Greenfield Gap Research Articles

Experimental investigation on effective aerosol scavenging using different spray configurations with pre-injection of water mist for Fukushima Daiichi decommissioning

During the decommissioning of the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant, it is important to consider the retrieval of resolidified debris both in air and underwater configurations. For the subsequent retrieval of debris from the reactor building, the resolidified debris must be cut into smaller pieces using various cutting methods. During the cutting process, aerosol particles are expected to be generated at the submicron scale. It has been noted that such aerosols sizing within the Greenfield gap (0.1–1 μm) are difficult to remove effectively using traditional spraying methods. Therefore, to improve the aerosol removal efficiency of the spray system, a new aerosol agglomeration method was recently proposed, which involves injecting water mist to enlarge the sizes of the aerosol particles before removing them using water sprays. In this study, a series of experiments were performed to clarify the proper spray configurations for effective aerosol scavenging and to improve the performance of the water mist. The experimental results showed that the spray flow rate and droplet characteristics are important factors for the aerosol-scavenging efficiency and performance of the water mist. The results obtained from this study will be helpful for the optimization of the spray system design for effective aerosol scavenging during the decommissioning of the Fukushima Daiichi plant.

Lattice Boltzmann Simulation of Non-Steady-State Particulate Matter Filtration Process in Woven Fiber

To enhance the design process of high-performance woven fibers, it is vital to clarify the evolution of particle dendrites, the dynamic pressure drop, and the capture efficiency with respect to dust loading during the non-steady-state filtration process. A general element (orthogonal elliptical fibers) of woven filter cloths is numerically simulated using the 3D lattice Boltzmann-cell automation (LB-CA) method, where gas dynamics is solved by the LB method while the solid particle motion is described by the CA probabilistic approach. The dendrite morphologies are evaluated under various particle diameters, aspect ratios, packing densities, and inlet fluid velocities. For submicron particles in the “Greenfield gap” range, it is revealed that the normalized pressure drop is an exponential function of the mass of deposited particles, and the rate of increase is exactly proportional to the perimeter of the elliptical fibers. Moreover, the normalized capture efficiency is a linear function of the deposited mass. It is not advisable to increase the packing density too much, as this might simply increase the pressure drop rather than enhancing the normalized capture efficiency. It is also worth noting that the fitting slope is more likely to grow linearly once the aspect ratio exceeds 1.6, indicating that orthogonal elliptical woven fibers offer higher capture efficiency than normal orthogonal cylindrical woven fibers. The work is beneficial to gain insights into the angular distribution of particle dendrites, as well as the prediction of dynamic growth of pressure drop and capture efficiency of the elliptical fiber. These efforts could help to deepen the understanding and realize assistant designing for the filtration performance of woven fiber in the future.

Size-resolved composition and morphology of particulate matter during the southwest monsoon in Metro Manila, Philippines

