Numerical Prediction of Dust Capture Efficiency of a Centrifugal Wet Scrubber

The gas, liquid, and dust particle behavior inside a centrifugal wet scrubber was simulated and a submodel for predicting its collection efficiency was developed that also takes in account the reduction in collection efficiency due to droplet carryover. Centrifugal wet scrubbers are used in many industries and deliver a high scrubbing efficiency at relatively low capital and operational costs. However, they often experience problems such as droplet carryover at high gas flows and reduced collection efficiency at low gas flows. An improved understanding of flow processes inside the scrubbers is needed to develop a better scrubber design. An experimental test facility was setup for this purpose which also served to validate the CFD modeling results. Ideal operating parameters for maximum scrubbing efficiency and minimum droplet carryover were identified. (c) 2017 American Institute of Chemical Engineers