Effect of Bi-Modal Aerosol Mass Loading on the Pressure Drop for Gas Cleaning Industrial Filters

The typical size distribution of emission particulates is bi-modal in shape with particles in the fine mode (< 2.0 w m) and the coarse mode. An experimental study of pressure drop across industrial gas cleaning filters has been conducted using a particle mixture of fine alumina and coarse Arizona dusts with a rotating aerosol disperser to generate the bi-modal test aerosol. Pressure drop increased linearly with increasing mass loading. The pressure drop was found to be strongly dependent upon the mass ratio of fine to coarse particles. The measured specific resistances of HEPA filters at a given face velocity of 5 cm/s were 1.18 2 10 6 , 5.89 2 10 5 , 4.67 2 10 5 , 2.65 2 10 5 , and 1.18 2 10 5 s -1 for the mass ratio of fine to coarse particles of fine only, 50%:50%, 25%:75%, 10%:90%, and coarse particles only, respectively. The pressure drop across the loaded filter increased with increasing face velocity. The larger the mass ratio of fine to coarse particles and the higher the face velocity are, the faster pressure drop rises. The fine particles and the greater inertia of the particle moving fast would cause a denser cake formation on the filter surface, resulting in a greater specific resistance to the gas flow.     

Experimental Study on the Loading Characteristics of Needlefelt Filters with Micrometer-Sized Monodisperse Aerosols

In this work, three types of needlefelt filters, made of Polyester (PE), Ryton Sulfar (RS), and Polyaramid (PA), were tested to in- vestigate the aerosol loading characteristics of fabric filters when challenged with micrometer-sized monodisperse potassium sodium tartrate (PST) particles. A fibrous filter with packing density of 9%, thickness of 0.38 mm, and fiber diameter of 5.1 θ m was included for comparison. A vibrating orifice monodisperse aerosol generator was used to produce three different sizes (5, 10, and 20 θ m) of PST particles for aerosol loading experiment. An ultrasonic atomizing nozzle and a TSI constant output nebulizer were used to generate polydisperse PST particles for the aerosol penetration test. The aerosol penetration of submicrometer-sized particles through the filters was measured by using a Scanning Mobility Particle Sizer. An Aerodynamic Particle Sizer was used to measure the penetration fraction of aerosol particles larger than 0.8 θ m. The pressure drop across the filter was monitored by using pressure transducers, which were calibrated against an inclined manometer. Airflows of 5, 10 , 20, and 30 cm/s were used to study the flow dependency. The aerosol penetration results showed that the particles larger than 3 θ m did not penetrate the clean fabric filters tested in the present study. The loading curves (plots of pressure drop against sampling time) displayed three regions: an initial region of fast increase, a transition region, and a final linear region after the dust formation point. After the formation point of the dust cake, both fabric and fibrous filters shared the same slope (of the loading curves). The slope of different regions of the loading curves was determined by many factors, such as size of challenge aerosol, face found to be critical to the performance of the fabric filters. In order lower porosity, which caused an extra rise in pressure drop across velocity, surface treatment, and the compressibility of the dust cake forming on the filter. The method of final surface treatment was to avoid the unnecessary rise in air resistance, the melting clumps formed during final surface treatment should be as thin and narrow as possible, just enough to support the filter bag cleaning. From the standpoint of filter quality and energy consumption, the low filtration velocity has to be adopted whenever possible, because high filtration velocity not only led to lower filter quality (in particular for submicrometer-sized particles) but also created dust cake of lower porosity, which caused an extra rise in pressure drop across thet dust cake.     

The Effect of Particle Sedimentation on Gravity Filtration

ABSTRACT

Simulation of cake formation of mono-sized and dual-sized particles under gravitational sedimentation and filtration is presented. The dynamic analysis proposed by Lu and Hwang in 1993 is applied to examine the local cake properties formed under a falling head by considering the hindered settling effect of particles in the slurry and the variation of the pressure drop across the filter septum. Results of this study show that, at a given position in a cake, the solid compressive pressure reaches a maximum value and then decreases for a gravity filtration due to the decrease in the driving head. A cake constructed with dual-sized particles has a more compact structure than does one with mono-sized particles, and larger particles will form looser packing than will smaller ones for mono-sized particles. A dual-dispersed suspension with a lower fraction of large particles will result in the lowest cake porosity and the highest specific filtration resistance of cake. Comparison of the porosity distribution in filter cake formed by means of gravity filtration and constant head filtration shows that the porosity near the filter septum of gravity filtration has a convex behavior while that of constant head filtration has a tendency toward concavity. This discrepancy is mainly due to the change in the driving head during the filtration process. Both theoretical and experimental results show that the uniformity of particle size distributions in the filter cake will be much better when the relative settling velocity between large and fine particles is reduced.     

