ComboFilter, an innovative technology that can help ageing pollution control equipment meet stringent environment norms.

Several Industrial units – cement, steel and power plants – had installed Electrostatic Precipitators (ESPs) for emission control. These systems had been designed for earlier emission norms of about 150 mg/Nm3. the revised norms for Pollution Control Boards are at stringent level of about 30 mg/Nm3. In addition industries also have to deal with changes in process inputs, inferior quality coal and increase in capacity which causes higher pollution. Installing a new ESP is costly and in most of the cases unfeasible due to limited space available in the plant. Add to these the costs of long shutdowns and production loss. 

ComboFilter, the new technology from Thermax’s Enviro Division overcomes these problems by retrofitting old ESPs. Some of the ESP fields are converted to fabric filter thus combining the functions of an ESP and a bag filter. 

The existing installation is fully used and no extra space or civil work is needed. And there is no need to modify gas inlet and ducting. Shutdowns are minimized to 45 days and lower and dust emission is reduced to about 10 mg/Nm3. For industries like cement, the product achieves futuristic environment norms and product recovery. 

Thermax recently commissioned its first ComboFilter at sponge iron plant with a 90 TPH AFBC boiler.