Separation Characteristics of Submicron Particles in an Electrostatic Precipitator with Alternating Electric Field Corona Charger

Experiments were carried out to investigate filtration characteristics of an electrostatic precipitator (ESP) with alternating and direct electric field corona charger. Potassium Sodium Tartrate Tetrahydrate as the material was used to generate polydisperse submicron aerosols by using Constant Output Atomizer. The results indicated that the aerosol penetration through the ESP decreased as applied voltage increased. The maximum collection efficiency of either alternating or direct electric field was more than 98%, though the applied voltage of alternating electric field was higher than that of direct electric field. However, from the viewpoint of power consumption, the direct electric field had higher power consumption rate than alternating electric field at similar collection efficiency. For example, when the 0.2 μm particle penetration was about 4%, the power consumptions of alternating and direct electric field were 16 watt and 18 watt, respectively. Hence the separation quality of alternating electric field was better than that of direct electric field. Moreover, considerably lower ozone concentration was found in alternating electric field ESP, compared to direct electric field.     

Development of an Electrostatic Partitioner for Highly Efficient Partitioning of Gas and Particles with Minimal Effect on the Gas Phase

Particle-free air is required in a wide range of scientific and technical applications such as prefiltering for gas analyzers or for the artifact correction of particle mass concentration measurements. Most common processes for the removal of particles from a gas stream are filtration and electrostatic precipitation. However, both mechanism introduce changes to the thermodynamic conditions and/or the composition of the gas, which might be detrimental to the downstream measurement of gas or particle concentrations. For highly efficient separation of gas and particles with no changes to the thermodynamic conditions and substantially no changes to the gas phase, a coaxial gas particle partitioner (GPP, patent pending) has been developed and initially tested. The GPP utilizes corona charging to electrically charge the particles and a strong electric field in a separate unit to take them out of the sample flow when switched on. The vicinity of the corona wire gets continuously flushed by means of a wash flow, which is spatially separated from the sample flow, to prevent gases formed by the corona, such as ozone and oxides of nitrogen, from reaching the sample aerosol flow. Internally, the total aerosol flow is split into a sample flow and an excess gas flow. The splitting of the flow ensures that evaporation or release of particles deposited on the outer wall does not affect the sample flow but only the excess gas flow. The flow splitter is designed such that the particle number size distribution in the sample flow is identical to the ambient distribution when the GPP is switched off. When switched on, the sample flow is particle free. The initial investigations have shown that the GPP is able to separate gas and particles with a higher efficiency than another investigated common point-to-plane electrostatic precipitator (ESP). Particle losses inside the GPP are lower than in the ESP. The response time of GPP and ESP are similar.     

Enhancement of Extrinsic Charging Efficiency of a Nanoparticle Charger with Multiple Discharging Wires

A unipolar charger with multiple discharging wires has been developed and investigated to enhance the extrinsic charging efficiency of nanoparticles by using sheath air near the wall of the charger. The applied voltage of the charger ranged from +4.0 to +10 kV, corresponding to corona current from 0.02 to 119.63 μA. Monodisperse NaCl particles of 10 ～ 50 nm and Ag particles of 2.5 ～ 10 nm in diameter were produced to test the performance of the charger with multiple discharging wires and to investigate the particle loss at different sheath flow rates, corona voltages and sheath air velocities. Results showed that the optimal efficiency in the charger was obtained at +9 kV applied voltage, 10 L/min aerosol flow rate and 20 L/min sheath air flow rate. The extrinsic charging efficiency increased from 2.86% to 86.3% in the charger as the particle diameter increasing from 2.5 to 50 nm. The TDMA (tandem-differential mobility analyzer) technique was used to investigate the charge distribution, and the charge distributions in the exit were obtained at the optimal operating condition.     