DRYING OF POWDERY MATERIALS IN A PULSED FLUID BED DRYER

ABSTRACT

Drying of recycled polypropylene powder was studied experimentally in a laboratory pulsed fluid bed dryer (PFB) with relocated air stream. It was proved that fluidization of fine particles having a large specific surface area and a broad size distribution is technically feasible when using the composite supporting grid. Drying and hydrodynamic characteristics for a pulsed fluid bed of fine particles are found to be similar to the ones for coarse particles. Equations for minimum pulsed fluidization velocity, pressure drop, and surface and volumetric heat transfer coefficients are given.     

复合流化床的压降

本文将复合流化床的压降分成粗颗粒鼓泡流化床压降和细颗粒输送床压降两部分,并根据四种粗颗粒与两种细颗粒构成的体系的238组实验数据,把复合流化床的压降与粗颗粒和细颗粒的物性及操作条件相关联,得到一无因次数群表达式,由该式预计的压降值与实验值的最大偏差小于±12.5％。     

Emission Rates Due to Indoor Activities: Indoor Aerosol Model Development,Evaluation, and Applications

This study presents an indoor aerosol model based on size-resolved and multi-compartment approach. The current indoor aerosol model is also developed with a semi-empirical technique to estimate the emission rates due to indoor sources of aerosol particles. We present in this study a methodology to predict and estimate the best-fit input parameters for the current indoor aerosol model. The performance of the current indoor aerosol model in its single-compartment form was evaluated against previously measured indoor-outdoor aerosol data sets from an office room with mechanical ventilation and a family house with natural ventilation. The indoor aerosol model simulations show that the current methodology used to predict the best-fit input parameters to the indoor aerosol model is efficient. As expected, the penetration factor, aerosol particle deposition, and ventilation rate are the most important parameters in the indoor-outdoor relationship of aerosol particles transport. The emission rate analysis showed that fine aerosol particles production was as high as 26 particle/cm ³ s during wood burning in a fireplace. The emission rate was about eight times this value during grilling in a fireplace and sauna heating. Indoor activities take place in another room may significantly increase the aerosol particle concentrations in other rooms in the building. Therefore, it is recommended to use extra air cleaners in houses to reduce the number concentrations of emitted aerosol particles. The quantitative and qualitative results obtained by the current indoor aerosol model in this study are building and condition specific. Applying the current model to a broad range of conditions and previously measured indoor-outdoor aerosol data sets provides better understanding of aerosol particle characteristics indoors, especially regarding the aerosol particles produced during different indoor activities.     

Influence of Calcareous Sorbents on Particulate Emissions from Fluidized Bed Combustion of Lignite

The composition and morphology of coarse and fine fly ashes from atmospheric fluidized bed combustion of 2 lignites without additives or with hydrated lime and limestone as sorbents for sulfur dioxide removal were investigated. The ashes were separated and size segregated by cyclone and low pressure BLPI impactor. The properties of both coarse (sizes >10 θm) and fine (sizes < 10 θm) particles were investigated using INAA, PIXE, and SEM. The application of sorbents increased the emissions of coarse particles, but reduced the emissions of fine particles. The increase was caused by additional carry over of particles of additives; the decrease of emission of fine particles probably resulted from the combined increase of scavenging of fine particles by particles of sorbents and reduction of their formation due to reduced concentrations of sulfur dioxide in flue gas. Most of the trace elements investigated in this study showed substantial enrichment in fine particles. However, due to simultaneous reduction of concentration of fine particles the emissions of most trace elements decreased.     

Light Degrading Properties of Size-Fractionated PM 10 Aerosol Samples Collected from an Industrial Area in Brisbane,Australia

Thirty-seven days of PM 10 aerosol samples (particles with aerodynamic diameter <10 w m) were collected in an industrial area in Brisbane during April to June 1999 to study the light extinction efficiencies of urban aerosols in different size ranges. The light scattering coefficient of the air was measured by nephelometry. The light absorption coefficient of the aerosol samples was measured by the integrating plate laser absorption method. Multiple linear regression techniques were used to investigate the relationships between the visibility degrading properties and the chemical composition of the aerosol samples. The results are comparable with those from other visual air quality studies. The absorption of light by fine (PM 2.5 ) aerosols is mainly due to elemental carbon (EC) particles smaller than 0.5 w m. The b 0 ap values of EC particles in different size ranges are 9.08 (< 2.7 w m) and 0.32 (2.7-10 w m)m 2 g -1 , respectively. The absorption of light by coarse (PM 2.5-10 ) aerosols is mainly due to soil ( b 0 ap = 0.17) and organic ( b 0 ap = 1.11) particles. The scattering of light is highly related to the concentration of fine particles in the air (mass scattering efficiency b 0 sp = 1.65) and is mainly due to the fine sulphate ( b 0 sp = 10.9), soil ( b 0 sp = 2.73), and EC ( b 0 sp = 3.89) particles. On average, fine EC (44%), sulphate (20%) and soil (7%) particles, NO 2 (9%), and Rayleigh scattering (19%) were the largest contributors of visibility degradation for the sampling days in this study.     

