Patent Application: US-60968209-A

Abstract:
cyclones with electrostatically enhanced recirculation , comprising a collector cyclone and an entry for dirty gases , located upstream from a recirculator and a central exhaust channel for exhausting cleaned gases . cyclones are placed in series and have a recirculation line from the concentrator to the collector to recirculate part of the gas stream . recirculator has means for applying a high voltage producing an ionizing electric field driving particles away from cec , without significant particle deposition on recirculator walls . current density in the recirculator field is below 0 . 1 ma / m . 2 average electric field is below 2 × i0 5 v / m . particles are driven away from cec in the recirculator by joint action of mechanical / electrical forces , the latter deriving from particles traversing the ionized field , concentrating them in the fraction of gas stream recycled back to the collector cyclone , where a part is captured . uses include dedusting , dry gas cleaning , and capturing bacteria .

Description:
fig1 is a schematic representation of a cyclone system with purely mechanical recirculation is comprised of a reverse - flow cyclone called a collector ( col ), of a straight - through cyclone called a concentrator ( con ), located downstream , and of a recirculation system with a blower , venturi or ejector , as described in the state - of - the - art . fig2 is a schematic representation of the device according to the invention comprising a reverse - flow cyclone called a collector ( col ), a straight - through cyclone called a concentrator or electrostatic recirculator ( con ), located downstream , electrified by a high voltage dc power supply ( at ) ( with reference to the nominal diameters of the collector and concentrator ( di , d 2 )), and a recirculation system , which can be a blower , venturi or ejector . such representation serves merely the purpose of exemplification and should not be limitative , and one can see where the dirty gas enters ( gs ), where the captured particles exit ( p ), and where the cleaned gas exits ( gl ). it has been discovered that the main difference between the invention and cyclones , with recirculation of the state - of - art ( with purely mechanical recirculation ) as shown in fig1 , is the electrification of the concentrator . however , the voltage ( at ) applied to the discharge electrode , the diameter of the discharge electrode , and the distance between it and the concentrator wall , are all combined to originate a current density below approximately 0 . 1 ma / m 2 . this confers characteristics to the device completely different from ones of a conventional esp . the concept of the invention is depicted in fig3 and 4 . fig3 shows a graph of global efficiencies ( η ) for the system of fig2 , showing that the efficiency of the system is always larger than that of the stand - alone collector ( ηcoi ) and that increasing the concentrator efficiency ( η c on ) will increase the system efficiency ( η ). fig4 shows a graph of grade - efficiencies ( efficiency depending on particle size [ diameter ( φ )] for the concentrators of fig1 and 2 ( curves 1 and 2 respectively )) showing that the electrostatic recirculation efficiency ( η ) is much superior to the purely mechanical recirculation efficiency ( η ), while particle deposition on the walls ( η ) for fine particles is negligible ( curve 3 ). this figure was obtained through simulation , using results obtained experimentally in a full - scale facility with mechanical recirculation , and extrapolating for electrostatic recirculation using appropriate theories ( salcedo , 1981 ). it is established through fig4 , that with an electrostatic concentrator according to the invention ( also called herein electrostatic recirculator ), particle deposition on the walls is very low for fine particles ( curve 3 ), which are the ones escaping from the collector cyclone and entering the concentrator , and that there is a remarkable increase in recirculation efficiency back to the reverse - flow cyclone . the electrostatic recirculation efficiency ( curve 2 ) is much superior to the purely mechanical one ( curve 1 ), especially for submicrometer particles , thus increasing the term η con , in eq . [ i ]. fig3 in turn shows the beneficial effect of increasing the term η con in the global efficiency η . the proposed concept of electrostatic recirculation , which apparently resembles esps when schematically shown ( fig2 ), presents considerable differences in relation to conventional esps , even if using one device ( i . e ., the electrostatic recirculator ). these differences are apparent from curve 3 of fig4 . other differences are : 1 . tubular esps are vertical , so that particles captured on the walls may be removed through the base . the proposed recirculator may be oriented in any position , including horizontal , since it is not intended to operate as a particle collector . 