Method and apparatus for air pollution control

An industrial system for generating heat and reducing an amount of particulate pollutants emitted from the industrial system, the industrial system including:

• a combustion source to burn the fuel and generate heat;
• a course filter that receives an exhaust gas from the combustion source and removes at least a portion of the particulate pollutants having a relatively-large particle size from the exhaust gas;
• an agglomerator that agglomerates particulate pollutants having a relatively-small particle size remaining in the exhaust gas emitted from the course filter into particulate clusters;
• an injector that introduces an agglomerating material into the exhaust gas before the exhaust gas enters the agglomerator, wherein the agglomerating material promotes agglomeration of the particulate pollutants having the relatively-small particle size into the particulate clusters;
• and
• a second filter that receives the exhaust gas subsequent to the agglomeration of the particulate pollutants and removes at least a portion of the particulate clusters entrained within the exhaust gas.

A method of reducing particulate matter from a gas stream, the method including:

• removing a portion of particulate matter having a relatively-large particle size from the gas stream;
• agglomerating particulate matter having a relatively-small particle size remaining in the gas stream into particulate clusters after the portion of the particulate matter having the relatively-large particle size has been removed;
• introducing an agglomerating material into the gas stream before the gas stream is received by an agglomerator that emits the gas stream including the particulate clusters, wherein the agglomerating material promotes agglomeration of the particulate matter having the relatively-small particle size into the particulate clusters;
• and
• filtering at least a portion of the particulate clusters from the gas stream exiting the agglomerator.