The control of particulates and VOCs is mostly accomplished by physical processes (cyclones, ESPs, filters, leakage control, vapor capture, condensation) that do not involve changing the chemical nature of the pollutant. Some particles and VOCs are chemically changed into harmless materials by combustion. This chapter and the next concern pollutants--sulfur oxides and nitrogen oxides that cannot be economically collected by physical means nor rendered harmless by combustion. Their control is largely chemical rather than physical. For this reason, these two chapters are more chemically oriented than the rest of the book