Abstract. This paper presents novel results from size-resolved particulate matter (PM) mass, composition, and morphology measurements conducted during the 2018 southwest monsoon (SWM) season in Metro Manila, Philippines. Micro-orifice uniform deposit impactors (MOUDIs) were used to collect PM sample sets composed of size-resolved measurements at the following aerodynamic cut-point diameters (Dp): 18, 10, 5.6, 3.2, 1.8, 1.0, 0.56, 0.32, 0.18, 0.10, and 0.056 µm. Each sample set was analyzed for composition of the water-soluble fraction. Analysis for mass was carried out on two sample sets, whereas black carbon (BC) and morphology analysis were analyzed on a single sample set. The bulk of the PM mass was between 0.18 and 1.0 µm with a dominant mode between 0.32 and 0.56 µm. Similarly, most of the black carbon (BC) mass was found between 0.10 and 1.0 µm, peaking between 0.18 and 0.32 µm. These peaks are located in the Greenfield gap, or the size range between 0.10 and 1.0 µm, where wet scavenging by rain is relatively inefficient. In the range between 0.10 and 0.18 µm, BC constituted 78.1 % of the measured mass. Comparable contributions of BC (26.9 %) and the water-soluble fraction (33.4 %) to total PM were observed and most of the unresolved mass, which amounted to 39.6 % in total, was for diameters exceeding 0.32 µm. The water-soluble ions and elements exhibited an average combined concentration of 8.53 µg m−3, with SO42-, NH4+, NO3-, Na+, and Cl− as the major contributors. Positive matrix factorization (PMF) was applied to identify the possible aerosol sources and estimate their contribution to the water-soluble fraction of collected PM. The factor with the highest contribution was attributed to “aged aerosol” (48.0 %), while “sea salt” (22.5 %) and “combustion” emissions (18.7 %) had comparable contributions. “Vehicular/resuspended dust” (5.6 %) and “waste processing” emissions (5.1 %) were also identified. Microscopy analysis highlighted the ubiquity of nonspherical particles regardless of size, which is significant when considering calculations of parameters such as single scattering albedo, the asymmetry parameter, and the extinction efficiency. The significant influence from aged aerosol to Metro Manila during the SWM season indicates that local sources in this megacity do not fully govern this coastal area's aerosol properties. The fact that the majority of the regional aerosol mass burden is accounted for by BC and other insoluble components has important downstream effects on the aerosol hygroscopic properties, which depend on composition. The results are relevant for understanding the impacts of monsoonal features on size-resolved aerosol properties, notably aqueous processing and wet scavenging. Finally, the results of this work provide contextual data for future sampling campaigns in Southeast Asia such as the airborne component of the Cloud, Aerosol, and Monsoon Processes Philippines Experiment (CAMP2Ex) planned for the SWM season in 2019.

Below‐cloud scavenging of fine and coarse aerosol particles by rain: The role of raindrop size

Below‐cloud aerosol scavenging is an important process to remove particles from the atmosphere. In this study, both precipitation (measured with a laser disdrometer registering drops between 0.125 and 8 mm) and atmospheric aerosol particles (measured with a Passive Cavity Aerosol Spectrometer Probe registering aerosol sizes between 0.1 and 24 µm) have been sampled on a 1 min basis. Based on 6 months of outdoor measurements in León (northwest Iberian Peninsula), the scavenging coefficients were calculated for the aerosol particles measured, with a mean value of 2.6 × 10−5 ± 6.0 × 10−5 s−1 for the fine mode and 5.8 × 10−5 ± 9.6 × 10−5 s−1 for the coarse mode in 54 rain events. Likewise, the particle concentration decreased during rain by 10%, and by 18% between the time before and after the rain. In the Greenfield Gap (sizes between 0.3 and 1 µm) the scavenging is less effective, mainly between 0.6 and 1 µm, than with smaller particles. The number of drops between 0.75 and 3 mm shows statistically significant (p < 0.05) negative correlations with the number of particles between 0.16 and 1.76 µm, thus illustrating the potential of those raindrops to favour the scavenging of particles of that size. In addition, there were statistically significant negative correlations between the total volume removed by falling drops (mm3/m3) and the variation of the number of particles in channels with diameters between 0.12 and 0.19 µm.

Numerical investigation on non-steady-state filtration of elliptical fibers for submicron particles in the ‘‘Greenfield gap’’ range

