Simulation of acoustic agglomeration of fine particles emitted from coal fired plants

One possible way to increase the efficiency of traditional separators is to agglomerate fine particles emitted from coal fired plants to form larger ones in a high acoustic field. Aerosol dynamics equation of flue gas in acoustic agglomeration, which is based on the orthogenetic and hydrodynamic interaction as main mechanisms, is derived and numerically solved to get the particle size distribution. The results of numerical simulation are compared with the experiments and have a good agreement at SPL = 130-150 dB, Freq = 1000-4000 Hz, and dust loading concentration 2-10 g/m³ conditions. When SPL increases, the fraction of PM₁₀ and PM_2.5 in particle size distribution decreases compared with initial particle size distribution without agglomeration.