Search

Droplet charging is an effective method to enhance dust removal efficiency using an electrostatic spray scrubber (ESS). However, effects of the materials and dimensions of different electrodes on droplet charging efficiency have not been studied systematically. In this study, ring-shaped electrodes were selected to test effects of three types of electrode materials (copper, stainless steel, and graphite) with various dimensions on droplet charging efficiency. A Faraday pail charge measurement device was used to measure the droplet charge generated by the electrodes. A reduced factorial design with four factors was used in this study to investigate the charging efficiency affected by the factors. The four factors tested were electrode material, electrode diameter, nozzle height, and applied voltage. A 304L stainless steel electrode was found to achieve higher droplet charge-to-mass ratio (CMR) values than identically shaped electrodes made from either copper or graphite. The optimal stainless steel electrode inner diameter was 100 mm. The 304L stainless-steel electrode with this optimal diameter and a height of 45 mm achieved the highest mean CMR of 0.435 ± 0.002 mC kg−1 at an applied voltage of −11 kV with the bottom of the nozzle tip positioned 15 mm below the top of the electrode. Implications Currently, the low removal efficiency of submicron particles cannot meet the environmental control requirements of industrial applications that may have significant concentrations of particulate matter (PM) in this size range. As stricter environmental regulations are increasingly enforced, there is an urgent need to efficiently remove submicron dust particles from the air. Experiments show that the dust capture process is improved by charging droplets in the spray separator and reducing the secondary escape of dust particles in the electrostatic precipitator Although high-voltage charging of droplets has been investigated in many studies, the effect of electrode material and size on droplet CMR is still not fully understood. The purpose of this study was to (1) quantify the performance of 304L stainless steel (304L SS), copper, and high-purity graphite electrodes for spray droplet CMR, (2) evaluate effects of the applied voltage, nozzle height, electrode material and dimension on CMR, and (3) optimize the specific values of key design factors and operating parameters that lead to the highest CMR. The results of this study aim to optimize electrostatic spray scrubbers to achieve high droplet CMR values. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In mines, the exhaust gas is mainly discharged from main ventilators in free dissipation state. The effective recovery of its kinetic energy is lucrative from economical and technical standpoints. This study is focused on recovering the kinetic energy of the exhaust gas without deteriorating the main ventilator's safe operation or increasing power dissipation. The related experiments and numerical simulations were performed for the conical diffusers with diffusing angles of 16° and inlet diameters of 220 and 320 mm, respectively. By examining the start-up and operation states of the wind turbines using inlet collectors with conical, circular arc, and cone-arc shapes, it was found that the wind speed at the inlet of the drainage tube exceeded 4 and 20 m/s at the minimal and maximal distances from the wind turbine, respectively. The wind speed at the overflow tube outlet was no less than 1.8 m/s, proving a certain recovery of kinetic energy by the wind turbine. Thus, the critical distance between the diffuser and the inlet collector should be at least four times the diffuser's inlet diameter. Finally, the velocity, pressure, and flow fields in the vortex core regions of the kinetic recovery system with different types of inlet collectors were simulated with the FLUENT commercial software package. The simulation results revealed that the circular-arc collector outperformed other three tested configurations in kinetic energy recovery. Implications: This study is focused on recovering the kinetic energy of the exhaust gas without deteriorating the main ventilator's safe operation or increasing power dissipation. China is a country with coal as its main energy source, which releases over ten billion cubic meters of the exhaust gas annually. In addition to low-concentration methane, there is also the exhaust gas released at a velocity of about 20 m/s, which kinetic energy recovery would be very lucrative. The significance of this study is that the mine's main ventilator outlet was simplified as two conical diffusers with parameters α=16°/n=2 and α=16°/n=2.5, and the optimal critical distance between the diffuser and the collector was determined as 4Di, where Di was the diffuser's inlet diameter. Under that optimal condition, the system can achieve the maximum power without affecting the ventilator's normal operation. It is instructive to make full use of and manage the exhaust gas in mine that fits the journal on the purpose of air waste management. Finally, we provide a statement serious that the article is original and unpublished and is not being considered for publication elsewhere. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

High-efficiency dust collection for open dust source has always been an important and difficult issue for air quality control at the workplace. This study performed simulations and experiments on three kinds of dust exhaust hoods, namely, updraft, side-draft and air-curtain exhaust hoods. Results show these three kinds of exhaust hoods varied significantly in dust-capturing efficiency. The dust-capturing efficiency of the updraft exhaust hood was the lowest (56.8%) while the air-curtain exhaust hood performed best in dust collection, with a dust-capturing efficiency of 93.8%. For a rectangular air-curtain exhaust hood with a size of 900 mm x 1200 mm, the dust-capturing efficiency first increased and gradually tended to stabilize with increasing air-curtain velocity and suction airflow rate. According to the present research results, the reasonable long-side air-curtain velocity and suction airflow rate were in the range 4 ~ 6.27 m/s and 5.4 ~ 9 m3/min, respectively. Under these conditions, dust-capturing efficiency can be as high as 79.6–86.5%. Implications: This study performed simulations and experiments on three kinds of dust exhaust hoods: updraft, side-draft and air-curtain. Simulation results show the dust-capturing efficiency of the air-curtain exhaust hood is best of 93.8%. Experimental results show under reasonable conditions, the dust-capturing efficiency of a rectangular air-curtain exhaust hood is 79.6–86.5%. This research is very meaningful, which not only has important innovation in the study of micro mechanism of dust collectors but provides powerful theoretical and experimental support for technological