While noncircular fibers (especially elliptical fibers) have demonstrated significant advantage of high collection efficiency for fine particles, only a few investigations have yet been conducted to study the non-steady-state filtration performance of noncircular fibers during the particle deposition process. In this work, we utilize a lattice Boltzmann-cellular automata (LB-CA) probabilistic model to investigate the growing process of particle dendrites on elliptical fibers. The transient pressure drop and collection efficiency are analyzed. For the deposition of sub-micron particles (0.3–0.5µm in the “Greenfield gap’’ range) which are dominated by the diffusion and interception mechanism, the captured particles distribute relatively uniformly around elliptical fibers (the equivalent diameter df of 22.8µm and the packing density of 5% in this work) at the initial stage of loading process. The deposited particle leads to the formation of complicated dendrites, expanding the filtration area and thereby altering the flow field. Then particles will mostly deposit on the windward of the elliptical fibers (especially on the both ends of the elliptical long axis) at the complete dendrites capture stage. Various operation conditions (inlet flow velocity of 0.1–0.3m/s, particle diameter of 0.3–0.5µm, aspect ratio of elliptical fibers of 2–4, orientation angle of 30°~60°) are simulated. It is found that the pressure drop of dust loaded elliptical fibers normalized by the corresponding pressure drop of clean elliptical fibers increases almost exponentially with the mass of captured particles; and the normalized collection efficiency of elliptical fibers is approximately a linear function of the deposit mass when the increase rate of the normalized efficiency is stabilized.

Aerosol particles scavenging by a droplet: Microphysical modeling in the Greenfield gap

Studying the scavenging of aerosol particle by drops has been a key topic of atmospheric science since the late seventies, given its relationships with atmospheric depollution, with the physics of clouds and precipitations and with global warming. However, the efficiency with which falling droplets capture aerosol particles is still imprecisely known for a wide range of drop Reynolds number, Weber numbers, aerosol particles inertia and Brownian Schmidt number. In this paper, microphysical modeling is used to compute precisely the drop collection efficiency for aerosol particles around the Greenfield gap which are submitted to both drag force and Brownian motion, for droplets falling in quiescent air at moderate Reynolds number (Red≤100). Depending on the impactional or diffusional parameters, the collection regions on the drop surface are highlighted. The results are then compressed by a correlation which extends the field of use of the theoretical model of Wang et al. (1978) by taking inertial capture into account. The proposed correlation is suitable to estimate the aerosol scavenging efficiency for a non-evaporating, non-deforming drop with Red≤100 and particle Stokes number Stp∈[0;+∞]. In case of evaporating or condensing droplets, the effect of thermophoresis and diffusiophoresis are also taken into account through an extension of the formulation proposed by Wang et al. (1978) and hence with similar accuracy.

Evolution of Aerosol Particles in the Rainfall Process via Method of Moments

The method of moments is employed to predict the evolution of aerosol particles in the rainfall process. To describe the dynamic properties of particle size distribution, the population balance equation is converted to moment equations by the method of moments and the converted equations are solved numerically. The variations of particle number concentration, geometric mean diameter, and geometric standard deviation are given in the cases that the Brownian diffusion and inertial impaction of particles dominate, respectively. The effects of raindrop size distribution on particle size distribution are analyzed in nine cases. The results show that the particle number concentration decreases as time goes by, and particles dominated by Brownian diffusion are removed more significantly. The particle number concentration decreases much more rapidly when particle geometric mean diameter is smaller, and the particle size distribution tends to be monodisperse. For the same water content, the raindrops with small geometric mean diameters can remove particles with much higher efficiency than those with large geometric mean diameters. Particles in the “Greenfield gap” are relatively difficult to scavenge, and a new method is needed to remove it from the air.

Evolution of particle size distribution in air in the rainfall process via the moment method

Population balance equation is converted to three moment equations to describe the dynamical behavior of particle size distribution in air in the rainfall. The scavenging coefficient is expressed as a polynomial function of the particle diameter, the raindrop diameter and the raindrop velocity. The evolutions of particle size distribution are simulated numerically and the effects of the raindrop size distribution on particle size distribution are studied. The results show that the raindrops with smaller geometric mean diameter and geometric standard deviation of size remove particles much more efficiently. The particles which fall in the ?greenfield gap? are the most difficult to be scavenged from the air.