Electrohydrodynamic Flow and Particle Transport Mechanism in Electrostatic Precipitators with Cavity Walls

The electrohydrodynamic (EHD) flow induced by the corona wind was observed in a model electrostatic precipitator (ESP) of the simple geometry composed of the plates with a cavity. And the influence of the EHD flow and the turbulence condition of inlet cross-flow on the particle behavior inside the ESP and its collection efficiency were elucidated through experimental and numerical analysis. The profiles of streamwise gas velocities and turbulence intensities were measured in the ESP with a laser Doppler anemometer.A laser beam sheet visualized particle trajectories. Collection efficiencies were measured with a particle counter. In addition, numerical computations were performed to compare with the experimental results. The numerical results showed good agreement with the experimental data. As the corona voltage increased, the gas velocities of the core flow and the circulating flow inside the cavity increased due to the corona wind and the turbulence intensity increased near the cavity region. As the corona voltage increased for the low bulk gas velocity, corona wind prevented the particle transport into the cavity. And the particle transport into the cavity by turbulent dispersion was observed as the bulk gas velocity increased. When the flow with high turbulence intensity entered the ESP, the turbulent dispersion enhanced the transport of particles into the cavity; hence, the collection efficiency was higher compared with the case of the relatively lower inlet turbulence intensity below a critical corona voltage. However, the collection efficiency was slightly lower for the high inlet turbulence than for the low inlet turbulence above the critical corona voltage due to the turbulent diffusion of particles toward the centerline downstream from the corona wire.     

Control Effectiveness of Electrostatic Precipitation on Airborne Microorganisms

Because there is an increasing incidence of microorganism infections, more concerns are made in microorganism engineering control for airborne infectious diseases. Electrostatic was considered to be promising to inactivate or kill microorganisms. In this investigation, the influences of microorganism species, relative humidity, gas flowrates, and electric voltage on control effectiveness of electrostatic precipitator (ESP) were evaluated in a laboratory test chamber. A Collison nebulizer generated Escherichia coli , Bacillus subtilis spores , cells of C. famata var. flareri , and Penicillium citrinum . The control effectiveness of this negative ESP was determined as the ratio, N S /N 0 , where N S and N 0 were the colony concentrations collected by Anderson one-stage samplers with and without ESP operation. The experimental results indicated that control effectiveness of ESP varied in a wide range. The microorganism penetration through the ESP decreased (from 81% to 42%) as the voltage of the discharge electrode increased (from +5 kV to +10 kV) at a flowrate of 60 L/min. At a fixed electrode voltage (+10 kV), microorganism penetration increased from 42% to 70% as the flowrate increased from 60 to 90 L/min. Regarding microorganism species, it was indicated that bacterial removal effectiveness was lower than those of fungus aerosols. This might be related to smaller aerodynamics sizes of bacterial aerosols. In regard to relative humidity effects, it was observed that control effectiveness of ESP at 85% relative humidity were higher than those observed at 65% relative humidity. This might be related to higher corona current observed at higher relative humidity at the same voltage. In addition, control effectiveness of ESP was demonstrated to be lower at higher gaseous flowrates and lower electric voltage.     

Unipolar Charging of Fine and Ultra-Fine Particles Using Carbon Fiber Ionizers

A simple and novel unipolar charger using carbon fiber ionizers was developed to effectively charge fine and ultra-fine aerosol particles without the generation of ozone. The particle penetration in the charger was investigated for non-charged, neutralized, and singly charged particles in the size range of 20–200 nm. Particle loss and the intrinsic, exit and extrinsic charging efficiencies of fine and ultra-fine particles were also investigated for non-charged particles at different applied voltages to the charger. Particle penetrations in the charger were nearly 100% for particles larger than 20 nm, irrespective of the initial particle charging state. Particle losses in the charger could be decreased by decreasing the applied voltage to the charger from 4.0 kV to 2.3 kV. The intrinsic charging efficiencies were proportionally increased with the applied voltage, whereas the exit charging efficiencies were almost independent of the applied voltage. Therefore, the extrinsic charging efficiency of the charger becomes higher for the lower applied voltage (2.3 kV), at which about 60% of 20 nm particles were charged. Little (less than 4 ppb) to no ozone was generated under all operation conditions. It can be concluded that the newly developed unipolar charger using carbon fiber ionizers can charge fine and ultra-fine particles at least as effectively as currently available unipolar chargers, but with the major advantage of negligible ozone generation, a highly desirable feature if the charged particles are to be used for chemical or biological analysis.     

