Particle removal electrostatic precipitators

Figure 11.3 Electrostatic precipitation can be used to remove fine particles. (Reproduced with permission from Stenhouse, Pollution Control, in Teja, Chemical Engineering and the Enuironment, Blackwell Scientific Publications, Oxford, U.K., 1981.)...

The gas, along with entrained ash and char particles, which are subjected to further gasification in the large space above the fluid bed, exit the gasifier at 954—1010°C. The hot gas is passed through a waste-heat boiler to recover the sensible heat, and then through a dry cyclone. SoHd particles are removed in both units. The gas is further cooled and cleaned by wet scmbbing, and if required, an electrostatic precipitator is included in the gas-treatment stream. 

N2, and traces of PH, CO2, E, and S large furnaces generate off-gas at a rate of about 120—180 m /min. In most installations the off-gas is passed through a series of Cottrell electrostatic precipitators which remove 80—95% of the dust particles. The precipitators ate operated at temperatures above the 180°C dew point of the phosphoms. The collected dust is either handled as a water slurry or treated dry. Einal disposal is to a landfill or the dust is partially recycled back to the process. The phosphoms is typically condensed in closed spray towers that maintain spray water temperatures between 20 and 60°C. The condensed product along with the accompanying spray water is processed in sumps where the water is separated and recycled to the spray condenser, and the phosphoms and impurities ate settled for subsequent purification. 

To reduce catalyst losses even further, additional separation equipment external to the regenerator can be installed. Such equipment includes third-stage cyclones, electrostatic precipitators, and more recentiy the Shell multitube separator, which is Hcensed by the Shell Oil Co., UOP, and the M. W. Kellogg Co. The Shell separator removes an additional 70—80% of the catalyst fines leaving the first two cyclones. Such a third-stage separator essentially removes from the due gas stream all particles greater than 10 p.m (36). 

Recovered catalyst and blowdown gas (- 3% of the flue gas) exit from the bottom of the separator to an electrostatic precipitator or to a small, fourth-stage cyclone for further concentration of catalyst fines. The flue gas, with 70—90% of the catalyst particles removed, passes from the separator into the power expander. 

Small solid particles, present in dust and grit emissions, have very low settling velocities (Table 4.4) The collection efficiencies of simple cyclones are tlierefore, as shown in Figure 17.3, relatively low. Fabric filters, electrostatic precipitators or wet scrubbers may be required to remove particles <5 pm in size with an acceptable efficiency. Therefore the cost of pollution control inevitably increases when dealing with particle size distributions skewed towards the lower end. 

Electrostatic precipitators (ESPs) remove particles by using an electrostatic field to attract the particles onto the electrodes. Collection efficiencies for well-designed. 

A very important parr of the gas-deatimg process is the removal of the collected particles from the cleaning system. This should be as controlled as possible in order to avoid particle reenrrainmenr to the gas flow. This can be accomplished in the case of liquid particles such as acid fume or tar or oil smoke. olid particles are normally removed by periodic rapping of discharge and collection electrodes. Solid particles can also be removed with the aid of water, as is done in wet electrostatic precipitators. 

Electrostatic precipitator A filtering system for the removal of particles from an air stream by giving them an electrical charge. The charged particles are attracted to plates of opposite polarity onto which they adhere. The precipitators are classified as... 

Electrostatic precipitators are satisfactory devices for removing small particles from moving gas streams at high collection efficiencies. They have been used almost universally in power plants for removing fly ash from the gases prior to discharge. Electrostatic precipitators have the capability of fine particulate control. Resistivity plays an important role in determining whether a particle can be readily collected in this device. 

Even with proper operation of the reactor and regenerator cyclones, catalyst particles smaller than 20 microns still escape from both of these vessels. The catalyst fines from the reactor collect in the fractionator bottoms slurry product storage tank. The recoverable catalyst fines exiting the regenerator are removed by the electrostatic precipitator or lost to the environment. Catalyst losses are related to ... 

Very fine particles such as smokes can be caught by electrostatic precipitation. A high voltage is applied to plates or wires within the filter bank, to impart a static charge to dirt particles. These will then be attracted to earthed plates, and adhere to them. Impurities are generally cleaned off the plates by removing the stack and washing. 

Ash particles produced in coal combustion are controlled by passing the flue gases through electrostatic precipitators. Since most of the mass of particulate matter is removed by these devices, ash received relatively little attention as an air pollutant until it was shown that the concentrations of many toxic species in the ash particles increase as particle size decreases. Particle removal techniques become less efiective as particle size decreases to the 0.1-0.5 pm range, so that particles in this size range that escape contain disproportionately high concentrations of toxic substances. 

Methods of dust removal depend mainly on the particle size of the dust and the temperature and moisture content of the gas. The methods used are broadly divided into dry methods and wet methods. The dry methods involve the use of gravity and baffle chambers, cyclones, filters, and electrostatic precipitators, while the wet methods involve the use of spray towers and venturi scrubbers. In principle, wet cleaning is preferred to dry cleaning because of the excessive wear associated with and the difficulty in handling the fine dusty material removed in the dry methods. The wet methods, however, must be followed by such operations as filtration, drying of filter cakes, and recycling of water. 

After the pyrolysis gas stream passes through a cyclone and removes entrained particles, it is quenched in a tower to condense the final oil products or CDL . The tower is designed to prevent water condensation electrostatic precipitators (ESPs) recover any remaining liquid droplets and mist from the gas leaving the tower. 

Airborne particles, bacteria, fungi spores and allergens will be removed by air filtration, which is often cheaper and more effective than electrostatic precipitators and ionizers. A disposable, high-efficiency filter capable of removing at least 95 percent of particles with size down to 0.3 micron will be installed. A washable coarse filter that removes fifty percent of particles larger than 10 microns will be used as a pre-filter to extend the life of the high efficiency filter by at least a third. An inexpensive sensor will be included to indicate when filter replacement is necessary. 

Figure 9. Reduction in number of dust particles in card room as a function of diameter. Fraction removed compared with control when processing cotton with 0.60% Milube N-32 applied fn), 0.48% Texspray applied fAl, and electrostatic precipitator in filter system (O).

Electrostatic precipitators and baghouses are used to catch dust particles containing metals. Electrostatic precipitators use an electrical field to remove the particles. Baghouses use fiberglass filters, similar to vacuum cleaner bags, to catch them. The majority of theses particles, called cement kiln dust (CKD), are trapped by this equipment and returned to the kiln for incorporation into the cement clinker. Under USEPA s BIF rule. Southdown tests its cement kiln dust to judge whether it is hazardous. If the CKD does not meet the standards set under the BIF rule, it must be disposed of in accordance with USEPA s strict hazardous waste regulations. For that reason. Southdown does not accept fuels that would cause the waste CKD to fail this test. 

The TSS has less potential for maximum emission control as the WGS and electrostatic precipitator (ESP). While all three technologies were designed to meet NSPS/ MACT, only the WGS and ESP can meet more stringent requirements. TSS performance can typically achieve d50 grade efficiency down to 2 microns. Most reported performance values result in emissions of 0.4-0.8 Ib/Mlb coke. Future PM2 5 regulations are a concern for TSS applications. By definition, TSS units cannot effectively remove small particles due to the cyclonic operation. 

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