Operando investigation of particle re-entrainment mechanism in electrostatic capture process on the lab-on-a-chip

Inhalable particle is a harmful air pollutant that causes a significant threat to people's health and ecological environments,which should be removed to purify air,but there exists limited removal efficiency due to particle re-entrainment.Here,Operando observation system based on microscopic visualization method is developed to make in situ test of particle migration,deposition and re-entrainment characteristics on a lab-on-a-chip to achieve the investigation in micro-level scale.The deposition evolution of charged particles is recorded in electric field region intuitively,which confirms the fracture of particle chain occurs during the growth process of deposited particles.It captures the instantaneous process that a larger particle with micron size due to the coagulation of submicron particles fractures from main body of the particle chain for the first time.The analysis of migration behavior of a single submicron particle near electrode surface demonstrates the direct influence of drag force on the fracture of particle chain.This work is the first-time visualization of dynamic process and mechanism elucidation of particle re-entrainment at the micron level,and the findings will provide the theory support for the particle re-entrainment mechanism and bring inspires of enhancing capture efficiency of inhalable particle.

Fly Ash Resistivity Profiling for South African Coal Fired Power Stations

Particulate emission is a major problem in industrial processes, mainly power plants that make use of coal as a primary source of energy. Stringent emissions limits, set by government organisations requires industries to conform to these limits to ensure that air quality is sustained and with minimum pollutant present. Electrostatic precipitators are typically used to filter and collect these particulate emissions. Fly ash resistivity is a primary parameter in the collection of particulate emissions, and there is a resistivity range at which electrostatic precipitator collection is most efficient and anything outside this range limits, their operation. High resistivity ash results in back-corona discharge, whilst low resistivity results in particle re-entrainment into the flue gas stream. The purpose of this paper is to investigate and obtain a fly ash resistivity profile for existing power plants in South Africa. Ash samples obtained from power plants are, tested making use of an ash-resistivity test oven, in accordance with IEEE Standard 548-1984. This paper discusses obtained experimental results, to determine the resistivity profile at which South African power plant electrostatic precipitators operate. The electrical efficiency of the electrostatic precipitator system is evaluated based on the obtained resistivity profiles.

Dynamic flowsheet simulation of re-entrainment from particle layers formed inside electrostatic precipitators

Electrostatic precipitators clean away the particulate matter of exhaust gases in manifold industrial processes.Parameter studies of particle separation in the size range of several 100 nm to 25μm is of particular interest for the prediction of precipitation efficiencies and emissions.Models typically cover the transport of particles towards walls of the precipitator.However,no model yet covers the possible re-entrainment of particles from layers formed at the walls back into the gas flow.This study presents the implementation of a new time-resolving model for electrostatic precipitation utilizing a re-entrainment model.Experimental data support the results of modelling.The model uses a statistical approach based on properties of the particulate layer forming at the precipitator walls.The model is used for the analysis of the redispersion of particles in a laboratory-scale electrostatic precipitator(Sander,Gawor,&Fritsching,2018).Results show reduced precipitation efficiencies for particles larger than 5μm as particles have higher kinetic impact energies and lower bounding energy at the layer surface.Time dynamics reveal a steady-state behavior of the separation for CaCO3(limestone,trademark"Ulmer WeissR")while Al2O3(trademark"Pural NFR")precipitation is affected by layer buildup at the walls increasing over several minutes.

Review:Resuspension of wall deposits in spray dryers

Wall deposition occurs in spray dryers when dried or partially dried particles contact and adhere to the walls during operation, thus reducing the yield of product collected. Wall deposits also present a product contamination risk and a fire or explosion risk when spray drying products that oxidize exothermically, such as milk powder. Re-entrainment is the resuspension of spray dryer wall deposits into the main gas stream for collection as product. Literature suggests that the process for re-entrainment of particles from spray dryer wall deposits is strongly dependent on particle size and gas velocity.

Estimation of Collection Efficiency Depended on FeedParticle Concentration for Axial Flow Cyclone DustCollector

A cyclone dust collector is applied in many industries. Especially the axial flow cyclone is the mostsimple construction and it keeps high reliability for maintenance. On the other hand, the collectionefficiency of the cyclone depends not only on the inlet gas velocity but also on the feed particle concentration. The collection efficiency increases with increasing feed particle concentration. However untilnow the problem of how to estimate the collection efficiency depended on the feed particle concentrationis remained except the investigation by Muschelknautz & Brunner~[6]. Therefore in this paper one ofthe estimate method for the collection efficiency of the axial flow cyclones is proposed. The applicationto the geometrically similar type of cyclone of the body diameters D_1=30, 50, 69 and 99 mm showedin good agreement with the experimental results of the collection efficiencies which were described indetail in the paper by Ogawa & Sugiyama~[8].

Numerical investigation on fire-induced indoor and outdoor air pollutant dispersion in an idealized urban street canyon

Fire-induced pollutant dispersion under the influence of buoyancy in urban street canyons has attracted wide attention given its adverse impact on human health.This study analyzes the influences of fire source location and crossflowing wind(perpendicular to the canyon centerline)on indoor and outdoor air pollutant dispersion in an idealized urban street canyon by employing large eddy simulation.Three fire scenarios are defined according to the transverse location of the fire source:near the windward building(scenario 1),in the middle of the canyon(scenario 2),and near the leeward building(scenario 3).Results show that a re-entrainment phenomenon appears when the wind velocity reaches a critical value in scenarios 1 and 2,but it doesn't occur in scenario 3.Fire source location significantly influences the critical re-entrainment velocity.The critical velocity in scenario 1 is approximate 1.2-1.5 m/s larger than that in scenario 2.When the heat release rate is large,the critical Fr numbers are less sensitive to changes in HRR,and remain approximately constant with values of 0.47(scenario 1)and 0.37(scenario 2).When the wind velocity is large,more compartments are expected to be affected in the upper floors in all of the three scenarios,and smoke is distributed in an inverted triangle within the buildings.The indoor/outdoor temperature and pollutant concentrations are also analyzed.Our findings can provide valuable information for both human and property safety in relation to urban street canyons and their surrounding buildings.