How many tons of volcanic ash do scrubbers remove each year?

Question

this is for my science homwork.it is not in the book at all.

Answer 1

Scrubbers are systems built into industrial factories and power plants to remove harmful chemicals and particulates from the smoke and gas emissions coming from their processes so they don't pollute the atmosphere. One of the components often removed from coal-fired power plant emissions is "fly ash". Perhaps that is what the question is referring to? Even if that is the case, the amount removed would depend on the design of the scrubber and the output of the plant so it is a bit difficult to understand how this question could be answered.

You might find an answer on an EPA or a GASP website as to how much "fly ash" scrubbers are estimated to remove form power plants in the US in a year. I found the following statistics on an EPA greenhouse gases site on the web (when the scrubber removes the fly ash, it is stored in sludge ponds or buried in landfills):

"Each year in the United States, about 22 million tons of fly ash and similar FGD byproducts from power plants are stored in ash ponds and landfills."

It would be technically impossible to "scrub" the atmospheric ash from something as massive as a volcanic eruption.

Answer 2

My guess is that it is a trick question. Is volcanic ash even mentioned in the chapter, or scrubbers?

What type of scrubbers, and why would you need to remove any volcanic ash with them anyway? Most of it settles out of the air and becomes part of the soil in a short time, unless it is a really massive eruption. In that case there's nothing to do about it anyway.