Modeling of Gravitational Wet Scrubbers with Electrostatic Enhancement

Conventional gravitational wet scrubbers, which generally perform removal of fine particles with low efficiency, cannot meet new standards for pollution emissions. One way of improving the collection efficiency of fine particles is to impose additional electrostatic forces upon particles by means of particle‐charging, or droplet‐charging, or even opposite‐charging of particles and droplets. A Monte Carlo method for population balance modeling is presented to describe the particle removal processes of gravitational wet scrubbers with electrostatic enhancement, in such a way that the grade collection efficiency and particle size distribution are calculated quantitatively. Numerical results show that, the grade collection efficiency of submicron particles is only ca. 5 % in conventional wet scrubbers. However, it reaches ca. 25 % in particle‐charging wet scrubbers, ca. 70 % in droplet‐charging wet scrubbers, and even above 99 % in opposite‐charging wet scrubbers. Furthermore, population balance modeling is used to optimize the operational parameters of the droplet‐charging wet scrubbers by means of the quantitative comparison of the grade collection efficiency. It is found that the operational parameters that are beneficial to the high‐efficiency removal of fine particles are faster gas velocity, slower droplet velocity, larger liquid‐to‐gas flow ratio, larger charge‐to‐mass ratio of droplets, smaller geometric mean diameter and smaller geometric standard deviation of droplets.     

高压静电破乳中离散液滴的动力学分析

考虑乳化液离散液滴的直径分布,对高压直流静电破乳过程中离散液滴的运动进行了理论模拟。模拟及实验结果表明,在高压静电作用下,离散滴液从一侧电极向另一侧电极运动。沿液滴运动方向,液滴浓度逐渐增大,并在电极附近达到最大。随着静电作用时间的延长,电极附近液滴浓度近似呈线性规律增大。在相同的作用时间内,高电压液滴浓度的增长幅度要更大。因此,尽可能提高施加电压要比单纯延长静电作用时间的破乳效果更好。此外,大的液滴运动速度更快,故对于离散相滴径较大的乳化液,破乳效率会更高。     

采用高压静电雾化法制备W/O乳化液的实验研究

采用静电雾化方法进行了W/O玉米油乳化液制备的实验研究,在雾化流量2.8~15 mL/min、电极施加电压5.2~11 kV的条件下,用Winner99颗粒图像测试仪测试了所制乳化液的离散相滴径,分析了施加电压及雾化流量对平均滴径及滴径分布的影响. 结果表明,静电雾化法可制备离散相滴径比搅拌法更均匀的乳化液,离散液滴平均滴径约为28 mm且绝大多数液滴直径为20~40 mm,其稳定性明显优于搅拌法所制乳化液. 乳化液离散相滴径与施加电压及雾化流量密切相关,电压增大、雾化电流增大,乳化液离散相滴径急剧减小,滴径分布变窄. 流量增大,单位时间内液滴携带及输运的电量增大,故雾化电流增大;但液滴荷积比随流量增大而减小,故滴径变大,滴径分布变宽. 高电压、低流量有助于获得稳定性更好的乳化液.     

Effect of gas temperature on the capture of charged particles by oppositely charged water droplets

This work reports experimental results on the effects of temperature (25, 45, and 65°C at different relative humidity) on the scrubbing of charged submicron particles by means of cold (25°C) droplets charged with opposite polarity. The aim of the study is to experiment how the capture of particles is influenced by the simultaneous presence of electrostatic and phoretic forces related to the occurrence of thermal and water vapor gradients close to the droplet surface. This information plays an important role in the development of wet electrostatic scrubbing (WES), an emerging technology for submicron and ultrafine particle capture. Tests were performed in a lab-scale system in which the particle laden-gas was scrubbed by a train of identic droplets. Particles were charged by a corona source while droplets are generated by electrospraying. Experiments revealed that for particles larger than about 250–300 nm, there were higher removal efficiencies in nonisothermal conditions, with limited differences between 45 and 65°C tests. For particles finer than about 150 nm, we sometimes observed lower removal efficiencies for higher gas temperatures, probably due to the difficulties in controlling particle charging for these particles. The experiments were interpreted with a consolidated stochastic model that predicted successfully the data at isothermal conditions, but was less effective for tests at higher gas temperatures. In our opinion, this discrepancy relies on synergies among the fluid dynamic field induced by droplet evaporation/condensation, the phoretic and the electrostatic forces, which are not considered in the model.