高压脉冲放电降解水溶液中4-氯酚过程的数学模型（Ⅰ）氧气放电形成臭氧的速率计算

采用电子碰撞理论计算了点-面式高压脉冲电晕放电过程中的臭氧产生速率.研究发现，臭氧形成速率是电场中能量大于等于6.0eV的电子形成速率的2倍.脉冲电压峰值和放电频率与臭氧生成速率均几乎有线性关系.放电电极直径比电极间距对臭氧生成速率的影响更加显著.     

A Study of Ozone Synthesis in Coaxial Cylinder Pulse Streamer Corona Discharge Reactors

Synthesis of ozone in coaxial cylinder non-thermal plasma reactors with different structures was investigated in this paper. With digital measuring technology, the absorption energy of non-thermal plasma reactors induced by pulse streamer corona was estimated. In the view of energy absorption of non-thermal plasma reactors, pulse input energy depended on reactor structures, as well as pulse parameters, such as pulse amplitude and DC bias. With coaxial cylinder reactors energized by pulse voltage, the influences on ozone generation of pulse voltage polarity, pulse amplitude, and pulse repetition rate were studied. It was found that positive pulse voltage induced higher ozone generation than negative pulse voltage and higher amplitude pulses generated more ozone. Increasing the pulse repetition rate at a low level increased ozone generation to some extent, but then leveled off with further increasing. A critical repetition rate was found at which the ozone synthesis was the most efficient. Lower pulse amplitude was associated with higher critical repetition rate. Superimposing DC bias on pulse voltage was an effective method to enhance ozone generation. Besides, discharge modes and electrode structures of reactors affect ozone generation. A mixed discharge mode of volume and surface discharges was the most effective mode to generate ozone in all of the experimental discharge modes, namely volume, surface, volume and surface mixed discharge modes. Moreover, helix-cylinder reactors were better than wire-to-cylinder reactors in generating ozone.     

Charged fraction and electrostatic collection of ultrafine and submicrometer particles formed during O2-CO2 coal combustion

The charged fraction of submicrometer and ultrafine particles generated during bench scale coal combustion and the subsequent penetration of particles through a cylindrical-wire electrostatic precipitator (ESP) in O₂-CO₂ and O₂-N₂ environments were measured. In all combustion environments, natural particle charging within the combustor was not adequate for high efficiency particle collection in the ESP; thus, corona generation was necessary for enhanced particle charging. With a positive applied potential, the corona inception voltage and voltage required to reach a given current level in the ESP in gas mixtures composed of O₂ and CO₂ were higher than those composed of O₂ and N₂, while similar voltages were needed for negative corona generation. In positive coronas, particle penetration through the ESP in O₂-CO₂ environments was 1-2 orders of magnitude higher than in O₂-N₂ environments. Little difference in particle penetration between O₂-N₂ and O₂-CO₂ was seen in negative coronas.     

Influence of gas velocity on the particle collection and reentrainment in an air-cleaning electrostatic precipitator

Particle deposition and reentrainment experiments were performed in a two-stage electrostatic precipitator (ESP), consisting of positive corona precharger and collecting electrode sections. Attention was focused on studying the indoor air pollution deposition and reentrainment into six size ranges from 0.3 to >10?μm. Tests were performed in an office room (200?m³) for airflow velocities from 1.4 to 8?m/s. The effect of airflow velocity on the collection efficiency of the ESP was investigated both experimentally and analytically to study reentrainment phenomena in a turbulent flow. A stationary two-dimensional analytical model was carried out by modeling the particle transport. The boundary conditions for charged particles on collecting and repelling electrodes were determined by physical considerations, including chaotic and drift motions, the reflection of charged particles from a surface, and the reentrainment of charged particles. A decrease in the experimental collection efficiency for large particle diameters (≥0.5?μm), as compared to the theoretical prediction, was interpreted as the reentrainment of particles. The size-resolved dust reentrainment fluxes from the collecting electrode were evaluated in two limiting cases, considering that either the reentrained particles are not charged or that they are charged as the particles in the deposition flux. Dimensional analysis is applied to these results, introducing the wall friction velocity as a universal parameter that determines the flow character. In general, the particles with diameters <5?μm and >5?μm exhibit different reentrainment behavior.