innovation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In order to reveal multiscale dynamic distribution characteristics of dust collectors in a wet scrubber, a method for scale decomposition of dust collectors based on Wigner–Ville distribution (WVD), empirical mode decomposition (EMD) and Hurst analysis of grayscale signals is reported. The WVD features of grayscale signals were used to observe the energy distribution details of dust collectors at different frequency bands and time periods. Then, the scale decomposition of dust collectors based on EMD and Hurst analysis of the grayscale signals was carried out. These analysis results showed that the motion behaviors of micro-, meso- and macro-scale subsets of dust collectors were determined: specifically, the single fractal features of micro-scale subsets conform to the motion characteristics of individual dust collectors. The dual fractal characteristics of meso-scale subsets denote the interactions among dust collector aggregations. Additionally, the fractal features of the macro-scale subsets reflect persistent liquid surface fluctuation behavior in wet scrubbers. Finally, the relative contribution of dust collectors at different scales to the effectiveness of dust removal was represented. This is not only an important innovation in the study of micro mechanism of wet dust removal but provides powerful theoretical support for technological innovations in wet scrubbers. Implications: The multiscale dynamic distribution characteristics of dust collectors in wet dust scrubber were explored, using a method for scale decomposition of dust collectors based on Wigner–Ville distribution, empirical mode decomposition and Hurst analysis of grayscale signals. The fractal characteristics of different scales of dust collectors are determined. Besides, the contribution of different scales of dust collectors to the effect of dust removal is quantized. Therefore, this research is very meaningful, which not only has important innovation in the study of micro mechanism of wet dust collectors but provides a powerful theoretical support for technological innovation of wet dust scrubbers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The spatial distribution of the collectors in dust scrubber is key in determining the effectiveness of the dust removal process. In the present study, a high-speed camera was used to capture images of the distribution of the collectors. Some of the image information was extracted by image processing, such as the gray mean (GM), the angular second moment (ASM), and the entropy (ENT) from the gray-level co-occurrence matrix of the image. Subsequently, the spatial distribution rules of the collectors were studied by analyzing the spatial proportion, dispersion area, and uniformity and intensiveness of the collectors. It is an intuitive approach and a novel analysis method for the operating state of dust scrubber. The results show that the spatial distribution of the collectors could be better reflected by image processing methods. The dispersion area of the collectors expanded with an increase in the airflow velocity. When the initial liquid level (ILL) was higher, the collectors expanded in an approximate circular shape, and when the ILL was lower the collectors expanded in an approximate sector shape. In general, the variation trend in the spatial proportion enhanced with an increase in ILL and airflow velocity, which is consistent with the uniformity of collectors. When the liquid level was 0−20 mm and the airflow velocity was greater than 6.5 m/sec, the spatial proportion and uniformity of the collectors reached the highest degree. However, the growth rate of the spatial proportion and uniformity of the collectors slowed down and even led to negative growth when the ILL was lower and the airflow velocity was higher. The intensiveness of the collectors was great when the ILL was higher, which was free from the apparent influence of the airflow velocity and the ILL. However, when the ILL was lower, the intensiveness of the collectors was poor, intensifying as the airflow velocity and ILL increased. When the liquid level was −5−10 mm and the airflow velocity was greater than 8 m/sec, the intensiveness of the collectors reached the highest degree, indicating that a liquid level greater than 0 mm and a higher airflow velocity improved the spatial distribution of the collectors. Implications: This paper focuses on the spatial distribution of the collectors in dust scrubber. Some of the image information was extracted by image processing, such as the gray mean of the image, the angular second moment, and the entropy from the gray-level co-occurrence matrix of the image. The spatial distribution rules of the collectors were studied by analyzing the spatial proportion, the dispersion area, and the uniformity and intensiveness of the collectors. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In order to address the bottleneck problem of low fine-particle removal efficiency of self-excited dust scrubbers, this paper is focused on the influence of the intermittent gas-liquid two-phase flow on the mesoscale behavior of collector aggregations. The latter is investigated by the application of high-speed dynamic image technology to the self-excited dust scrubber experimental setup. The real-time-scale monitoring of the dust removal process is provided to clarify its operating mechanism at the mesoscale level. The results obtained show that particulate capturing in self-excited dust scrubber is provided by liquid droplets, liquid films/curtains, bubbles, and their aggregations. Complex spatial and temporal structures are intrinsic to each kind of collector morphology, and these are considered as the major factors controlling the dust removal mechanism of self-excited dust scrubbers. For the specific parameters of gas-liquid two-phase flow under study, the evolution patterns of particular collectors reflect the intrinsic, intermittent, and complex characteristics of the temporal structure. The intermittent initiation of the collector and the air hole formation-collapse cyclic processes provide time and space for the fine dust to escape from being trapped by the collectors. The above mesoscale experimental data provide more insight into the factors reducing the dust removal efficiency of self-excited dust scrubbers. Implications: This paper focuses on the reconsideration of the capturer aggregations of self-excited dust scrubbers from the mesoscale. Complex structures in time and space scales exist in each kind of capturer morphology. With changes of operating parameters, the morphology and spatial distributions of capturers diversely change. The change of the capturer over time presents remarkable, intermittent, and complex characteristics of the temporal structure. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]