Determinação da carga eletrostática em aerossóis e seu efeito na filtração de gases.

Abstract

It has been shown that the presence of electrostatic charges in particles affects significantly the performance of a filter, both increasing collection efficiency and reducing pressure drop. The aim of the present work is to verify the influence of the charge level on collection efficiency during the first stages of filtration. A charge classifier was used to measure the charge level of the aerosol as a function of particle diameter. The filtration unit was made of polypropylene with 600 g/m2 weighing, and had a diameter of 0.047 m and a thickness of 0.0026 m. The solid used was a phosphate rock (density 2940 kg/m3 and average Stokes diameter of 3.40 mm). The aerosol was dispersed by a TSI Venturi type generator, model SSPD 3433. The particle charging was achieved by a corona. In all the tests a linear relation between the particles acquired charge and their diameter was observed. A gradual increase of the charge level was observed with an increase of the tension in the corona charger (0, -3, -6 kV). The filtration results indicated that the global collection efficiency of the filter was very sensitive to the variation of the charge level of the particles. Both efficiency and pressure drop increased when the charge level increased. During the tests, the small increase in pressure drop was evidence that the cake had not yet been formed.