Author's School

School of Engineering & Applied Science

Author's Department/Program

Energy, Environmental and Chemical Engineering

Language

English (en)

Date of Award

January 2009

Degree Type

Dissertation

Degree Name

Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)

Chair and Committee

Daren Chen

Abstract

ABSTRACT OF THE DISSERTATION Aerosol Filtration and Separation by Ta-Chih Hsiao Doctor of Philosophy in Energy, Environmental, & Chemical Engineering Washington University in St. Louis, 2009 Professor Da-Ren Chen, Advisor Particle control technologies are essential in many manufacturing industries: chemical, electronic, mineral, and food and beverages) as well as in pollution abatement and environmental control: for example, clean rooms and post processing of power plant emissions). A variety of particle control technologies using different physical forces and various collection substrates have been developed over the last 100 or so years. Among these technologies, filtration is known as the most economical means for submicron aerosol particles with low concentration, and cyclones are superior to other devices for supermicron particles with high concentration. The overall objective of this dissertation is to advance our current knowledge on these two particle control technologies. Accordingly, it has two major topics:: 1) Aerosol Filtration - Liquid-coated Particle Loading, and: 2) Inertial Separation - Axial Flow Cyclone. For the first part, Aerosol Filtration, a system which is able to generate stable liquid-coated particles is developed, and series of filter loading experiments are performed to study the behavior of filters loaded with liquid-coated particles, which exhibit transition behavior between those of solid and those of liquid particles. Different effects, including filter media, coated particle size, and coating liquid properties, on the transition behavior are explored. Moreover, an empirical model for predicting the loading curves for particles coated with liquids of different viscosity is proposed. For the second part, Inertial Separation, a cascade multistage axial cyclone which is capable of classifying particles from 10 μm to 40 nm is developed and evaluated. The characteristics of the axial flow cyclone are also investigated, and a semi-empirical model is established to predict the cyclone collection efficiency curve. These works do not only enhance researchers' understanding of the specific particle control technologies, but also help engineers to develop better devices for solving current environmental problems or fulfilling industrial needs.

Comments

Permanent URL: http://dx.doi.org/10.7936/K7N877VN

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