2 . tubular esps have a system for vibrating , hammering , or washing the walls , to remove deposited particles . such is not the case for the proposed concentrator , since it does not need any dust layer removal device . 3 . tubular esps have dust hoppers to collect particles dislodged from their walls . the proposed concentrator does not need any hopper , since it is not a collector ( this task is left to the reverse - flow cyclone located upstream from the concentrator ). 4 . tubular esps operate with high electric fields (& gt ; 5 × io 5 v / m ) so that current density is high (& gt ; 1 ma / m 2 ), leading to a large migration rate ( w ) of particles towards the collection electrode (& lt ;& lt ; 0 . 1 - 1 m / s for particle diameters between 0 . 1 - 10 μm ) and large collection efficiencies (& gt ; 95 %). this is achieved by spacing apart the electrodes over a distance of around 200 mm ( typically between 150 - 250 mm / parker , 1997 ) for applied maximum voltages in the order of 60 - 70 kv . such is not the case with the proposed recirculator , in which the spacing apart distance between the electrodes is very large (& lt ;& lt ; 450 - 600 mm ). with maximum applied voltages in the order of 50 kv , the electric field produced is low (& lt ; 2 × io 5 v / m ), with low current densities (& lt ; 0 . 1 ma / m 2 ) originating low migration velocities of particles toward the walls (& lt ;& lt ; 0 . 01 - 0 . 05 m / s for particle diameters between 0 . 1 - 10 μm ), and very low particle deposition on the walls ( ideally , particle deposition on recirculator walls should be zero ). if the electrostatic component of the electrostatic recirculator malfunctions , mechanical recirculation is still operational . on the contrary , failure of the electrified fields in esps completely compromises the efficiency of these devices and their use as particles removers . (**) - for particle size distributions emitted by biomass boilers ( wood waste ) fig5 shows that , for the electrostatic concentrator , the particle migration velocity ( w ) towards the walls for a wide range of particle diameters ( φ ) only has values close to those obtained with esps if the applied voltage is over 200 kv . fig6 shows that , for the electrostatic concentrator ; the particle retention efficiency ( η ) on the walls ( which in the case of the invention should be minimized ), depending on their size [ diameter ( φ )], only has values close to those obtained with esps if the applied voltage is over 200 kv . in fig5 and 6 , dots represent typical values for esps ( parker , 1997 ). the continuous curve represents the device according to the invention when operating at 50 kv , and the interrupted curve represents the tension of about 200 kv that would be necessary to apply ( simulation ) to the device according to the invention to bring its behaviour close to that of conventional esps , both in terms of particle migration velocity and particle collection efficiency on the walls , respectively . said fig5 and 6 show that , to obtain migration velocities ( w ) and collection efficiencies ( η ) typical of esps ( parker , 1997 ), it would be necessary to operate the recirculator proposed in the invention at about 200 - 300 kv . such extreme voltages are never used in esps due to cost and safety reasons . on the other hand , the differences between the device according to the invention ( in which the recirculator is electrified ) and the electrified collectors ( inverted reverse - flow cyclones ) from the state - of - art are shown in table ii below . table ii presents the cyclone diameters and corresponding volumes necessary to have a discharge wire length measured between the lower end of the vortex tube and the beginning of the cone of 2 . 7 m , which is considered a typical value occurring in an electrostatic concentrator ( recirculator ) according to the invention and designed for industrial applications when considering an electrostatic concentrator with nominal diameter ( d 2 ) of 0 . 6 m and corresponding volume of 1 . 13 m 3 . the volume necessary to maintain the electrostatic effect increases drastically when changing from low to high and very - high efficiency cyclones . the coupling in a reverse - flow cyclone between purely mechanical capture and mixed mechanical - electrical capture is not industrially practical because the cyclones would be huge or mechanically inefficient , thus making them similar to purely esps . as explained before , the concentrator ( electrostatic recirculator ) according to the invention , is either partially or totally crossed on its length by an electrode or a system of discharge electrodes , connected to a high voltage supply and properly electrically insulated . the discharge only occurs at the concentrator ( recirculator ) and its walls . the reverse - flow collector cyclone and connective piping should be appropriately grounded . the three components are connected as follows : the gas to be treated or cleaned enters the reverse - flow cyclone where a fraction of particles are caught . the particles escaping collection enter ( along with the total gas flow ) the concentrator cyclone ( electrostatic recirculator ) where a small fraction of the gas with a substantial fraction of the uncollected particles is recirculated back to the reverse - flow cyclone through the blower , venturi or ejector . said substantial fraction of the uncollected particle is concentrated more efficiently by applying an ionized electric field in the concentrator , as opposed to a purely mechanical recirculation . the concentrator should operate at an applied voltage that allows for some electric current between the discharge electrodes and its walls while particle deposition on the recirculator walls should be minimized . such is obtained for current densities of about 0 . 