Reduction of NOx Emission from the Cement Industry in South Korea: A Review

As climates change around the world, concern regarding environmental pollutants emitted into the atmosphere is increasing. The cement industry consistently produces more than 4000 million metric tons of cement per year. However, the problem of air pollutants being emitted from the calcination process is becoming more critical because their amount increases proportionally with cement production. Each country has established regulatory standards for pollutant emission. Accordingly, the cement industry is equipped with facilities to reduce air pollutants, one of which is the NOx removal process. NOx reduction processes under combustion conditions are modified to minimize NOx generation, and the generated NOx is removed through post-treatment. In terms of NOx removal efficiency, the post-treatment process effectively changes the combustion conditions during calcination. Selective non-catalytic reduction (SNCR) and selective catalytic reduction (SCR) processes are post-treatment environmental facilities for NOx reduction. Accordingly, considering the stringent NOx emission standards in the cement industry, SNCR is essential, and SCR is selectively applied. Therefore, this paper introduces nitrogen oxide among air pollutants emitted from the South Korean cement industry and summarizes the technologies adapted to mitigate the emission of NOx by cement companies in South Korea.

Production and Evaluation of Porous Photocatalyst Concrete Filter (deNOx PCF) for NOx Reduction

A porous photocatalyst concrete filter (deNOx PCF) is successfully manufactured to reduce NOx by mixing TiO2 photocatalyst with lightweight aerated concrete. From the results, 4% infusion rate of each foaming agent provided the smallest change of the height, and the optimal quality of the air bubbles can be produced by using foaming agent B with 4% of infusion rate. When 3% of TiO2 photocatalyst was mixed, less irregular and relatively homogeneous pores were formed on the surface with white color due to the proper amount of photocatalyst applied. For 3% of photocatalyst mixed with deNOx PCF, 1.03 μmol/hr of NO was reduced equivalent to 10.99% of NO reduction, suggesting that the TiO2 photocatalyst dispersed in the continuous and well-developed pores inside the specimen successfully performed the removal of NO flowing through deNOx PCF using synergistic effects of adsorption and photodegradation reaction. Finally, the specimen of porous deNOx PCF for reducing NOx developed in this study can be applied to various construction sites and the air quality can be solved by reducing NOx contributing to the formation of fine particles.