Temperature effect on the pressure drop across the cake of coal gasification ash formed on a ceramic filter

In order to predict the pressure drop across the cake of coal gasification (CG) ash formed on ceramic filter, an empirical equation was developed taking into account several factors, such as the face velocity, ash load, shape factor and size of particles, and especially the operating temperature. The hot air stream of well classified fine particles of CG ash was simulated as the syngas derived from the coal gasification process. The pressure drop behavior and cleaning efficiency of the filter were carefully investigated within the temperature range from room temperature to 673 K. The pressure drop across the ash cake was dominantly governed by the air viscosity, which increased with temperature. It was well expressed by the previously reported-empirical equation [J.H. Choi, Y.C. Bak, H.J. Jang, J.H. Kim, and J.H. Kim, Korean J. Chem. Eng., 21(3) (2004) 726.] with the modification of the viscosity term in the equation for different temperatures. The residual pressure drop rate across the ash cake also increased while the cleaning efficiency of the ceramic filter decreased as temperature increased.     

Application of Enhanced Vacuum Filtration to Dewatering of Fine Coal Refuse

Abstract

It is difficult to reduce the moisture content of fine coal refuse to a satisfactory level because of the high mineral content and the large capillary forces associated with small particle sizes. An experimental investigation of important operating variables on dewatering of fine coal refuse is reported. The cake permeability, cake formation time and final moisture content are used to measure the efficiency of moisture removal. Factors that were studied are the addition of coarse particles, level of vacuum, pH and the use of coagulants, flocculants and surfactants as additives. Addition of a flocculant was the most effective single means of improving dewatering and the permeability could be increased by more than an order of magnitude and the moisture content lowered by as much as 0.05 kg water/kg dry cake. It was found that the ionic nature and molecular weight of the flocculant, the flocculant dosage, the mixing time and the mixing intensity must be carefully studied to obtain optimal performance.     

Real-Time Characterization of the Composition of Individual Particles Emitted From Ultrafine Particle Concentrators

Particle concentrators are commonly used for controlling exposure levels to ambient ultrafine, fine, and coarse aerosols over a broad range of concentrations. For ultrafine aerosols, these concentrators require water condensation technology to grow and enrich these smaller sized particles (D _a < 100 nm). Because the chemistry of the particles is directly related to their toxicity, any changes induced by ultrafine concentrators on ambient particles need to be better characterized in order to fully understand the results obtained in health exposure studies. Using aerosol time-of-flight mass spectrometry (ATOFMS), the size-resolved chemistry was measured of concentrated ultrafine and accumulation mode (50–300 nm) particles from several particle concentrators with different designs. This is the first report detailing the size-resolved distributions of elemental carbon (EC) and organic carbon (OC) particles sampled from concentrators. Experimental measurements of the single particle mixing state of particles in concentrated versus non-concentrated ambient air show transformations of ultrafine EC particles occur as they become coated with organic carbon (OC) species during the concentration process. Based on relative ion intensities, concentrated ultrafine particles showed a 30% increase in the amount of OC on the EC particles for the same aerodynamic size. An increase in the number fraction of aromatic- and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon-containing particles was also observed in both the ultrafine and fine size modes. The most likely explanation for such changes is gas-to-particle partitioning of organic components (e.g., water-soluble organic compounds) from the high volume of air used in the concentrator into aqueous phase ultrafine and fine aqueous particles created during the particle enrichment process.     

Utilization of rice-husk packed beds as fine dust collectors at heavy dust loadings

Typical rice mills generally generate tonnes of biomass which is rice husks and a significant quantity of coarse and fine dusts from the paddy, resulting in public health concern. Instead of normal air cyclones which are not efficient for collecting fine soft-hair (detached pubescence) particles smaller than a few microns, a new system using packed beds of rice husks was developed for collection fine dusts. It was found that the rice-husk packed beds could exhibit an effective performance in capturing fine dusts at various dust loadings with collection efficiency higher than 85% by mass. The filtrating phenomenon could be observed as an integrated effect of cake and deep-bed filtrations due to the heavy dust loads, agglomeration of dusts, and cohesion between the dusts and bed of irregularly shaped rice husks. Both the pressure drop across the bed and the overall filtration efficiency remarkably increased at the initial clean stage, then increased more slowly due to the recurrent fracture of the dust cake layer.     

