Determination of minimum pressure drop at different plate spacings and air velocity in a wave‐plate mist eliminator

Abstract

ABSTRACTIn this article, the flow pressure drop across a wave‐plate mist eliminator has been studied experimentally by changing both the air velocity and the plate spacing. The measured values for pressure losses have been compared with the results of the available formulas. Despite the literature, this study shows that by decreasing the plate spacing, the pressure loss will not remain constant. Results show that decreasing the plate spacing from 11.5 to 9.5 mm leads to a decrease in pressure loss. However, further decrease in spacing will result in an increased pressure loss. On the basis of dimensional analysis, a dimensionless variable is defined for spacing, and it is shown that the value of 0.24 for this variable gives the minimum pressure coefficient for all cases studied by current experimental setup. Copyright © 2011 Curtin University of Technology and John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.