Copyright © 2018 American Association for Aerosol Research     

Generation of monodisperse aerosols by combining aerodynamic flow-focusing and mechanical perturbation

A novel instrument has been developed for generating highly monodisperse aerosol particles with a geometrical standard deviation of 1.05 or less. This aerosol generator applies a periodic mechanical excitation to a micro-liquid jet obtained by aerodynamic flow-focusing. The jet diameter and its fastest growth wavelength have been optimized as a function of the flow-focusing pressure drop and the liquid flow rate. The monodisperse aerosol generated by this instrument is also charge neutralized with bipolar ions produced by a non-radioactive, corona discharge device. Monodisperse droplet generation in the 15- to 72-μm diameter range from a single 100-micron nozzle has been demonstrated. Both liquid and solid monodisperse particles can be generated from 0.7- to 15-μm diameter by varying solution concentration, liquid flow rate, and excitation frequency. The calculated monodisperse particle diameter agrees well with independent measurements. The operation of this new monodisperse aerosol generator is stable and reliable without nozzle clogging, typical of other aerosol generators at the lower end of the operating particle size ranges.

Copyright © 2016 American Association for Aerosol Research     

Aerosol Penetration through Silica Gel Tubes

Silica gel is commonly used by industrial hygienists to collect gases and vapors in the work place, in particular air contaminants with high polarity. The collected air pollutants are then treated and analyzed to identify their type and to determine the concentration using various methods and instrumentations. In addition to collection of gaseous pollutants, the silica gel tubes are also used for acid mist collection according to the listed official analytical methods (e.g., NIOSH method 7903 and OSHA method ID-165SG). However, the filtration characteristics of silica gel tubes have not been thoroughly investigated. A constant output aerosol generator and an ultrasonic atomizing nozzle were used to generate submicrometer-sized and micrometer-sized aerosol particles, respectively. A scanning mobility particle sizer and an aerodynamic particle sizer were used to measure particles smaller and larger than 0.6 w m, respectively. Potassium sodium tartrate and dioctylphthalate were used as the solid and liquid test agents, respectively. Two types of SKC silica gel tubes (Cat No. 226-10 and 226-10-03) were examined for aerosol penetration, air resistance, and loading characteristics. The results show that the aerosol penetration through the silica gel tubes could be as high as 80% at the penetration maximum (or collection minimum) under the normal sampling flow of 0.5 L/min, well within the inertial impaction dominated region. Two glass wool plugs and one urethane plug between sorbent sections and at the back end of the SKC 226-10 contributed about 22% of the total air resistance, and the remaining 78% of the air resistance was caused by the silica gel. When the filtration efficiency by these separators was deduced, the aerosol penetration at the most penetrating size was as high as 90%. The aerosol penetration increased and the penetration curve shifted to a smaller particle size as the sampling flow increased. However, this increase in aerosol penetration of particles smaller than the penetration maximum reached a maximum and then decreased as the sampling flow was increased beyond 1.5 L/min (equivalent filtration velocity of 93 cm/s), a clear evidence of inertial impaction surpassing the diffusion deposition. As a result, the use of silica gel tubes for acid mist collection may not be appropriate if the behavior of the complete aerosol size distribution is not considered as part of the assessment of these devices.     

Improvement of the Nanoparticle Charging Efficiency of a Single-Wire Corona Unipolar Charger by Using Radial Sheath Airflow: Numerical Study

A single-wire corona unipolar charger with radial sheath air was proposed to enhance the nanoparticle charging efficiency. The charger consists of an insulated Teflon tube (inner diameter = 6.35 mm) with a 6 mm-long grounded porous metal tube placed at its center from which radial sheath air is introduced, and a discharge gold wire of 50 μm in the outer diameter and 6 mm in the effective length. The performance of the charger was evaluated and optimized numerically. The effect of the position of the sheath air opening on reducing charged particle loss was found to be important and two designs were studied. In design 1, both ends of the 6 mm wide sheath air opening are aligned with the ends of the 6 mm-long discharge wire, while in design 2 the sheath air opening is shifted 2 mm toward the left of the leading edge of the wire. At the same operating condition, design 2 was found to have less electrostatic loss than design 1 because of its smaller deposition region for charged particles. Compared to two unipolar chargers with the highest extrinsic charging efficiency for particles smaller than 10 nm in diameter, design 2 operated at the applied voltage of +3.5 kV, aerosol flow rate of 0.5 L/min, and sheath airflow rate of 0.7 L/min has a comparable extrinsic charging efficiency of 17.2%–70.5% based on particle number for particles ranging from 2.5 to 10 nm in diameter.