1 ma / m 2 or below . to better understand these phenomena , the proposed system was modeled using a computer program based on the finite diffusivity theory of mothes and loffler ( 1988 ), which is the best theory currently available ( on a diagnosis level ) for the simulation of particle capture in reverse - flow cyclones . since this model requires knowledge about the particle turbulent dispersion coefficients , these were obtained using an adequate correlation ( salcedo and coelho , 1999 ). fig . a shows the predicted grade - efficiency curves ( efficiency depending on particle size ) for the proposed system at industrial scale when compared to the all - mechanical recirculator . both treat the same gas flowrate and particles . a significant increase in recirculation efficiency is obtained for most of the smaller particles . this causes the system &# 39 ; s global efficiency to increase significantly . for example , using the same data used in fig4 , it is predicted that simply with mechanical recirculation , the global efficiency ( η ) is about 83 . 2 %, while with electrostatic recirculation it would be about 94 . 7 %, thereby leading to emission reductions of 68 %. as the electrostatic effect in the recirculator is favoured by a longer particle charging time , it is better to operate the system at low gas velocities so that the total pressure drop , and consequently the operating costs , are reduced compared to the all - mechanical recirculation system . the use of a venturi for recirculation allows for use at very high temperatures , provided that the gas flowrate is not too high . for higher gas flowrates , one may use appropriate ejectors or a secondary blower . these systems may also be used for economically dry cleaning of acid gases , since they will partially recirculate the solid reactant ( partially converted to solid product ) back to the reverse - flow cyclone . efficient processes for dedusting flue gases and / or dry cleaning of gaseous components of flue gases , especially , acid gases such as hcl ( hydrogen chloride ), hf ( hydrogen fluoride ), so 2 ( sulfur dioxide ) and no ( nitrogen oxides ), are obtained by making these gaseous streams traverse a cyclone system with cyclones in a series , where the collector precedes the electrified concentrator , and where there is a recirculation loop from the concentrator back to the collector , and in the case of dry gas cleaning , an injection ( not shown in the figures ) of an appropriate solid sorbent ( e . g . in finely divided form ) upstream from the collector or from the recirculation blower , venturi or ejector . as previously shown , the efficiency of the system according to the present invention is always larger than the efficiency of the devices of the state - of - art ( fig3 and 4 ), where the recirculator is not electrified . the practical examples given below will corroborate the increase in efficiency ( fig7 - 9 ). due to the efficient recirculation loop , the system according to the invention may also be used with great advantage to substitute reactors presently used ( e . g ., spray - dryer or venturi rectors ) for dry cleaning of acid gases , and makes it possible to design extremely compact and highly efficient units , both for acid gas removal and for the use of unreacted sorbent . the electrostatic recirculator may be used in any orientation , even horizontally ; there is no need for complicated systems for particle removal from its walls , since the deposition is intrinsically minimized : by , inter alia , the high interelectrode spacing apart that is characteristic of the device according to the invention ; there is no need for dust hoppers in the recirculator , since the collector is a reverse - flow cyclone ; uses voltage levels commonly used in esps , or even lower ; does not suffer from problems related either to low or high dust resistivity ; has the capability of recirculation through blower , venturi or ejector ; has the capability of removing particles and / or dry cleaning acid gases from flue gases ; has the capability of operating at very high temperatures , through the use of a venturi or ejector for recirculation ; it has no moving parts , in the case of recirculation provided by a venturi or ejector ; and acts as an all - mechanical recirculation cyclone