AIR POLLUTION CONTROL TECHNOLOGY (CEB 30403)

TITLE OF EXPERIMENT

PARTICULATE EMISSION CONTROL BY SPRAY CHAMBER

NAME : THEYVAN A/L GANESAN
ID

: 55201212141

LECTURER : DR. AMELIA

DATE OF EXPERIMENT : 2 MARCH 2015

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1.0 INTRODUCTION

This expermient was conducted to analyse the effect of droplet size upon separation efficiency of
the spray chamber unit, by using different nozzle. Spray chambers are categorized as an example
of wet scrubber which performs air pollution controlling. 300 gram of kaolin was used as sample
to study the particulate collection efficiency of spray chamber.

Spray chambers are useful in collecting particulate matter. The devices uses spray nozzles to
atomize the liquid. Particles collide with the droplets and are entrained. Because the simple
design of the system, the scrubbing liquid can be recycled and still be effective, even with
relatively high suspended solids concentrations. A mist eliminator is necessary for this type of
device (Gayle,1999).

Some relative motion is necessary for the particle and liquid gas interface to come in contact. In
spray chamber, this motion is provided by spraying the droplets through the gas so that they
impinge on and make contact with the particles (Daniel,2008).

Figure 1.0 : Countercurrent Spray Chamber

(Source : David, Air Pollution, 2000,pg.140)
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Spray chambers are low efficiency collectors of coarse particles. Figure 1.0 illustrates
countercurrent spray tower, in which the liquid droplets are produced by spray nozzles or
atomizers and the flue gas enters the tower through a perforated distribution plate at the base of
the tower (Richard,1994). To avoid entrainment and carry over of water droplets, the velocity of
the spray water droplets must exceed the gas velocity 2 to 5 feet per second (1-2 m/s). The higher
this velocity difference, the better the collection efficiency (Bela, 1991).

The pressure drop on the gas side of the countercurrent spray chamber is usually less than 250 Pa
and its dust collection efficiency is under 80 % for all but the coarsest dust particles (over 10
microns in diameter).

The collection efficiency of spray chamber is normally analysed by Kleinschmidts equation,

No = 1 e

-fE

Where,
N0

= Overall collection efficiency

= Fraction of inlet gas/air swept by the drop

= Particle collection efficiency of a single droplet

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2.0 OBJECTIVES

This experiment was conducted to achieve the following objectives :

To determine the effect of droplet size upon separation efficiency of the spray chamber
unit, by using different nozzle.
To study the operating principle of spray chamber.
To study the ability of spray chamber in removing pollutants.

3.0 METHODOLOGY
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No.
1

Descriptions
All valves are initially closed except valve V9 to be initially opened.

The Centrifugal Pump, P1 was switched on.

Depending on the nozzle to be tested, the isolation valve as outlined in Table 1

below was opened. Then, the appropriate control valve was adjusted so that the
nozzle pressure, PT1, was set according to Table 1.
Table 1.0: Operation Guide for AP03 Spray Chamber System
Nozzle

Droplet
Size

Isolation

Set

valve

Pressure,

(m)

Flowmeter

Control
Valve

PT1

N1

520

V1

2bar

FM1

CV1

N2

290

V2

2 bar

FM2

CV2

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The nozzle water flow rate of flow meter FM1 was recorded for nozzle size of
520 m for first test and followed by 290 m nozzle for second test.

Valve V9 was closed. The water level inside the spray chamber was increased
until it reached the desired level indicated by the line on the chamber. Once so,
the valve V9 was adjusted to maintain this water height.

The air blower speed controller was set to its minimum. The blower was switched
on. Then, the air blower speed controller was gradually adjusted so that the
blower frequency is set to 20.0Hz.

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300 gram of Kaolin was sieved and weighted.

300 g of Kaolin was poured into the feed vessel with the feed control valve, V11
fully closed. Then, control valve V11 was opened slightly so that the sample flow
down steadily.

After all the sand had been delivered into the air stream, wait two minutes to
ensure all dust has cleared from the pipeline then the centrifugal water pump P1
and Centrifugal Air Blower was switched off.

10

Valve V9 was slowly opened to let the dust-laden water in the spray chamber
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flow down by gravity to dust collecting bucket.

11

The dust was let to settle down in the bucket (approximately 5 minutes) once all
water has flowed down from the chamber.

12

The bucket was taken out carefully. The excess water was drained. Then the dust
was collected on a suitable oven tray. The wet sample was heat up in an oven at
200C for 2 hours until the sample becomes sufficiently dry.

12

The collected sample was weighted and the final weight was recorded.

4.0 DATA & RESULTS

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Table 2.0: Nozzle size - 520m ( Nozzle 1, N1 )

Set Pressure, PT1 (Bar)
Air blower speed (Hz)
Weight of sample loaded (g)
Weight of sample collected (g)
Collection efficiency, (%)

2
20
300g
295g
98.33%

Table 3.0: Nozzle size - 290m ( Nozzle 2, N2 )

Set Pressure, PT1 (Bar)

Air blower speed (Hz)
Weight of sample loaded (g)
Weight of sample collected (g)
Collection efficiency, (%)

2
20
300g
250g
83.33%

5.0 DISCUSSION
This experiment was performed to determine the effect of droplet size upon separation efficiency
of the spray chamber unit by using different nozzle. There are two type of nozzles inside the

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chamber to produce two different droplet sizes. Nozzle size of 290m and 520m was tested to
study the objective of the experiment where it was tested one after another.