Enhancement of fine particle filtration with efficient humidification

Filtration is one of the most effective methods to remove suspended fine particles from air. In filtration processes,pressure drop of compact dust cake causes problems in efficiency and economy, which has received increasing attention and still remains challenging. In this study, we developed a novel technique to intensify the filtration of fine particles with efficient humidification. Two strategies for humidification, including ultrasonic atomization and steam humidification(controlling of ambient humidity), were employed and proved to be both effective. The regeneration frequency of the filter could be reduced by 55% with ultrasonic atomization, while steam humidification could lead to a 78% reduction in regeneration frequency. The effect of operating conditions on pressure drop and the mass loading during filtration were investigated. The dust cake showed a loose and porous structure with an optimized droplet-to-particle ratio. With the ratio of 1.53 and 0.0282, the maximum mass loading was 552 g·m-2upon the ultrasonic atomization and 720 g·m-2upon the steam humidification. The results show that humidification could slow down the increase of pressure drop during filtration and improve the efficiency of process.     

Performance of fibrous filters during nanoparticle cake formation

Fibrous filters are highly efficient in removing micrometer particles, but their performance in the nanometer particle range is still little known. The aim of this study was to evaluate pressure drop and collection efficiency during nanoparticles cake formation using commercial fibrous filters. The filter media used were High Efficiency Particulate Air (HEPA) and polyester filters. The aerosols were generated by a commercial inhaler using a 5 g/L solution of NaCl and the particles produced were in the size range from 6 to 800 nm, with a peak at around 40 nm. A superficial velocity (v_s) of 0.06 m/s was employed. During the filtration, the maximum pressure drop established was ?P ₌ ?P_f +980Pa, where ?P_f is the initial pressure drop of the filter. The collection efficiency was determined for a clean filter and for intermediate pressure drops. The filtration curves obtained showed that the HEPA filter provided greater surface filtration, compared to the polyester filter. Comparison of the collection efficiencies for clean filters revealed that the HEPA filter was highly efficient, even in the absence of cake, while the polyester filter showed initial collection efficiencies of between 20 and 40% for particles in the size range from 100 nm to 1000 nm. However, after formation of the filter cake, the collection efficiencies of both filters were almost 100% during the final stage of filtration. This shows that the fibrous filter can be applied in several industrial processes with highly efficient nanoparticle separation, after the formation of a thin layer cake filtration.     

Evaluation of the Performance of Annular Denuder Samplers

Two annular denuder samplers were evaluated for the determination of atmospheric nitric acid, SO 2 , and fine particulate sulfate and nitrate. One, the University Research Glassware (URG) sampler, used an elutriator-impactor to remove coarse particles prior to sampling the aerosol through the denuder sections for the removal of acid gases. The second, the Rupprecht and Patashnick (R&P) ChemSpec, removes the acid gases in diffusion denuder sections and then removes coarse particles prior to the collection of fine particles. Possible sampling artifacts examined included the removal of HNO 3 (g) by the inlet of the URG sampler before the collection of this gas-phase species by the diffusion denuder, resulting in the underestimation of HNO 3 (g) and the deposition of some coarse particles in the R&P denuders prior to the removal of these larger particles, and the collection of fine particles on a filter, resulting in the overestimation of HNO 3 (g) and SO 2 (g). Samples were collected in Riverside, CA, Bakersfield, CA, and Provo, UT. Both sampling artifacts were found to be present. However, the effect on the determination of HNO 3 (g) by the URG sampler and on the determination of particulate-phase sulfate and nitrate by the R&P ChemSpec were both small, on the order of a few tenths of a microgram per cubic meter.     

A Macrokinetic Modeling of Membrane Microfiltration Processes

Abstract

Membrane microfiltration techniques have been developed and utilized mostly in the fields of gas purification and aerosol filtration. They were recently applied to medical, pharmaceutical, liquor, and food processings. Membrane microfiltration behavior is characterized by intrapore diffusive deposition of fine particles, surface pore blocking, and the formation of a thin cake layer on the filter surface. The intrapore diffusive deposition process predominates and it can be regarded macroscopically as a first-order rate process. The surface pore blocking process is also described by a first-order rate equation. Thus the filtration characteristics, such as filtration rate and filtration resistance, can be evaluated by using the macrokinetic models derived from first-order rate equations. The microfiltration processes were simulated numerically by these models and the calculation results agreed well with experimental observations. The backflushing stages must be included in a practical microfiltration process. A first-order rate process was proposed for the detachment process of collected particles from filter pores. Membrane microfiltration systems with backflushing stages were also evaluated macrokinetically and the effect of backflushing on the filtration performance was manifested numerically.     