Copyright © 2016 American Association for Aerosol Research     

高压静电场中水煤浆射流雾化的雾滴特性

为探讨水煤浆在高压静电场中雾化的雾滴特性,采用针管-环电极配制的静电雾化系统,通过测量在不同的雾化操作参数下,雾滴的荷质比大小以及直径的大小和分布规律,深入分析了不同的射流雾化模式下,充电电压以及射流流量对水煤浆雾滴特性的影响。研究表明,充电电压在5—15 kV时,荷电射流呈稳定多股射流雾化模式,随充电电压的不断增加,雾滴的粒径有规律地减小,不同粒径的雾滴频数逐渐趋于均匀,粒径分布谱略有拓宽,该特性对于提高水煤浆燃烧稳定性及燃烧效率具有重要的工程应用价值。     

Elektrostatisches Zerstäuben von Flüssigkeiten

The electrostatic spraying of liquids is based on electrostatic forces that result from an electrical field and are capable to overcome the capillary forces. In contrast to gravitational and centrifugal fields the value as well as the direction of electrostatic fields depend not only on the setup geometry but additionally on the shape of the liquid surface. This results in a complex interaction between geometries, material properties, and mass and charge currents with respect to the formation of droplets. A capillary tip facing a wide flat counterelectrode has to be considered as the basic geometry. The electrical field needed for droplet production is maintained by a high voltage supply. One has to distinguish between droplet production solely by charge induction and droplet formation influenced by a corona discharge together with an electric wind. Characteristic time constants serve to differentiate between the different spraying modes.     

Numerical Simulation of Scavenging of Small Particles by Charged Droplets

The trajectories of fine aerosol particles in the vicinity of a free falling collector droplet and their deposition on it were investigated numerically by solving the equations of motion of the particle and the droplet in quiescent air. The droplet was assumed to be charged to one half of the Rayleigh limit. The Coulomb, image, Stokes, inertial, and gravitational forces acting upon the particle near the droplet were taken into consideration in the equations of motion. The equations of the droplet motion were also incorporated into the set of equations including the Coulomb and image forces on the droplet due to the particle charge. The flow field in the vicinity of the droplet was determined by numerical solution of the Navier-Stokes equations. The equations of particle motion were solved in threedimensional (3-D) space by the Runge-Kutta method of the fourth order. The collection efficiency of the particles on the droplet was determined by searching the limiting trajectory within the entire space. The results for particles charged to 10 elementary charges of the same and opposite polarity as the droplet, as well as the electrically neutral ones, were compared. The assumption on the charge of the particle was rather arbitrary. It was assumed that particles are not intentionally charged but only possess a charge generated by tribocharging due to random contacts and were independent of the particle size. Charging the collector causes the Coulomb forces between these 2 species to improve particle deposition on the droplet and in this way the aerosol is removed from the gas. For the aerosol particles charged to the same polarity as the collector, the collection efficiency is still higher than for uncharged particles due to the action of the image forces. In this case, the collection efficiency increases for smaller droplets and for particles with increasing diameter.     

Capture of Viral Particles in Soft X-Ray–Enhanced Corona Systems: Charge Distribution and Transport Characteristics

The charge distribution of airborne MS2 bacteriophage nanoparticles and the efficiency of electrical-mobility–based capture mechanisms with bipolar charging were studied. MS2 virions form large agglomerated particles in a suspension. The average charge on airborne MS2 virions can be as high as one unit charge (negatively charged). The application of both soft X-ray irradiation and alpha rays from a Po-210 bipolar charger was shown to not only reduce the average charge on MS2 virion particles but also partially fragment the larger MS2 virion agglomerates, thereby increasing the number of ultrafine MS2 virion particles. A cylindrical electrostatic precipitator with a mounted soft X-ray emitter was used to determine the effectiveness of electrical capture methods for virus particles. At low applied voltages, it was found that the capture efficiency of ultrafine virus particles can be increased by applying in situ soft X-ray irradiation with electrostatic precipitation. It has also been shown that in the presence of both a positive and negative corona, virus particles are readily captured with log removal values exceeding 4. The unit developed and demonstrated in this work is a compact, low-pressure drop system that can be readily mounted in ventilation ducts or air supply systems to remove ultrafine particles such as viruses.     

