Mechanical separation

Topic
Electrostatic separations
 synopsis
 What is electrostatics?
 Why a charged comb attracts paper and dry
dandruff (yuk!)?
 What is electrostatic separation?
 Principle
 Types of electrostatic separations
wet electrostatic separations
dry electrostatic separations
 Technique of charging (Charging mechanism)
ion bombardment
Contact electrification
Conductive induction
 Synopsis (con’d)
 Applications
 Electrostatic separation machines
 Electrostatic precipitator.
Definition
Construction
Functional description
 Types
Wet electrostatic precipitator
Dry electrostatic precipitator
Applications
 What is
electrostatics?
 Definition

 Electrostatics is the
branch of science that
deals with the
phenomenon arising
from stationary or
slow-moving electric
charge.
Why a charged comb attracts
paper and dry dandruff (yuk!)?
 Why?
 Suppose the comb ends up positive.

 Then near side of paper ends up slightly negative

from attraction of opposite charges.

 The other side ends up slightly positive due to

repulsion of similar charges.
What is electrostatic
separation?
 Definition
 Separation of finely
pulverized materials by
placing them in
electrostatic separators.
Also known as high-tension
separation.

 Pulverized material:-
A
substance that is reduce to
fine particles, by crushing or
grinding.
 Principle
 Electrostatic
separation is a method
of separation based on
differential attraction
or repulsion of charged
particles under the
influence of an electric
field.
 Applying an
electrostatic charge to
the particles is
necessary step before
particle separation can
be accomplished.
Charging Mechanism
 Charging mechanism

 Various techniques can be used for charging

these include
 Contact electrification
 Conductive induction
 Ion bombardment

 Generally, separators of the conductive-induction

type have a lower capacity per unit length of
electrode than the ion-bombardment.
Contact Electrification
 Contact electrification
 When dissimilar material touch each other, there is an
opportunity for the transfer of electric charges.

 High temperatures and low humidity favor the

development of high surface charges through the
mechanism of contact electrification.

 Rubbing the materials together to increase the area of

effective contact can also lead to high surface charges.
 Contact electrification
(con’d)
 Particles carrying charges of opposite polarity due
to contact electrification.

 Particles carrying charges of opposite polarity due

to contact electrification will be attracted to
opposite electrodes when passing through an
electric field and thus can be separated from
each other.
Conductive Induction
 Conductive induction
 The term conductive induction describes the process
by which an initially uncharged particle that comes
into contact with a charged surface assumes the
polarity and, eventually, the potential of the surface.

 If a conductor particle and a nonconductor particle are

just separated from contact with a charged plate, the
conductor particle will be repelled by the charged
plate and the non-conducting particle will be neither
repelled nor attracted by it.
A question arises

?
 How can electrostatic
separation be done
through this technique?
 Conductive induction
 In electrostatic separation, this is usually
accomplished by means of a single electrode of
charge opposite in sign to that of the charged
plate.

 The conductor particle is then in the electrical

field between the two electrodes and experiences
a net electrostatic force in the direction of the
second electrode.
 Conductive induction
(con’d)
 The non-conducting particle, having no net
charge, experiences no electrostatic force in a
uniform electric field.

 Electrostatic separation of the conductor and

nonconductor particles can be accomplished by
movement of the conductors in the electric field.
Ion bombardment
 Ion bombardment

 The most positive and strongest method of

charging particles for electrostatic separation is
ion bombardment.
A question arises

?
 How can separation be
done through this method ?
 Ion bombardment
 Both particles are bombarded by ions of atmospheric gases
generated by an electrical corona discharge from a high-
voltage electrode (usually a fine tungsten-alloy wire at 20 to
30 kV with respect to ground and several centimeters away
from the particles).

 When ion bombardment ceases, the conductor particle loses

its acquired charge to ground very rapidly and experiences
an opposite electrostatic force tending to repel it from the
conducting surface.
 Ion bombardment
 The non-conducting particle, however, being
coated on its side away from the conducting
surface with ions of charge opposite in electrical
polarity to that of the surface, experiences an
electrostatic force tending to hold it to the
surface.
Types of electrostatic
separation
 Types of electrostatic
separation
 There are two types of electrostatic separations:

 Wet electrostatic separations

 Dry electrostatic separations
 Types of electrostatic
separations (con’d)
 Wet electrostatic separations:-
In wet
electrostatics separations dust particles are
removed from wet saturated air stream (100%
relative humidity).

