Abstract

In Pakistan, awareness regarding harmful effects of air pollution is minimal. There is absolutely no control on air emissions by industrialists and factory owners. Industrial activity is one of the major causes of the ambient air quality’s deterioration in the country. It has not been possible to assess the magnitude of industrial air pollution, as there is limited data available. Pakistan has responded to its environmental problems by passing laws and establishing environmental protection institutions. But in spite of all these measures, many aspects of environmental degradation have remained uncontrolled and under regulated. In addition to NOx and SOx, which are the major air pollutants, H₂S Gas, with a characteristic rotten egg smell and having an extremely low odour threshold (0.0004 ppm) and high toxicity, is also of a great environmental concern. 300 pm concentrations of H₂S in the air can result in death after long term exposures, while concentrations up to 2000 ppm for only a few minutes may be fatal for humans. Out of the 10,652 producible oil wells in Michigan, USA, 1,360 wells had H₂S levels exceeding 300 ppm. Keeping in view the poor response of the industrialists in Pakistan towards environmental laws and regulations, this study focuses on developing a technique for in-situ treatment of H₂S Gas at high temperatures by using TiO₂ nanoparticles, so that simultaneous destruction of this gas could be investigated for brick kilns, power generation and gasification processes which are carried out at high temperatures. Initial experimental results in the lab have shown a decrease of 99% in the gas concentrations. This technique is likely to help in the in-situ treatment of H₂S gas, resulting in considerable abatement of air pollution in Pakistan without installing any new device or changing the existing practices of exhaust gases by the industrialists.