润湿剂促进燃油细颗粒捕集的实验研究

在反应室中研究了雾化液滴与燃油细颗粒的相互作用机制。提出了一种润湿剂对细颗粒捕集促进的新方法,用于研究颗粒与液滴作用前后颗粒数浓度和粒径分布变化特性及细颗粒的捕集特性。采用电称低压冲击器（ELPI）在线测试分析颗粒数浓度和粒径分布特性,用SEM和EDS分析了颗粒的形态和元素组分对捕集机理的影响。结果表明：颗粒的物化特性与液滴对颗粒的捕集作用密切相关;燃油排放颗粒主要为球形含炭疏水颗粒;雾化液滴对其的捕集效率较低;添加润湿剂有利于提高液滴对燃油细颗粒的捕集效率,添加Silanol w22比用纯水液滴对颗粒的捕集效率提高了15%;不同润湿剂对捕集效率的促进作用差别较大。研究结果可以用于对不同润湿剂除尘效果进行测试和筛选。     

Characteristics of particles deposited on a single free-fall charged droplet

Particles deposited on a free-fall charged droplet were experimentally studied. A droplet, charged under 40% Rayleigh limit, fell through the particle chamber to capture particles by electrostatic attractions. The velocity of the droplet was smaller than 2.1 m/s. The particle-laden droplet eventually spread on a glass slide, which was further analyzed using optical microscope. It was found that the equivalent number of particles captured by the charged droplet were larger than that of uncharged ones by one order of magnitude at least. Remarkably, particles on the charged droplet agglomerated into a large cluster, which indicates that the agglomerated cluster can be actively precipitated due to the gravity force if the droplet completely evaporates. The front side of the charged droplet was the predominant region to capture the particles. However, the actual area of capture was smaller than hemispheric surface.

Copyright © 2017 American Association for Aerosol Research     

喷雾对促进细颗粒物声波团聚的影响

以燃煤烟气为对象,实验研究了各参数对喷雾促进声波团聚的影响。结果表明,添加喷雾后,声波团聚效率提高了25%~40%。无论有无喷雾,声波团聚均存在相同的最佳频率,为1400 Hz左右。较低液气比时,团聚效率随液气比的增加而明显增大,但超过0.10后,团聚效率趋于稳定。添加喷雾时,团聚效率随停留时间的增加而提高,但达到4.2 s时基本达到最大值。分析了喷雾提高团聚效率的机理,在喷雾作用下,颗粒之间形成比范德华力更强的液桥力,增大了有效碰撞系数;同时,雾化液滴的加入为气溶胶团聚提供了种子颗粒,周围的细颗粒易与之发生碰撞团聚,使团聚效率提高。研究表明,喷雾方法可以大幅降低声波团聚工艺的操作能耗。     

An Improved Method for Charging Submicron and Nano Particles with Uniform Charging Performance

An improved method for charging submicron and nano silver particles with uniform charging performance was developed. Monodisperse silver particles were grown into microdroplets through condensation. The aerodynamic diameter and GSD of the condensed droplets were the same regardless of their original diameter. The diameter of the droplets increased from 1.7μm to 2.5 μm as the temperature of the saturator increased from 45°C to 55°C. They were charged by an indirect corona-based charger, in which the ion-generation zone is followed by a particle-charging zone through which the condensed droplets pass. The charges of the droplets were controlled by varying the droplet size, ion concentration, and strength of electric field in the charger. The solvent of the charged droplets was evaporated in an evaporator. The size distribution of the evaporated particles was measured by SMPS spectrometer and compared with their original size distribution. The particles after evaporation were slightly larger than their original particles, due to recondensation. The total charge and number concentration of the particles were measured by aerosol electrometer and CPC, to calculate the average charge. Their electrical mobility distribution was measured by SMPS spectrometer without a neutralizer, to calculate the charge distribution and average charge of the evaporated particles. The results showed the average charges of the particles were similar, regardless of initial diameter and manner of calculation. The charge distributions of the evaporated particles were identical, except for 16.9 nm particles. Ion evaporation phenomenon of particles smaller than 40 nm in diameter was not detected.     