Copyright 2013 American Association for Aerosol Research     

Particulate Matter Removal from a Gas Stream using High‐Voltage Discharge Plasma

Abstract

This investigation examines the use of a high‐voltage discharge plasma technology to remove particulate matter from an air stream. Concentrations of the particulate matter were measured at the inlet and the outlet of the discharge plasma with the help of an optical particle counter to determine the particle removal efficiency. The experimental results indicate that the particle removal efficiency of the discharge plasma increased with the discharge voltage. The particle removal efficiency rose as high as 93.1% for 0.3 μm particles as the discharge voltage was increased to 20 kV at an operating frequency of 60 Hz. The influence of the operating frequency on the particle removal efficiency was neglected at discharge voltages of 8 kV and 10 kV when the operating frequencies ranged from 60 Hz to 180 Hz. Furthermore, the particle removal efficiency increased with the reflected power when the discharge voltage was varied. A non‐linear multivariable regression model was fitted to the experimental data. The good fit of the regression model makes it possible to estimate the particle removal efficiency of the high‐voltage discharge plasma.     

双区静电除尘模拟设计中的颗粒荷电模型选用

大气污染治理水平的提高对静电除尘器的净化效率提出更高要求。利用数值模拟设计静电除尘器有助于优化结构和提高性能,而模拟过程中选用的颗粒荷电模型很大程度决定了模拟结果的准确性。通过建立双区静电除尘器电场、流场和颗粒运动模型,计算两种荷电模型下双区静电除尘器内部颗粒运动轨迹,分析荷电模型对荷电区和收尘区内颗粒轨迹的影响。通过两种荷电模型下0.4 μm颗粒和7.5 μm颗粒去除率模拟值与实测值的对比,发现荷电模型导致的模拟值差异随颗粒粒径的减小而增大。定电量模型适用于电场荷电为主的大粒径颗粒,对扩散荷电的忽略使得该模型下小粒径颗粒的模拟去除率远小于实测值。综合考虑电场荷电量和扩散荷电量随时间变化的模型可以很好地反映小粒径颗粒的荷电特性,更适用于对小粒径颗粒荷电行为特征的数值模拟。     

An innovative and advanced oxidation process for effluent treatment through wet tube-type electrostatic precipitation

The degradation of hazardous pollutants (organic pollutants/non-biodegradable) in waste water was investigated with wet tube-type electrostatic precipitator (WESP). A WESP equipped with brush discharge electrodes was investigated under various operation conditions to characterize the current/voltage-curves and it was compared with the state of the art empirical correlation mentioned in literature. Experimentally obtained current/voltage data was modeled to develop an adjusted empirical correlation for brush type discharge electrodes. Investigations show that corona current is a function of operation voltage and geometry of discharge electrode. Formation of oxidizing reagents like ozone was investigated and the process was optimized.Degradation of several pollutants like acetone, EDTA and phenol was recorded at specific corona current. A series of investigations was conducted to determine the optimum process conditions without sparking. Degradation rate of organic pollutants is higher in the dominating region of ozone formation.WESP equipped with brush discharge electrode produce an enhanced/uniform corona which is capable of eliminating pollutants from off-gas and wastewater simultaneously.     