Numerical analysis of the dynamics of aerosol inertial collection and aggregation on raindrops

A three-dimensional stochastic model is developed for predicting atmospheric aerosol collection and aggregation on the surface of a falling raindrop at its terminal velocity. Potential flow and viscous flow are assumed as the flow fields in the vicinity of the large and the small raindrops, respectively. The results show that hydrophobic coarse mode aerosols collected by either small raindrops (d_c < 100 μm) or large drops (d_c > 100 μm) form aggregations on the surfaces of drops, and accumulation mode aerosols tend to be captured by the aggregations or hydrophobic coarse particles which have been collected by the drops, and this may significantly enhance the capability of the raindrop for fine aerosol collection. When the aggregation effect is considered in the calculation, fine aerosol efficiency can be promoted by one to two orders of magnitude. Therefore, fine particle collision efficiency by raindrops is underestimated by employing the classical dynamic theory which neglects the particle aggregation effect. However, the collection efficiency of coarse particles remains almost constant with the increase in the amount of particles collected by large drops, while there is only a slight increase in efficiency by small raindrops upon increasing in particle concentration. This implies that the traditional limiting trajectory method can still be used for the calculation of coarse particle collection efficiencies by either small or large raindrops.

Copyright © 2018 American Association for Aerosol Research     

Cake properties of nanocolloid evaluated by variable pressure filtration associated with reduction in cake surface area

A potential method has been developed for evaluating simultaneously both the average specific resistance and average porosity of the filter cake formed in unstirred dead‐end ultrafiltration of nanocolloids such as bovine serum albumin solution and silica sol. The method consists of variable pressure filtration followed by constant pressure filtration. The relation between the average specific cake resistance and the pressure drop across the cake was determined from the evolution of the filtration rate with time in the course of the variable pressure filtration period, based on the compressible cake filtration model. The average porosity was evaluated from the significant flux decline caused by a sudden reduction in the cake surface area in the middle of the constant pressure filtration period. The pressure dependences of both the average specific cake resistance and average cake porosity were obtained from only two runs which differed from each other in the pressure profiles. © 2014 American Institute of Chemical Engineers AIChE J, 60: 3869–3877, 2014     

Evolution of the Efficiency and Pressure Drop of a Filter Media with Loading

A model for calculating the filtration efficiency and the pressure drop of a fiber filter media in dynamic regime was used and modified to take account of both the fiber and the particle size distributions. Measurements were carried out on two medias employed in industry and two loading aerosols to test the possibilities offered by the model to predict the evolution of both the efficiency and pressure drop characteristics. The results show that the model satisfactorily reflects the variations in efficiency and pressure drop of a media with respect to the loading if its structure is homogeneous and if the deposit of particles takes place within the thickness of the filtering layer. On the other hand, the divergence between the model and practical experience becomes significant as soon as surface filtration regime occurs or when the media has a heterogeneous structure. A test rig was developed to determine the filtering characteristics, such as fractional efficiency and pressure drop in relation to the degree of loading, from aerosols of various particle sizes. This study has highlighted the necessity of taking into account the influence of loading in the methods for testing filters, especially those used in the industry, and demonstrates that the particle size of the test aerosol is a very sensitive parameter.     

OPTICAL PROPERTIES OF AEROSOLS

ABSTRACT

The evolution of small aerosol particles accompanying the combustion of straw for energy production is investigated. A sampling equipment specially designed for field measurements is described and characterized. The aerosol is studied by low-pressure cascade impactor and scanning mobility particle sizer, the particle morphology by transmission electron microscopy, and the chemical composition by energy dispersive x-ray analysis. The combustion gas contains 3–500 mg/Nm³ of submicron particles with a mean diameter of approximately 0.3 μm. The particles consist of almost pure potassium chloride and sulphate. The formation mechanism is analyzed by a theoretical simulation of the chemical reactions and the aerosol change during cooling of the flue gas. It is concluded that some sulphation of KC1 occurs in the gas phase although the sulphate concentration is much lower than predicted by an equilibrium assumption. The theoretical simulation proves that the fine mode particles can be formed by homogeneous nucleation of either KCl or K2SO₄ as the first step and further growth occurs by coagulation and diffusive condensation of both KC1 and K₄SO₄ on existing particles.