Separation and quantification of the particle removal mechanisms in the ionizing wet scrubber

Author

Vincent Adams

Date of Award

5-1997

Degree Type

Dissertation

Degree Name

Doctor of Philosophy

Major

Civil Engineering

Major Professor

Wayne Davis

Committee Members

Terry L. Miller, Marshall O. Pace, Mary S. Younger

Abstract

The primary objective of this study was to separate and quantify the electrostatic particle removal mechanisms in the Ionizing Wet Scrubber (IWS). The total particle removal in the IWS due to electrostatic forces, is effected by electrostatic precipitation in the Electrostatic Precipitator (ESP) section and image force attraction in the packed bed section. With test data obtained from a pilot IWS system, three predictive performance equations were developed to separately predict: (1) the penetration through the ESP section due to electrostatic precipitation; (2) the penetration through the packed bed due to image force attraction, for particles with a dimensionless image force parameter, K_M, of less than about 1x10^-6' (d_p < 1.5 μm); and (3) the penetration through the packed bed due to image force attraction, for particles having a K_M > 1x10-6 (d_p > 1.5 μm). The three models developed in this study are: (1) ESP (0.32≤d_p,≤3.16μp, and 5.6≤A/Q≤12.32 m²/m³/sec) (2) Image force (K_M<1x10^-6 or d_p < 1.5μm) (3) Image force for K_M>1x10^-6 (d_p >1.5μm) where P_ESP and P_IM are the fractional penetrations due to the ESP and image forces respectively, d_p is the particle physical diameter in μm, A is the collection surface area of the ESP plates in m², Q is the gas flow rate in m³/sec, K_M is the dimensionless image force parameter, σ is the packing density of the packed bed as a fraction, L is the length of the bed in meters, and D_F is the diameter of the target tellerette® filament in meters. The equations from this study were combined with the inertial impaction equation developed by Morse (1996), to obtain an overall predictive performance equation for the entire IWS system. Electrostatic removal in the ESP section was determined to be the predominant removal mechanism in the IWS. Each of the individual equations and the overall equation show fairly good agreement with the measured data obtained in this study. In addition, the overall equation was used to predict the performance of the field test conducted by Ensor and Harmon (1980) on an IWS system and there was reasonable agreement between the predicted results and the actual field test data.

Recommended Citation

Adams, Vincent, "Separation and quantification of the particle removal mechanisms in the ionizing wet scrubber. " PhD diss., University of Tennessee, 1997.
https://trace.tennessee.edu/utk_graddiss/9421