Experimental Study of Collection Efficiencies between Submicron Aerosols and Cloud Droplets

Abstract Collection efficiency E experiments for aerosol particles scavenged by cloud droplets were carried out in the newly built Collision Ice Nucleation Chamber (CLINCH). Pure water droplets having radii between 12.8 and 20.0 μm were allowed to fall freely and to collide in a laminar flow with lithium metaborate particles having radii between 0.05 and 0.33 μm. At the bottom of the chamber, the droplets and the particles captured were collected using a cup impactor. The collected solution was analyzed for the scavenged aerosol mass by inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry. Evaporation of droplets was taken into account since the relative humidity inside the chamber was below 100%, resulting in final theoretical droplet sizes between 4.2 and 17.6 μm. The resulting experimental measurements were compared with theoretical values to see their correlation. The authors found an experimental trend similar to theory, as well as the “Greenfield gap” at the particle radius of 0.24 μm (E = 0.038) for the smallest cloud droplet size investigated in this study. The experimental values of collection efficiency found herein agree with those from theory within one order of magnitude, similar to previous studies reported in the literature.

Wet electrostatic scrubbers for the abatement of submicronic particulate

Water electrostatic scrubber (WES) represents an alternative technology for the abatement of that submicronic fraction of particulate – belonging to the so-called Greenfield gap – usually hardly captured with other cleaning techniques. The promising potentialities of WES are recognized by the scientific and industrial communities, but the design of this kind of reactor is far from being optimized. This work reports a mathematical model to evaluate the particle removal efficiency in wet electrostatic scrubbers. The model is used to find out optimal working condition of WES units, through the maximization of the particle collection efficiency in function of different process parameters: contact time, specific water consumption, water/gas relative velocity, size and charge of sprayed droplets. The model has been validated by comparison with different experimental data available in literature, both for charged and uncharged scrubbers. Then it is applied to a reference case study to obtain generalizable results. The model shows that the process optimization for micronic and submicronic size particles follows different criteria. For micronic particles, the collection efficiency increases for higher water/gas relative velocity, with a small effect of droplet diameter and a moderate increase with the droplet charge. On the contrary, in the Greenfield gap, the water/gas velocity plays a secondary role in the capture mechanisms, while a substantial increase of collection efficiency by improving the droplet charge level and reducing the droplet size has been observed. With reference to the actual performances of water spraying and charging devices, the model predicts that a collection efficiency as high as 99.5% can be reliably obtained in few seconds with a water consumption of 100 ml/m 3 by adopting droplet diameters around 100 μm and charge to mass ratio from 1 to 3 mC/kg, corresponding to droplet charge equal to 10–30% of Rayleigh limit.

Scavenging in weakly electrified saturated and subsaturated clouds, treating aerosol particles and droplets as conducting spheres

The effects of electric charge on collision rate coefficients for scavenging of aerosol particles by droplets are evaluated, as appropriate to weak electrification conditions in clouds. Variations in charges on droplets and particles in clouds are proportional to the flow of current in the global electric circuit through gradients in resistivity, which are determined by gradients in droplet concentration and humidity. We obtain the collision rate coefficients by “trajectory model” calculations for spherical aerosol particles and droplets using the exact electrical force equation, with its long‐range repulsion and short‐range attraction, interacting with drag, inertia, and phoretic forces. The use of the exact electric force gives rate coefficients up to a factor of two greater than previous image charge calculations for particles in the “Greenfield Gap”. Rate coefficients for scavenging by Brownian diffusion are obtained by the analytic expression for “flux model” calculations. Rate coefficients for combined effects of electric and phoretic scavenging are given, as appropriate for scavenging of droplets evaporating to residual particles while temporarily retaining the original droplet charge. For particles of radii below about 0.1 μm and with charges typical of residues of freshly evaporated droplets, the long‐range repulsive electrical force reduces the collision rate coefficients below those for phoretic scavenging in subsaturated air and below the rates for Brownian scavenging. Time constants for scavenging of particles are given for selected values of droplet size, particle and droplet charges, and particle density, and the applications to observed effects in the atmosphere are discussed.