On the efficiency of a centrifugal fan wet scrubber

An inertial theoretical model is proposed to predict the capture of aerosol particles by accelerating liquid droplets in a centrifugal fan scrubber. The results are in good agreement with literature experimental data for micron and large submicron size particles. The theory tends to underestimate the scrubber performance for submicron size particles of less than 0.3 μm in diameter. The discrepancy may be due to the lack of a reliable expression predicting the diffusion deposition of aerosol particles on an isolated liquid droplet. The effects of variables such as fan speed, sizes of liquid droplets and particles, gas and liquid flow rates predicted by the theory are discussed and agree with literature observation.     

Experimental Study of Electrostatic Aerosol Filtration at Moderate Filter Face Velocity

Aerosol collection efficiency was studied for electrostatically charged fibrous filters (3M Filtrete?, BMF-20F). In this study, collection efficiencies at moderate filter face velocities (0.5–2.5 m/s) representative of some high volume sampling applications was characterized. Experimental data and analytical theories of filter performance are less common in this flow regime since the viscous flow field assumption may not be representative of actual flow through the filter mat. Additionally, electrostatic fiber charge density is difficult to quantify, and measurements of aerosol collection efficiency are often used to calculate this fundamental parameter. The purpose of this study was to assess the relative influence of diffusion, inertial impaction, interception, and electrostatic filtration on overall filter performance. The effects of fiber charge density were quantified by comparing efficiency data for charged and uncharged filter media, where an isopropanol bath was used to eliminate electrostatic charge. The effects of particle charge were also quantified by test aerosols brought into the equilibrium Boltzmann charge distribution, and then using an electrostatic precipitator to separate out only those test particles with a charge of zero. Electrostatically charged filter media had collection efficiencies as high as 70–85% at 30 nm. Filter performance was reduced significantly (40–50% collection efficiency) when the electrostatic filtration component was eliminated. Experiments performed with zero charged NaCl particles showed that a significant increase in filter performance is attributable to an induction effect, where electrostatic fiber charge polarizes aerosol particles without charge. As filter face velocity increased the electrostatic filtration efficiency decreased since aerosol particles had less time to drift toward electrostatically charged fibers. Finally, experimental data at 0.5 m/s were compared to theoretical predictions and good agreement was found for both electrostatic and nonelectrostatic effects.

© 2013 American Association for Aerosol Research     

CFD‐Modellierung von Nasselektroabscheidern mit koaxial angeordneten Draht‐und Rohrelektroden

The design of electrostatic precipitators is very complex, especially if the intended operational conditions are characterized by the presence of a very high load of particles or droplets. In this case the high amount of particle bounded charge leads to a significant disturbance of the corona development causing a deterioration of precipitation efficiency. This effect is known as corona quenching. The objective of this work is the development of a numerical model based on computational fluid dynamics and capable to cover this working range.     

Real-Time Direct Charge Measurements of Microdroplets and Comparison with Indirect Methods

The charging of micrometer-sized droplets in an electric field was examined experimentally using both direct and indirect droplet-charge measurements. Liquids with different dielectric constants (water, ethanol, and mineral oil) were studied. A specially designed low-noise charge detector was used directly to measure individual droplet charge. The total charge and droplet mean charge for an ensemble of droplets were obtained indirectly by current measurements. These were coupled with phase-Doppler anemometer droplet diameter, velocity, and flux measurements. Individual droplet charge also was determined indirectly via droplet trajectory analysis coupled with high-speed digital photography. All three methods were compared. In general, the droplet charge was found to depend on its position inside the charger, its dielectric constant, and the magnitude of the applied electric field.     

