A Novel Particle Trap Impactor for Use with the Gas-Quenching Probe Sampling System

A novel particle trap impactor has been developed for use with the gas-quenching probe in order to exclude solid particles from entering into the probe during sampling of gaseous metallic species in fluidized bed combustion conditions. The impactor must be small in size (Ø_impactor ≤ Ø_probe = 45 mm) but capable of collecting a relatively large amount of particles at elevated temperatures. As the first step, the impactor was designed, constructed, and tested at room temperature for KCI aerosol particles. The impactor with a nozzle of 0.95 mm in diameter, in combination with the orifice-to-jet diameter ratio of 1.5 and the ratio of the jet-to-plate spacing to jet diameter at 1.4 yielded a sharp cutoff curve with a maximum collection efficiency of about 0.9 and a √Stk₅₀ value of about 0.22. In addition, the collection efficiency of the impactor was compared with the particle removal efficiency of a filter of the same type as the filter previously used with the gas-quenching probe. The difference from the comparison is very small, indicating that the impactor can be used to replace the filter to prevent fly ash particles from entering the gas-quenching probe in fluidized bed combustion conditions.