Changes in scavenging of particles by droplets due to weak electrification in clouds

Electrical charges on aerosol particles and droplets modify the droplet–particle collision efficiencies involved in scavenging, and the droplet–droplet and particle–particle collision efficiencies involved in coalescence of droplets and particles, even in only weakly electrified clouds and aerosol layers. This work places electrically enhanced scavenging, and the electrical inhibition of scavenging in the context of the microphysics of weakly electrified clouds. Collision efficiencies are calculated by numerical integration to obtain particle trajectories, that are determined by the complex interplay of electrical, gravitational and phoretic forces together with inertia. These modify the trajectory of a particle as it is carried by flow around the falling droplet. Conversely, the flow around the particle also modifies the trajectory of the droplet. The flows are specified analytically, using a hybrid of the Proudman–Pearson stream function for that region close to the droplet or particle, where it is accurate, merging into the exact Oseen stream function for larger distances, where that becomes accurate. The effect of the flow around the particle on the motion of the droplet was simulated using Langmuir's superposition technique on the hybrid stream functions. The treatment of inertia in the present calculations allows an extension of the scope of our previous work by a factor of 10 larger in particle size (10 3 in mass). The coverage is extended to a wide range of atmospheric conditions and particle densities. The pressures and temperatures used in the models ranged from a representation of the lower troposphere at ∼ 1 km altitude (900 hPa, 10 °C) to that of the middle stratosphere at ∼ 30 km altitude (12 hPa, − 47 °C). The particles considered range from 0.1 μm to 10 μm radius; the droplet radii range from 4 μm to 50 μm; particle densities range from 300 kg m − 3 to 2500 kg m − 3; particle charges range from 2e to 100e with droplet charges of like sign of 100e; and relative humidities range from 10% to 100%. For the larger particles (radii greater than about 3 μm) interacting with the larger droplets (radii greater than about 15 μm) the effects of inertia increase with particle density and dominate at the larger densities. For particles with radii in the range 1–3 μm the ‘Greenfield Gap’ of very low collision efficiencies was found, and was determined to be due to the effects of the gravitational force causing a reduction of collisions of particles with the front of the droplet, and the effect of inertia overcoming the tendency for the weight to produce a collision in the slow velocity region in the rear. When the electrical or phoretic forces are sufficiently large the Greenfield Gap is closed. When the particles have radii < 3 μm inertial effects no longer dominate the collisions, although inertia modifies the weight effects for particles with radii down to about 0.5 μm. For charged aerosol particles with radii smaller than about 0.1 μm interacting with droplets or background aerosol particles smaller than a radius of about 15 μm, the long range electrical repulsive force is effective in opposing the phoretic forces and keeping the particle out of range of the short range attractive image force. Thus ‘electroscavenging’ gives way to ‘electroprotection’ against the scavenging or coagulation processes otherwise caused by Browninan diffusion or phoretic forces. In an atmosphere of temperature 10 °C and pressure 900 hPa the net phoretic force reduces to zero and becomes repulsive for particles with radii above about 2 μm (depending on particle conductivity). This enhances the development of the Greenfield Gap. However, the value of this radius (at which the net phoretic force is zero) increases strongly with decreasing temperature and pressure (increasing altitude) as expected from theory, and is about 5 μm in the middle troposphere and more than 10 μm in the stratosphere. Thus a net attractive phoretic force on particles extends into the 1–3 μm radius range in the upper troposphere; however, the weight and inertial effects can ensure the presence of the Greenfield Gap in that range for 2000 kg m − 3 particles up to the middle stratosphere.