system , in the event of high - voltage failure ( e . g . discharge electrode rupture ). a pilot - scale unit was built to demonstrate the capability of electrostatic recirculation of the system through the use of a blower for promoting mechanical recirculation and a high - voltage source for promoting electrostatic recirculation . fig7 - 8 show , depending on particle diameter [ diameter φ ], the efficiencies ( η ) obtained at pilot scale , respectively for the stand - alone cyclone ( curve 0 ), for the all - mechanical recirculation ( curve 1 ), and for the electrostatic recirculation ( curve 2 ), for two extreme conditions : a very low pressure drop in the cyclone ( 400 pa ) [ fig7 ], and a typical pressure drop in the cyclone ( 1620 pa ) [ fig8 ]. such figures , representing data obtained by feeding the cyclone with very thin airborne particles ( mass median from 1 . 8 to 2 . 3 μm ), show that the global efficiency of the system with electrostatic recirculation ( curve 2 ) is always significantly larger than that with an all - mechanical one ; however , especially for a low pressure drop in the cyclone , that is for low velocity which corresponds to high residence time . in other words , the electrostatic recirculation is mostly better than all - mechanical recirculation in situations where the all - mechanical recirculation is less efficient . fig9 shows the cyclone cut - diameters ( d50 ), depending on the average air velocity ( u ) entering the cyclone , for three situations : filled dots ( curve 0 ) represent the standalone collector cyclone ; hollow dots ( curve 1 ) represent the mechanical recirculation ; and squares ( curve 2 ) represent the additional electrostatic recirculation . this figure shows the difference in the cyclone cut diameters ( particle diameters for which cyclone efficiency is 50 %), for the same particles when mechanical ( 1 ) or electrostatic ( 2 ) recirculation is applied . electrostatic recirculation is clearly more advantageous , presenting smaller cut diameters for the same entrance velocity of gas in the cyclone . fig1 shows the average increase in particle capture efficiency ( δη ) obtained at pilot - scale , depending on particle size [ diameter ( φ )], when all - mechanical recirculation ( curve 1 ) or electrostatic recirculation ( curve 2 ) is applied . this figure shows the average increase in efficiency of a series of runs over that of the stand - alone collector cyclone . once more , electrostatic recirculation ( 2 ) represents a marked increase in efficiency over all - mechanical recirculation ( 1 ). experiments made with industrial fly ash emitted from wood and cork waste boilers confirm the results obtained with airborne particles . fig1 shows the efficiency ( η ) for dicalcium phosphate particles with a median volume diameter of 6 . 2 μm , with all - mechanical recirculation ( hollow dots , 1 ), and with electrostatic recirculation ( filled dots , 2 ), for various velocities ( u ) of the flue gas . fig1 shows the efficiency ( η ) for iron ore blast furnace particles with a median volume diameter of 7 . 5 μm , with all - mechanical recirculation ( hollow dots , 1 ), and with electrostatic recirculation ( filled dots , 2 ), for various velocities ( u ) of the flue gas . fig1 shows the efficiency ( η ) for phosphorite particles with a median volume diameter of 13 . 2 μm , with all - mechanical recirculation ( hollow dots , 1 ), and with electrostatic recirculation ( filled dots , 2 ), for various velocities ( u ) of the flue gas . therefore , it has been established that the proposed system can significantly reduce particulate emissions when compared to reverse - flow cyclones or other recirculation systems with the concentrator upstream or downstream from the collector . the use of very high efficiency designs for the collector ( viz . the design described in said patent ep0972572 ) allows the proposed system to compete in efficiency with more costly equipment ( scrubbers , venturis , bagfilters and esps ), even in terms of particle sizes below approximately 0 . 5 μm . furthermore there is the additional advantage of operation at very high temperatures , and for the dry cleaning of acid gases by employing an appropriate dry sorbent injection , in particular powders . the development of dedusters with efficiencies significantly above those of current cyclones or recirculation cyclone systems , using simple and inexpensive technologies , mainly for particle sizes below 2 - 3 μm in diameter , has a great potential for industrial usage . several industries ( wood , metals , cement , chemical , solid - fuel and biomass boilers ) could benefit from low cost devices and with sufficient efficiency to avoid the need to use more expensive dedusters , such as bagfilters and esps . likewise , the automotive industry , in its search for cleaner emissions from diesel engines could benefit from a device such as that proposed here , usable at high temperatures and without any moving parts . the proposed system can also be used with great