Electrically stimulated aerosol filtration in packed beds

Abstract

AbstractSince charged particles are quite mobile in an electric field, charge is often added to aerosol particles to facilitate capture; indeed, provision for such charging is an indispensable part of electrostatic precipitators. Nevertheless, calculations disclose that a very slight amount of charge may suffice when the distance the aerosol particle must travel to the collector surface is small, contrary to the usual situation. In the experiments described, here, a model aerosol containing 0.5 μm polystyrene particles passed through a radioactive charge neutralizer to deliberately reduce the charge as much as practicable and then through a packed bed under the influence of a fairly large external electric field. Filtration efficiencies approaching 100% were obtained owing to the influence of the field on small amounts of residual charge.