Air pollution control in ferroalloy manufacturing industries: an Indian regulatory assessment

Ferroalloy manufacturing involves many unit operations and unit processes. Commencing from the material handling to manufacturing and product collection, a ferroalloy plant emits a wide range of air pollutants. The selection of appropriate air emission control technology is, therefore, very important in such a situation. In this article, few case studies from Indian operating plants are analyzed from the standpoint of installed air pollution control devices. Analyses revealed design flaws in many of these air pollution control devices leading to their collapse with the deterioration of the ambient air quality. As regulatory measures, recommendations are made specifying the air pollution control devices to curb air emission from various stages of the ferroalloy making operations for meeting the air emission standards. Prior to putting forward recommendations in this article, described are the different aspects of the ferroalloy manufacturing with the emphasis of source of emission for both particulate matter as well as gaseous pollutants.