advantage , as opposed to the presently available reactors for the dry cleaning of acid gases , such as hcl , hf , so2 and no x ( nitrogen oxides ). with the proposed system , it is possible to design very compact units with high collection efficiency , both in removing acid gases and in the reuse of unspent sorbent due to the electrostatic recirculation loop . finally , as seen in fig1 , the device and process according to the invention are so efficient in capturing small particles that they can be used , for example , for capturing airborne bacteria . fig1 shows , very schematically , the comparative result in capturing airborne bacteria based on the counting of colony forming units at the end of two ( d = 2 ) and six ( d = 6 ) days . fig1 compares a pilot electrostatic recirculation system operating at 50 kv , according to the invention ( 2 ), an all - mechanical recirculation system ( 1 ), and a stand - alone cyclone ( 0 ), to a sample of fresh air entering the system . the number of cfu shown in the figure is given by the value of n , one cfu being one colony - forming unit . it has been established that there is a ( bacteria ) capture efficiency of approximately 90 % deriving from the fact that there are 8 colonies entering the system ( fresh air ) after 2 days of incubation , and only one exiting ( with electrostatic recirculation ), resulting in η = 87 . 5 %. furthermore , there are more than 50 colonies entering the system after 6 days of incubation , and only 4 exiting , resulting in η & gt ; 92 . 0 %, representing an ( approximate ) average efficiency value of 90 %. there is a further embodiment of the invention that is not shown in the figures , and that is characterized in that , in parallel with the straight - through cyclone concentrator ( recirculator , con ) having the electrical means for providing an ionizing high tension ( at ), there are other straight - through concentrator cyclone ( s ) ( recirculator ( s )) having the electrical means for providing an ionizing high tension . this constitutes a parallel multi - electrostatic recirculator arrangement where all are fed by the same reverse - flow cyclone ( col ) placed upstream from such arrangement and recirculating a fraction of the respective gaseous stream ( concentrated in particles ) back to this cyclone collector . this parallel arrangement of recirculators lowers the velocity in each recirculator , providing for added residence time and added charging of the particles ( fig1 - 13 ; filled circles ( 2 )). another embodiment of the invention , which is also not represented in the figures , is characterized in that , in a series with the straight - through concentrator cyclone ( recirculator , con ) having the electrical means for providing an ionizing high tension ( at ), there are other straight - through concentrator cyclone ( s ) ( recirculator ( s )) having the electrical means for providing an ionizing high tension . this constitutes a serial multi - electrostatic recirculator arrangement where all are fed by the same reverse - flow cyclone ( col ) placed upstream from such arrangement , each concentrator recirculating a fraction of the gaseous stream ( concentrated in particles ) back to this collector cyclone . this serial arrangement of recirculators provides for added residence time and added charging of the particles ( fig1 - 13 ; filled circles ( 2 )). in this document , the use of the expression “ about ” or “ approximately ” when specifying the limit values for intervals referring to the invention , must be considered as comprising a 10 % variation on those same limits , such that the interval broadens . all features disclosed in this specification , including any accompanying claims , abstract , and drawings , may be replaced by alternative features serving the same , equivalent or similar purpose , unless expressly stated otherwise . thus , unless expressly stated otherwise , each feature disclosed is one example only of a generic series of equivalent or similar features . any element in a claim that does not explicitly state “ means for ” performing a specified function , or “ step for ” performing a specific function , is not to be interpreted as a “ means ” or “ step ” clause as specified in 35 u . s . c . § 112 , paragraph 6 . in particular , the use of “ step of ” in the claims herein is not intended to invoke the provisions of 35 u . s . c . § 112 , paragraph 6 . although preferred embodiments of the present invention have been shown and described , various modifications and substitutions may be made thereto without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention . accordingly , it is to be understood that the present invention has been described by way of illustration and not limitation . carminati , a ., a . lancia , d . pellegrini and g . volpiccelli , “ spray dryer absorption of hcl from flue gas ”, proc . 7 th world clean air congr ., 426 , 1986 . a . m . fonseca , j . m . órfao and r . l . salcedo , ̂ dry - 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