Estimation of power consumption when trapping finely-dispersed particles in a separator with coaxially-arranged pipes

This article sets out to estimate power consumption when trapping finely-dispersed particles of silicon dioxide using a separator with coaxially-arranged pipes, as well as the efficiency of such an installation. To this end, a numerical simulation of the movement of a gas flow with finely-dispersed particles of silicon dioxide through a separator with coaxial pipes was carried out in the ANSYS Fluent software. During the experiments, the inlet gas flow rate varied from 5 to 10 m/s, while the width and height of the rectangular slit ranged 2.1-8.7 and 10-30 mm, respectively. It was shown that the maximum efficiency of collecting finely-dispersed silicon dioxide particles and the minimum power consumption required for pumping the gas flow through the installation largely depends on the formation of a stable vortex structure in the interpipe space. The research showed that the optimal inlet gas flow rate equals 7.5 m/s. At this rate, the efficiency of particle collection corresponds to higher rates with a devia tion of ± 6%. In this case, the pressure loss is 1.74 times lower than that at higher rates. In order to achieve an efficiency of at least 90% with the height of the rectangular slit from 10 to 30 mm, the Stokes numbers must correspond to values of more than 50. The power consumption required for pumping a gas containing silicon dioxide particles through a separator equipped with coaxial pipes comprises from 1.9 to 31.2 W at the inlet gas flow rate of 7.5 m/s. In this case, the parameters of the rectangular slit are as follows: width - from 2.1 to 8.7 mm, height - from 10 to 30 mm. The use of separators with coaxially-arranged pipes in technological lines based on plasma technologies can become an alternative to installations for fine gas purification.