Dust particle removal efficiency of a venturi scrubber

The venturi scrubber is one of the most efficient gas cleaning devices to remove the contaminated particles from gaseous stream during severe accident in nuclear power plant. This study is focused on the dust particle removal efficiency of the venturi scrubber experimentally and theoretically. The venturi scrubber encapsulates the dust particles in petite water droplets flowing into it. The water injected into the scrubber is in the form of water film. The study investigates the removal efficiency of venturi scrubber for throat gas velocities of 130, 165 and 200 m/s and liquid flow rates.0.3-1 m(3)/h, whereas dust concentration ranges between 0.1 and 1 g/m(3). The hydrophobic titanium dioxide (TiO2) particles having density 4.23 g/cm(3) and mean diameter of 1 mu m are used as dust particles in this research. Filtration technique is used to measure the concentration of dust particles at inlet and outlet. Experimental results show that the removal efficiency is higher with the increase of throat gas velocity and liquid flow rate. A mathematical model is employed for the verification of experimental results. The model concurs well with the experimental results. (C) 2012 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.