 Dry electrostatic separation:-

In dry
electrostatic separation particles are separated
from dry air stream.
Applications
Application of electrostatic
separation
 Mineral Beneficiation:-
Electrostatic methods
are widely used in the processing of ores with
mineral concentrates.

 Charging by ion bombardment is the technique

used in most mineral separations.
 Plastic and metal recycling:
Electrostatic
separation has been increasingly applied to
recover nonferrous metals from industrial plastics
(telephone and communication scrap).

 It also is an important step in the recycling of

beverage bottles to reject any remaining
nonferrous metals. (Fig. 19-61b).
Electrostatic separation
machines
 Electrostatic separation
machines
 There are different types of electrostatic
machines which are used in our industry:

 Triboelectric Separators
 Conductive-Induction Machines
 Ion-Bombardment Machines

But electrostatic precipitator has more

importance than all of above so we only
discuss it here.
Electrostatic Precipitator
Introduction
 Electrostatic Precipitators or ESPs have been used
in industry for over 60 years.

 They can collect particles sized 0.1 to 10 microns

very efficiently.

 They are generally more efficient at collecting

fine particles than scrubbers or cyclones.
Electrostatic precipitator
 Definition:
A device for removing small particles,
as of smoke, dust, or oil, from a gas, as air, by
passing the gas first through an electrically
charged screen that gives a charge to the
particles, then between two charged plates
where the particles are attracted to one service.

 Electrostatic precipitators are highly efficient

filtration devices.
Construction
 construction
 A shell or house contains the electrodes, exhaust
gases and rapper.

 The shell must be well built with a rigid frame to

hold the components in their proper place.

 Hot temperatures inside the shell can vary

greatly from the temperatures outside the
shell.
 Construction (con’d)

 Such tremendous temperature differences can

cause expansion and contraction to stress joints
and welds.

 Often shells are insulated to minimize

temperature differences and prevent gases from
condensing into corrosive liquids.
Functional Description
 Functional description
 Electrostatic precipitator (ESP's) are used to
extract airborne dust particles from the air.

 Dust particles are charged by electrodes and

adhere to the collector plates in the electrostatic
precipitator.

 Inlet and outlet distribution plates ensure even

distribution of flue gas over the collector plates.
 Functional description
(con’d)
 Electro-mechanical rappers dislodge the dust
particulate from the electrodes and collector
plates (rappers are located external to the
electrostatic precipitator).
 The dust particles fall into a common hopper
where they are exited through an air lock to the
residual collecting conveyor system.
 The clean air is evacuated from the electrostatic
precipitator into the atmosphere.
Dry electrostatic
precipitator
 Dry electrostatic
precipitator
 A dry electrostatic precipitator ( ESP ) is a large
box.

 Particulate control begins when the dust laden

gases are drawn into one side of the box.

 Inside, high voltage electrodes impart a negative

charge to the particles entrained in the gas.
 DEP (con’d)
 These negatively charged particles are then
attracted to a grounded collecting surface which
is positively charged.

 The gas then leaves the box up to 99.9% cleaner

than when it entered.
Wet electrostatic
precipitator
 Wet electrostatic
separators
 For wet electrostatic separations used wet
electrostatic separators.

 WESP uses a vertical cylindrical tube with

centrally-located wire electrode (gas flowing
upward) with water sprays to clean the collected
particulate from the collection surface (plates,
tubes).
Applications of ESP
 Applications
 The use of electrostatic precipitators has become
common in numerous industrial applications.
 Electrostatic precipitator has ability to handle large
volumes of gas, at elevated temperatures and the
removal of particles in the micrometer range.

 Some usual applications are:

 Removal of dirt from flue gases in steam plants.
 Cleaning of blast furnace gases .
Presented by:
section-B