Effects of Image Charges on the Scavenging of Aerosol Particles by Cloud Droplets and on Droplet Charging and Possible Ice Nucleation Processes

Previous calculations of the rate at which falling droplets in clouds collide with aerosols have led to the conclusion that except in thunderclouds any electrical charges on the aerosols or droplets have little effect on the collision rate. However, it had been assumed that the aerosols would have only a few elementary charges on them, whereas it is now known that at the tops of nonthunderstorm clouds the evaporating droplets may have several hundred elementary charges on them and that much of this charge remains on the residual aerosol for 5 min or so after the evaporation. Also, most previous calculations neglected image charge forces that provide strong attraction at close range even when droplet and aerosol have charges of the same sign and of comparable magnitude. The authors present numerical calculations showing that electrical effects dominate collision rates for charged evaporation aerosols. The calculations are for the size range of 0.1- to 1.0-μm radius with the collision efficiency compared to that for phoretic and Brownian effects being greater by up to a factor of 30 greater for droplets from 18.6- to 106-μm radius with relative humidity in the range 95%–100% and only 50 elementary charges on the aerosol. The results imply that electrical effects can be important for the scavenging of evaporation aerosol particles in the size range of the Greenfield gap. The authors call this process “electroscavenging.” Electroscavenging of charged particles, when the particles are mostly of the same sign, is a previously unrecognized droplet charging process. Electroscavenging also provides a pathway for contact ice nucleation when charged aerosol particles from evaporated charged droplets collide with supercooled droplets. Ice nucleation can occur because aerosol particles from the evaporation of cloud droplets have been found to be more effective as ice forming nuclei than other aerosol particles that have not been processed through droplets.

Numerical simulation of the scavenging rates of ice crystals of various microphysical characteristics

Numerical models of trajectories of small aerosol spheres relative to oblate spheroids were used to determine ice crystal scavenging efficiencies. The models included the effects of aerodynamic flow about the ice particle, gravity, aerosol particle inertia and drag and electrostatic effects. Two electric configurations of the ice particle were investigated in detail. The first applied a net charge to the ice particle, of magnitude equal to the mean thunderstorm charge distribution, while the second applied a charge distribution, with no net charge, to the ice particle to model the electric multipole charge distribution. The results show that growing ice crystals with electric multipoles are better scavengers than single ice crystals with net thunderstorm charges, especially in the Greenfield gap (0.1 to 1.0 μm), and that larger single crystals are better scavengers than smaller single crystals. The results also show that the low density ice crystals are more effective scavengers with net charges than they are with charge distribution.

Aerosol and hydrometeor concentrations and their chemical composition during winter precipitation along a mountain slope—II. Enhancement of below-cloud scavenging in a stably stratified atmosphere

Detailed measurements of 10 cases of winter precipitation along a mountain slope show that under certain conditions, up to 80% of pollutants in precipitation result from below-cloud scavenging. This behaviour is evident if a stably stratified atmosphere occurs for some days before precipitation. A high washout of particles can be explained by an inversion fog model: aerosols in fog layers shows different size distributions than in dry air. In dry air the aerosol size distribution has its maximum on particles which are removed inefficiently by below-cloud scavenging. In such situations, the pollutant input from below-cloud scavenging is as little as 5–20%. In contrast, under humid conditions, the main aerosol mass does not consist of particle sizes in the Greenfield gap, and therefore the aerosols are scavenged more efficiently, and higher below-cloud input occurs. In Part I a large in-cloud and small below-cloud scavenging efficiency was deduced from measured aerosol decreases at three measuring sites. In this paper, it is shown that under conditions of an inversion, the below-cloud input of pollutants may dominate all other contributions.

Rainwater composition over a rural area with special emphasis on the size distribution of insoluble particulate matter

The rainwater composition in the vicinity of Mainz, FRG, has been investigated with special emphasis on insoluble constituents. The number size distribution was determined in the range from 0.1 μm up to 100 μm radius. For particles with r>0.5 μm radius the shape of the size distribution of insoluble particles in rain follows the shape of the average urban and rural aerosol. In this particular size range no major size selective removal processes could be seen. For r<0.5 μm the number size distribution tends to flatten compared to the average aerosol. This might be the indication of a size selective removal process (Greenfield Gap).