静电除尘器数值模拟

针对静电除尘器建立了其流场、电晕电场、颗粒荷电与运动的三维数值模型,流场采用时均Navier-Stokes方程和雷诺应力标准湍流模型,电晕电场采用非结构有限容积法,颗粒运动采用拉格朗日方法,颗粒荷电采用对荷电率方程进行积分的方法,颗粒湍流扩散采用随机轨道模型,颗粒的粒径分布采用Rosin-Rammler分布描述,模拟计算了实验电除尘器电场分布、流场分布以及颗粒运动,极板上的电流密度分布计算值与实验值符合良好,颗粒向极板运动的速度在距离极板面5 mm处的实验值与计算值也符合良好,在模型验证基础上,进一步分析了电除尘器内部流场的分布、颗粒的荷电特性与运动轨迹以及各个粒径的除尘效率。     

亲水改性碳钢极板用于PM2.5脱除

火电厂大气污染物排放标准日趋严格,湿式静电除尘器作为终端治理设备逐渐得到广泛应用。以亲水改性刚性极板为研究对象,建立了卧式湿式静电除尘器中试实验台,开展了PM_2.5脱除特性的实验研究,研究了改性极板表面水膜增强颗粒物脱除效率的机制,考察了气体温度、停留时间、工作电压、初始浓度、冲洗水流量等主要运行参数对颗粒物脱除效率的影响规律。结果表明：改性刚性极板表面的纤维层可以减少反冲气流,减少颗粒的电迁移阻力;表面在小水量情况下亦可维持均匀稳定的水膜,水膜的存在抑制了反电晕和二次扬尘的发生,使得电晕电流高且水膜蒸发使烟气湿度提高,颗粒荷电量和电迁移速度提高,这两方面均提高了颗粒脱除效率。停留时间延长、工作电压提高均会引起颗粒脱除效率的增加,但颗粒物入口浓度、冲洗水流量对颗粒脱除效率影响不大。使用改性刚性极板的湿式静电除尘器可减少阳极冲洗水量,对粒径0.04～0.48 μm的颗粒有较高脱除效率,可在低电压下达到较高的颗粒物总脱除效率,具有较好的应用前景。     

Aerosol Charge Neutralization by a Mixing-Type Bipolar Charger using Corona Discharge at High Pressure

An aerosol neutralizer called the Mixing-type Bipolar Charger using Corona-Discharge at High Pressure (MBCCHP) was developed. In the MBCCHP, a corona discharge (High-Pressure Corona Ionizer; HPC Ionizer) induced by high frequency voltage (>100 Hz) at high pressure (>0.2 MPa) is used to generate bipolar ions at high concentration (1–3 × 10⁹ ions/cm³) that are then mixed with aerosol particles flowing in a charging chamber where no external electric field is present. The charging performance of the MBCCHP was evaluated by comparing the measured and theoretical number ratios of positively and negatively charged particles to the total number of particles, and by comparing those of negatively charged to positively charged particles for an equilibrium charge distribution. The theoretical and measured results agreed well in the particle size range of 5–80 nm. Particle loss in the MBCCHP for the size range of 5–100 nm was less than 15%, and particle generation from the electrode due to spattering or from the carrier gas containing SO_x due to chemical reaction was either negligible or not observed. The MBCCHP can effectively provide aerosol particles in the equilibrium charge state. Advantages include (1) no selective deposition of charged particles by an electric field, (2) no generation of new particles by reactive molecules, such as atmospheric pollution gases contained in a sample aerosol by chemical reactions with active species, such as OH radicals, produced by discharge, and (3) no effect of carrier gases of the sample aerosol on the ion properties.     

Spouted bed collection of solid aerosols in the presence of electrical effects

A spouted bed of 1.7 mm cement clinker particles was previously found to be an efficient collector of liquid micronsize aerosols introduced into the bed with the spouting gas⁽¹⁾ With solid aerosols, however, collection efficiencies obtained were poor since these failed to adhere permanently to the target particles and were re-entrained. The present paper describes experimental work to overcome the re-entrainment problem by making use of electrostatic forces. Solid latex aerosol particles (0.79 μm dia.) were electrified by a negative corona discharge and collected in a 15 cm diameter spouted bed of ABS plastic particles (2.5 mm cubes). The variables studied included corona voltage (0 to 9500 V), bed depth (0.3 to 0.5 m) and superficial gas velocity (0.23 to 0.85 m/s). Spouted bed efficiencies with neutral aerosols ranged from 43 to 65% as against 72-98% with charged aerosols The experimental results are interpreted using the two-region model of a spouted bed, and invoking an enhancement factor for aerosol mass transfer due to electrical effects. The values of this factor ranged between 160 to 2300 under the conditions studied.