Experimental study on fusion and break-up motion after droplet collision

The interactions between droplets have an important influence on the atomization of liquid fuel, the combustion efficiency, and the reduction of particulate matter emissions for an engine. For this reason, this paper presents results from an experimental study on the coalescence and break-up of droplets after collision. According to the shape and parameters of the droplets at different times after the collision of the droplets was captured by a high speed camera, analysis was done for the following effects of droplet collisions: the collision-coalescence motion for the collision between the droplets, the change history of the dimensionless length-to-width ratio of the oscillation motion, the critical size ratio of the breakup motion, and the liquid physical properties of the particles. The results show that the droplets collide and exhibit two forms of coalescence oscillation and break-up: for oscillating motion, at higher droplet collision velocities and dimensionless size ratios, there will be a larger dimensionless length-to-width ratio for the droplet oscillation; for the break-up motion, at higher collision velocities, there will be lower dimensionless size ratios, and lower liquid surface tension, shorter times over which the droplet breaks, and facilitated droplet break-up. The research results presented here can be used for atomization in engine cylinder, increasing the gas/liquid contact area and enhancing the combustion efficiency of gas/liquid heat transfer to improve the combustion efficiency of the engine.     

电晕放电喷雾荷电特性

静电喷雾广泛应用于工业各个领域,如静电喷涂、静电雾化燃烧、静电雾化除尘等,其应用效果与喷雾荷电特性密切相关。为获得更佳荷电效果,本文探究了电晕荷电过程中感应电流对液滴真实荷电电流的影响,通过改变荷电电压、电极间距、电极环直径及液体流量等,实验研究了各因素变化对喷雾荷质比、电荷衰减及液滴粒径的影响。结果表明：相比于感应荷电,电晕荷电过程不稳定但能获得更佳的荷电效果,液滴荷质比随荷电电压的增加而先减小后增大,随电极环直径的增加而先增大后减小,随电极间距的增大而增大,电极环直径80mm,电极间距40mm能获得最佳荷电效果;荷电液滴带电量会随输运距离增加而泄漏衰减,相同距离下液滴通过电晕放电带有电荷后衰减更快;液滴带电后能够降低液体表面张力,随着液滴荷电量的增加,雾化液滴粒径有所降低。     

Design and development of an electrostatic sampler for bioaerosols with high concentration rate

Integration of bioaerosol sampling methods with modern analysis techniques, such as the polymerase chain reaction as well as our ability to detect low concentrations of airborne agents require samplers that are able not only to efficiently collect the biological particles, but also to concentrate them in small amounts of fluids. In this research, we began development of a novel bioaerosol sampler, where a combination of electrostatic collection mechanism with superhydrophobic (“Lotus leaf” type) collection surface allows for efficient particle collection, removal and concentration in water droplets as small as 5 μL. This new sampling concept allowed achieving very high sample concentration rates (up to 1 million and higher) and could be applied to detect low concentrations of bioaerosols in various environments.The prototype electrostatic precipitator with superhydrophobic surface had a shape of a half-pipe, where a top plate served as the ground electrode, while the collecting surface was 3.2 mm wide rectangular electrode coated with a superhydrophobic substance and positioned in a groove in the flat bottom surface. Airborne particles drawn into the sampler were positively charged and then by the action of an electrostatic field deposited onto the negatively charged electrode. The sampler was positioned at a ∼1° inclination angle to the horizontal, and the injected water droplets rolled off of electrode's surface removing deposited particles. Sampler's performance has been analyzed with polystyrene latex particles of five aerodynamic diameters (0.5, 1.2, 1.9, 3.2, and 5.1 μm), collecting droplet volumes ranging from 5 to 60 μL, and sampling flow rates of 2, 5, and 10 L/min. It was determined that vast majority of particles deposited onto the electrode are removed by the first rolling droplet, which for 3.2 μm particle and 20 μL droplet translated into a concentration rate of 3×10⁵. By narrowing the electrode to 2.1 mm and lowering the droplet volume to 5 μL we achieved the concentration rate as high as 1.2×10⁶. These concentration rates were sustained for sampling times as long as 60 min. This novel sampling concept demonstrates a great potential for sampling and detecting airborne microorganisms in low concentration environments.