

The main pollutants can be divided into three macro categories:

• Dry fumes and dusts, originating from industrial processes, in particular those involving metal processing, where solid materials are handled and then subjected to cutting, milling and other processes that change the appearance of the starting material.
• Oil smokes, developed during production processes that involve the use of oils which, grouping together, give rise to greasy and polluting vapors.
• Volatile Organic Compounds (VOC), they identify compounds whose molecules contain different functional groups and, as a whole, they assume different physical and chemical behaviours but united by a high volatility. These can in turn be divided into three categories in relation to their origin:
  • Anthropogenic compounds originating from human activities, deriving for example from oil and combustion, whose main exponents are benzene, toluene, methane, carbon tetrachloride, ethane.
  • Biogenic compounds of natural origin, such as the terpenes contained in essential vegetable oils
  • Anthropogenic and biogenic compounds such as isoprene.
    
    

What do fumes, dusts, oil mists and VOCs cause?

All pollutants have negative repercussions both on human health, on the environment and on the systems production present within the company.

In fact, the presence of dust, oil mists and VOCs can cause disturbances of different entities on the individual: from burning eyes to respiratory problems, from allergic reactions to severe migraines, but also, in the worst cases, to the development of very serious cancerous forms. However, the damage caused by pollutants does not end there; in fact, their presence could damage production plants prematurely, causing more frequent breakages and failures, as well as premature wear.

Furthermore, it is good to take into account that the presence of these pollutants, as well as their abatement, is regulated by specific rules which, if not correctly followed, could lead to financial penalties and, in the most serious cases, reports. Here are the reasons why it is necessary to design, build and install plants for industrial air purification designed specifically to treat specific pollutants.