Comparative Review of Industrial Air Pollution Control Technologies for Particulate Matter Removal

Industrial air pollution, particularly particulate matter (PM), poses a serious threat to human health,environmental quality, and industrial sustainability. Particulate matter such as PM₁₀ and PM₂.₅ is generated by avariety of industrial activities such as power generation, cement production, metallurgical operations, mining,and chemical processing. Long-term exposure to particulate matter emissions is associated with an increasedrisk of respiratory disease, cardiovascular disease, reduced visibility, and environmental degradation. To controlthese emissions, the industry uses a variety of particle control techniques based on physical and electrostaticprinciples. This review paper provides a comparative analysis of the main industrial air pollution controltechnologies used for particle removal, including electrostatic precipitators (ESPs), fabric filters (bag filters),cyclone separators, mechanical precipitators, gravity decanters, and inertial separators. The workingmechanism, collection efficiency, advantages, limitations, and industrial applications of each technique arecritically reviewed. The comparison shows that high-efficiency devices, such as ESP and cloth filters, aresuitable for removing small particles, while low-cost devices, such as cyclones and settling tanks, are mainlyeffective for removing large particles and act as pre-treatment devices. This study highlights that the selectionof the appropriate control technology depends on particle size distribution, gas flow rate, temperature, operatingcosts, and regulatory standards. Achieving effective control of industrial air pollution often requires theintegration and optimized combination of particle control devices.