During the experiment, 300g of sample of kaolin was weighed and put into the feeder. For the
first test, nozzle N1 with droplet size of 520 m was tested for its collection efficiency. The
collected particulate matters for the first test is 295g. As for the second test, the nozzle N2 with
droplet size of 290 m was tested. The result of particlulate matters collected by using N2 was
250g. The spray chamber efficiency was calculated via using the formula below:

Efficiency,

weight of sample collected

100%
weight of sample loaded

Based on the readings recorded in Table 2.0 and Table 3.0, the efficiency of nozzle size of 520
m is 98.33 % and 83.33 % for nozzle size of 290 m. It is obiviously reveals that the
collection efficiency of nozzle size of 520 m is higher than nozzle size of 290 m. But this
result is actually oppose the theory, where the nozzle with bigger size should give least
collection efficiency compared to the smallest one. Since this experiment came out with
different results, it can be said that some factors was affected the operating mechanism of
spray chamber.

The first obivious error observed during the experiment is the air blower frequency was
37.69 Hz. According to the procedure, the frequency should be 20 Hz. The differences are
much larger. So, the speed of air blower might affected the efficiency of spray chamber.
The next error observed was, the unstable air flow rate. The air flow rate observed during the
experiment was 0.049 m/s but it is not stable. This might affected the velocity of air flow rate
in nozzles. The pluggings in nozzles also might contributed for this error. If the nozzle is not

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cleaned for a long time this situation will happen.The combination of unstable air flow rate
and pluggings in nozzle surely affected the operation of spray chamber.

Spray towers have low power consumption but have relatively low particulate collection
efficiencies. The recirculated water in the system must be thoroughly cleaned to prevent
excessive nozzle fouling or clogging. Nozzle cleaning and replacement are a major part of the
maintenance required for these units.

In spray towers or spray chambers, gas streams are fed into a chamber and contacted with
scrubbing liquid produced by spray nozzles. The droplet size is controlled to optimize particle
contact and droplet separation from the gas stream. Chambers can be oriented for cross-flow,
countercurrent flow, or concurrent (co-current) flow. Chambers may also include baffles to
improve gas-liquid contact.

The collection efficiency of spray chamber can be relate to the Kleinschmidts equation :
No = 1 e

-fE

Where,
N0

= Overall collection efficiency

= Fraction of inlet gas/air swept by the drop

= Particle collection efficiency of a single droplet

According to this equation, the collection efficiency is directly proportional to the fraction (f) of
inlet gas /air swept by the drop and particle collection efficiency of a single droplet, E . Increase
of f and E will increase the collection efficiency. Fraction f and E can be describe in following
equation:
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f = 6.12 x 104 H.FL

DFG
H

= Distance of the droplet travels with respect to incoming gas/air

FL

= Liquid flow rate

FG

= Incoming Gas/air flow rate

= Droplet diameter

The smaller the droplet diameter and incoming gas/air flow rate, the higher the fraction of inlet
gas/air swept by the drop. The higher the distance of the droplet travels with respect to incoming
gas/air and liquid flow rate, the higher the fraction of inlet gas/air swept by the drop.
E = (Y0 + rp)2
Rd2
Y0 = the initial Y position measured from drop centerline of the particle center trajectory that just
graze the droplet
rp = particle radius
Rd = droplet radius
The smaller the droplet radius, the higher the particle collection efficiency of a single droplet and
vice versa. Hence, the nozzle size 290 m must give higher collection efficiency compared to
520 m.
Spray chamber is an inexpensive pollution control device. It is effectively remove large
particles and highly soluble gases. But, may create water (or liquid) disposal problem and
relatively inefficient at removing fine pollutants.

6.0 CONCLUSION & RECOMMENDATION

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This experiment was conducted to analyse the effect of droplet size upon separation efficiency of
the spray chamber unit, by using different nozzle. The data and result collected revelas that the
efficiency of spray chamber by using nozzle N1 ( 520 m ) was 98.33 % while for nozzle N2
( 290 m ) was 83.33%. Therefore, this experiment concluded that a larger droplet size have a
greater collection efficiency compared to a smaller droplet size. However, this result does not
the obey the theory and the result considered as fault due to some errors. The errors such as
plugging in nozzle, inaccurate air blower frequency and unstable air flow rate affected the overall
operation and performance of spray chamber.

As for recommendation, it is suggested that the nozzle must have to clean regularly to avoid any
pluggings in it. The air blower speed controller must have to undergo inspection to obtain the
desired frequency during the actual experiment. The air flow meter also have to inspect regularly
or need to substitute with new air flow meter if it malfuncition, where it could give a stable air
flow rate reading.

7.0 REFERENCES

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1) Richard, (1994), Fundamentals of Air Pollution, California, Academic Press Inc.

2) Gayle, (1999), Hazardous Materials and Hazardous Waste Management,Canada,John
Wiley & Sons Inc.
3) Bela, (1991), Municipal Waste Disposal in the 1990s,Penyslavania, Chilton Book
Company.
4) Daniel,(2008), Fundamentals of Air Pollution,California,Elseveir Inc.

5) David,(2000), Air Pollution,Florida,CRC Press LLC.

8.0 APPENDIX

Efficiency of spray chamber were calculated using the formula below:

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Efficiency,
i.

weight of sample collected

100%
weight of sample loaded

NOZZLE N1 (520 m droplet size):

295
100%
300

Efficiency,

= 98.33 %
ii.

NOZZLE N2 (290 m droplet size):

Efficiency,

250
100%
300

= 83.33 %

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Figure 2.0: Raw data of spray chamber system

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