Application of acoustic agglomeration for fine particle emission control
Flue gases are routinely purged of their suspended fly ash burden by passing through (1) an electrostatic precipitator, (2) a scrubber, or (3) a fabric filter. These devices remove the coarser particles more efficiently than they do the finer. If the dusty gas were first pretreated by passing it through a sonic agglomerator, so that nearly all the finer particles were agglomerated into coarser ones before entering any of the above collector types, the overall collection efficiency would be improved. This report investigates the economic feasibility of such an approach. The investigation has been of a theoretical nature, supplemented by experiments on a laboratory scale, in order to evaluate sonic agglomeration constants with polystyrene latex particles, dioctyl phthalate particles, Fe/sub 2/O/sub 3/ particles, and others. The investigation indicates that intense acoustic fields cause the finer suspended particles to collide with the coarser ones in a process called orthokinetic interaction. To maintain the essential supply of coarse particles, the use of a spray to inject droplets into the sonic field appears to be helpful. The results clearly indicate that the sonic agglomerator, when viewed as a prospective auxiliary to present day electrostatic precipitators, is not an economically attractive option due to the high power requirements. In a typical modern pulverized-coal-firing utility station with a gas flow rate of 1 million ft/sup 3//min, the agglomerator would require about 1000 hp. This is certainly more power than used by current fabric-filter technology, which meets all proposed emission and opacity standards. Moreover, with the required intense sound levels of 150 decibels, sound muffling problems become serious. Assuming that a sonic agglomerator in tandem with an electrostatic precipitator would meet emissions standards at a power station, there would be sound-level code violations unless elaborate and expensive sound-deadening measures were used.
- Research Organization:
- State Univ. of New York, Buffalo (USA)
- OSTI ID:
- 6562500
- Report Number(s):
- EPRI-FP-887
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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Related Subjects
01 COAL, LIGNITE, AND PEAT
FLUE GAS
CLEANING
FLY ASH
REMOVAL
FOSSIL-FUEL POWER PLANTS
PARTICLES
AGGLOMERATION
ACOUSTICS
AIR POLLUTION CONTROL
ECONOMICS
ELECTROSTATIC PRECIPITATORS
FEASIBILITY STUDIES
FILTERS
SCRUBBERS
AEROSOL WASTES
EQUIPMENT
GASEOUS WASTES
POLLUTION CONTROL
POLLUTION CONTROL EQUIPMENT
POWER PLANTS
THERMAL POWER PLANTS
WASTES
200202* - Fossil-Fueled Power Plants- Waste Management- Noxious Gas & Particulate Emissions
010800 - Coal
Lignite
& Peat- Waste Management