Influence of wire spacing and plate spacing on electrostatic precipitation of nanoparticles: An approach involving electrostatic shielding and diffusion charging--颗粒学报PARTICUOLOGY

de Aquino Lima, F., & Guerra, V. G. (2023). Influence of wire spacing and plate spacing on electrostatic precipitation of nanoparticles: An approach involving electrostatic shielding and diffusion charging. Particuology, 80, 127-139. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.partic.2022.11.018

Influence of wire spacing and plate spacing on electrostatic precipitation of nanoparticles: An approach involving electrostatic shielding and diffusion charging

Felipe de Aquino Lima ^*, Vádila Giovana Guerra ^*

Department of Chemical Engineering, Federal University of São Carlos, Rodovia Washington Luís, Km 235, C.P. 676, CEP 13560-970, São Carlos, SP, Brazil

10.1016/j.partic.2022.11.018

Volume 80, September 2023, Pages 127-139

Received 5 August 2022, Revised 21 November 2022, Accepted 27 November 2022, Available online 5 December 2022, Version of Record 1 March 2023.

E-mail: felipedeaquinolima@gmail.com; vadila@ufscar.br

Highlights

• Evaluation of ESP geometric parameters in the efficiency of nanoparticle collection.

• A greater wire spacing or plate spacing promotes greater collection efficiency of nanoparticles.

• The plate and wire spacing affects the electrostatic shielding and diffusion charging phenomena.

• Electrical current increased with increasing wire spacing due to lower electrostatic shielding.

• A greater plate spacing reduces the electrostatic shielding and contributed to greater charging.

Abstract

Electrostatic precipitation is a process widely used as gas cleaning device, to removal particles from gas flows. However, in a conventional and well-sized precipitator, the collection efficiency decreases for ultrafine particles, making it difficult to employ this equipment for controlling nanoparticle pollution. This paper investigates the influence of plate spacing (4 and 6.5 cm) and wire spacing (4, 6, and 12 cm) on the electric current and nanoparticle collection efficiency, considering the effect of diffusion charging and electrostatic shielding. Two laboratory-scale dry wire-plate electrostatic precipitators with different plate spacings were tested for the collection of nanoparticles (6.15–241.4 nm) at three air velocities (1.9, 2.9, and 3.9 cm/s). The results demonstrated the effectiveness of the equipment in removing nanoparticles (99.9%) under the highest electric fields. Higher values of the wire spacing led to increases in the current and the collection efficiency. This was associated with reduced electrostatic shielding, which is more evident in smaller ducts with a higher density of field lines. It is expected that the findings should improve knowledge on electrostatic precipitation of nanoparticles, enabling optimization of collection efficiency by considering the effects of geometric parameters.

Graphical abstract

Keywords

Electrostatic precipitation; Nanoparticles; Collection efficiency; Plate spacing; Wire spacing

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