Air pollution control apparatus and process

Claim 1

Apparatus for removing airborne particulate material and organic vapors from a polluted air stream comprising: (a) a housing having an inlet plenum for introduction of a polluted air stream thereinto, (b) a burner located within said housing, (c) a collector which rotates at a speed in the range of 0.1 to 10 cm/sec located within said housing, said collector comprising an assembly of layers of refractory microfiber mats, metal screens, and vapor adsorbents, one of said refractory microfiber mats being on the exposed surface of said collector adjacent to said burner and being capable of withstanding temperatures of at least 600° C. produced by a burner, the microfibers having diameters in the range of 0.1 to 40 μm and said microfiber mats having a thickness in the range of 2.5 to 25 mm and a bulk density in the range of 4 to 40 mg/cc, and one of said vapor adsorbent layers which is capable of withstanding temperatures up to 450° C. being on the inner surface of said collector, and by its position said collector being (1) a filtering and adsorption station for particulate matter and organic vapors when said collector is located across said inlet plenum, and (2) a combustion and desorption station when said collector is located adjacent said burner and in the presence of heat from said burner for combustion of particulte matter and desorption of organic vapors, (c) an oxidizing means for converting the desorbed vapor into oxidized pollutant-free products, (d) connecting means for providing passage for exhaustion of the resultant pollutant-free air stream from the filtering and absorption station to an outlet plenum, (e) connecting means for providing passage for the resultant combustion products and desorbed vapors from the combustion and desorbing station to said oxidizing means, (f) connecting means for providing passage for said combustion and oxidized products to the atmosphere or, optionally, back to the inlet plenum, and (g) means for moving the rotatable collector continuously from the filtering and adsorption station to the combustion and desorption station.