Estudo do desempenho de um precipitador eletrostático operando na captura de partículas submicrométricas e nanométricas.

Abstract

The removal of submicron particles from gaseous streams is becoming an increasingly important operation, both in industrial (nanotechnology) as well as in occupational (inhalation of particula te matter) applications. Among the equipments commonly employed for the removal of particula tes of the gaseous stream, the electrostatic precipitator, ESP, is the one capable of removing particles of such size with high efficiency. Furthermore, it has other advantages as the low pressure drop and the flexibility of working at higher temperatures. Therefore, the objective of this research was to evaluate the influence of operational and design parameters in the efficiency of particle removal of a plate-wire ESP operating in the removal of submicron particles. The precipitator was built in acrylic, with copper plates as collecting electrodes and stainless steel wires as discharge electrodes. The study was divided in two stages: the first studied the collection of PM2.5 (high risk particle matter), using alumina, with median diameter of 0.6 mm and maximum diameter of 2.5 mm as test powder, while the stage 2 focused the nanometric range, utilizing particles of sodium chloride, with diameters between 8 and 100 nm. In stage 1, the project parameters analyzed were duct length (L), diameter of the discharge electrodes (2r) and spacing between them (2c); the operational variables were the electric field (E) and the air velocity (v). Each variable was evaluated in two levels, whose values were Lne = 15 and 30 cm; 2r = 0.045 and 0.025 cm; 2c = 4 and 2 cm; E = 5 and 8 kV/cm and, finally, v = 0.5 and 1.0 m/s. The process performance was evaluated through the analysis of the global efficiency of removal of the particula te matter, obtained through isokinetic sampling. In stage 2, the project parameter analyzed were the duct length (Lne), the ratio s/2c and the distance between the collection plates (2s) and the operational variables were the air velocity (v) and current density (j). Each operation variable was evaluated in three levels, whose values were v = 0.125, 0.25 and 0.50 m/s and j = 1.8, 2.8 and 3.8 mA/m2. The project parameters were studied in two leve ls, Lne = 15 and 30 cm and 2s = 0.04 and 0.06 m. The process performance was evaluated through the analysis of the removal efficiency of the particulates obtained by particle counting, with the use of the Condensation Particle Counter 3007, from TSI. It was observed that the precipitator possesses high collection efficiency, even in the nanometric size range, were efficiencies larger than 99% were obtained, depending on the used configuration. As expected, the increase in air velocity, as well as the decrease of the collecting plate length and of the generated current caused a decrease in the efficiency. Conversely, larger spacing between plates resulted in an increment in the efficiency, phenomenon also observed by some other researchers for larger particles. The ratio s/2c did not show a clear tendency in particle removal. When compared to models from the literature, the one that offered the better adjustment to the experimental data was the classic Deutsch model when used with a drag coefficient given by a modified version of the Li and Wang (2003a e b) equation.