Effects of electrode materials and dimensions of an electrostatic spray scrubber on water droplet charging for dust removal

ABSTRACT

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.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Data availability statement

The data that support the findings of this study are available from the corresponding author and can be shared upon reasonable request.

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by the USDA-NIFA Grant [2016-67021-24434].