Performance Evaluation of a Wet Scrubber System for Air Pollutant Removal and Human Health Risk Reduction: A Case Study

Today, the increasing emission of industrial air pollutants is recognized as one of the most significant threats to human health and environmental quality. The release of particulate matter, acidic gases, volatile organic compounds (VOCs), and heavy metals has been associated with a higher incidence of respiratory diseases, cardiovascular disorders, and various types of cancer. Therefore, selecting appropriate air pollution control technologies plays a critical role in mitigating environmental impacts and protecting public health. In this study, the most widely used air pollution control technologies, including wet scrubbers, dry scrubbers, bag filters, cyclones, and electrostatic precipitators, were comparatively evaluated in terms of pollutant removal efficiency, energy consumption, operating costs, capability to remove different classes of pollutants, and environmental impacts. Furthermore, based on the technical documentation analyzed in this research, the performance of the wet scrubber system was assessed with respect to design characteristics, wastewater management, operational requirements, compliance with environmental standards, and optimization potential through Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) simulation. The results indicate that, despite requiring appropriate wastewater management, wet scrubbers provide excellent removal efficiencies for acidic gases and fine particulate matter and are therefore considered among the most effective air pollution control technologies across a wide range of industrial applications. In addition, numerical simulation and optimization of operating parameters can further improve pollutant removal efficiency while reducing energy consumption.