Comparison of electrostatic fine powder coating and coarse powder coating by numerical simulations

Powder coating has several key advantages over liquid coating, and fine powder coating makes the surface finish quality comparable with liquid coating. This work reports on the numerical simulation of a fine powder-coating process in comparison with coarse powder coating, using a commercial computational fluid dynamic code, Fluent v6.1. The purpose of the study is to understand the gas and particle flow fields inside the coating booth for various operating conditions and the effect of reducing particle size on the coating process. The air and powder particle flows in a coating booth were modeled as a three-dimensional turbulent continuous gas flow with solid particles as a discrete phase. The continuous gas flow was calculated by solving the Navier–Stokes equations, including the standard k–ε turbulence model with non-equilibrium wall function. The discrete phase was modeled based on the Lagrangian approach. In addition to drag force and gravity, the electrostatic force including the effect of space charge due to free ions was considered in the equation of motion and implemented using user-defined scalars and user-defined functions. The governing equations were solved using a second-order upwind scheme. This study demonstrates that the use of finer particles of size 15 μm or lower can give a very smooth and uniform surface finish, which may serve the requirement of automotive top-clear coating. This also provides useful information about optimum operating conditions such as the airflow rate, the applied external voltage and the powder-spray rate. The numerical model can also be used to optimize the gun-booth design for a better coating efficiency.     

Three-dimensional analysis of electrohydrodynamic flow in a spiked electrode-plate electrostatic precipitator

A three-dimensional numerical model has been created to evaluate the electrical and electrohydrodynamic characteristics of a single spiked wire-plate electrostatic precipitator. The hybrid Finite Element – Flux Corrected Transport numerical technique is used for solving the Poisson and current continuity equations to estimate the electric potential and ion charge density distributions in the precipitation channel. The fully three-dimensional turbulent airflow distribution is calculated using the commercial FLUENT software assuming a standard k–? turbulence model. A non-uniform corona discharge is assumed, as it is produced along the electrode in the form of a flat tape with some number of spikes. The EHD secondary flow pattern and its interaction with the main airflow in different planes along the precipitation channel are examined for different voltages applied to the corona spiked electrode. The numerical results are compared with experimental data published in the literature.     

Numerical simulation of conductive particle behaviour at the surface of a plate electrode affected by a DC corona field

The electric field in certain electrostatic devices can be modeled by a grounded plate electrode affected by a corona discharge generated by a series of parallel wires connected to a DC high-voltage supply. The system of differential equations that describe the behaviour (i.e., charging and motion) of the conductive particle in such an electric field has been numerically solved, using several simplifying assumptions. Thus, it was possible to investigate the effect of various electrical and mechanical factors on the trajectories of conductive particles. This model has been employed to study the behaviour of coal particles in fly-ash corona separators.     

DSM-LPDF两相湍流模型及旋流两相流动的模拟

本文由流体－颗粒速度的拉氏联合概率密度函数（ＰＤＦ）输运方程出发,用Ｓｉｍｏｎｉｎ建议的Ｌａｎｇｅｖｉｎ模型封闭颗粒所遇到流体瞬时速度的条件期望项,并用Ｍｏｎｔｅ Ｃａｒｌｏ方法直接求解 ＰＤＦ输运方程,将其和求解流体雷诺应力方程模型的有限差分方法结合,建立了雷诺应力－拉氏ＰＤＦ（ＤＳＭ－ＬＰＤＦ,简称ＤＬ）两相湍流模型．用此模型模拟了旋流数为０．４７的突扩旋流气粒两相流动,并与文献中ＰＤＰＡ实验和用类似于单相流动湍流模型封闭方法的时平均统一二阶矩（ＵＳＭ）模型的预报进行了对比．     

3D numerical model of the electrostatic coating process with moving objects using a moving mesh

In this paper, a full three dimensional FLUENT numerical model of the electrostatic coating process with the embedded moving mesh capability and piecewise linear type target motion is presented. The model includes target geometries that do not exhibit symmetry. All the dominant mechanical and electrical phenomena are taken into account. Mechanical phenomena include shaping air effects, downdraft effects and the motion of the polydispersed particles. Electrical phenomena include the particle space charge distribution, corona discharge and the electrohydrodynamic flow effects. It was demonstrated that the numerical model can accurately mimic the type of the motion used in real world applications.     

Theory and application of cyclone with impulse electrostatic excitation for cleaning molecular gas

This paper introduces the structure, characteristics and operating principle of a cyclone impulse electrostatic precipitation (CIESP), and presents the solid–gas separation mechanism of CIESP. The hydromechanics equations of particles in solid–gas separation are set up with the goal of analyzing the characteristics of impulse corona discharge. The application of CIESP for cleaning molecular gas in a catalyst plant is explained. We conclude that CIESP is very suitable for cleaning sticky dust particles from exhaust gases of molecular sieve catalyst plant, and has high overall collection efficiency, while the migration velocity is approximately twice that of the electrostatic precipitation (up to 0.15–0.18 m/s). The theoretical formula for particle migration velocity is experimentally verified.     

CFD modeling of particle charging and collection in electrostatic precipitators

A CFD model was developed to describe the particle laden gas flow through an ESP, particle charging and collection. The corona discharge was modeled using the open source software OpenFOAM to solve the Poison and charge conservation equations, and results were entered using user-defined field functions in the commercial CFD software STAR-CCM+. The gas flow, EHD flow, particle charging and dynamics were modeled using STAR-CCM+. The developed CFD model allows for direct solution of the drift and diffusional flux of gas ions. The influence of the various ESP dimensions, operating parameters and ash properties on the collection efficiency are reported.     

A possible unification of Newton's and Coulomb's forces

We have considered electric charge as the fourth component of the particle momentum in five-dimensional space–time. The fifth dimension has been compactified on a circle with an extremely small radius determined from the fundamental physics constants. First, we have given equations in the framework of five-dimensional special relativity and determined the corresponding reduction to four-dimensional space–time. Then, in order to obtain an appropriate charge-to-mass ratio and to avoid the Fourier modes problem, we have considered the propagation of an off-mass shell particle in the five-dimensional space–time which can be interpreted as the motion of an on-mass shell particle in the four-dimensional world we experience. As an example, we have discussed the five-dimensional kinematic equations associated with the electron-positron annihilation process into two photons. Finally, the consequences on the gravitational interaction between two elementary charged particles has been studied. As a main result, we have obtained a unification of Newton's gravitational and Coulomb's electrostatic forces.     

Nanoparticle electrostatic loss within corona needle charger during particle-charging process

A numerical investigation has been carried out to examine the electrostatic loss of nanoparticles in a corona needle charger. Two-dimensional flow field, electric field, particle charge, and particle trajectory were simulated to obtain the electrostatic deposition loss at different conditions. Simulation of particle trajectories shows that the number of charges per particle during the charging process depends on the particle diameter, radial position from the symmetry axis, applied voltage, Reynolds number, and axial distance along the charger. The numerical results of nanoparticle electrostatic loss agreed fairly well with available experimental data. The results reveal that the electrostatic loss of nanoparticles increases with increasing applied voltage and electrical mobility of particles; and with decreasing particle diameter and Reynolds number. A regression equation closely fitted the obtained numerical results for different conditions. The equation is useful for directly calculating the electrostatic loss of nanoparticles in the corona needle charger during particle-charging process.     

Modelling of ions for seeding technique to electrify the atmosphere

There are number of ways in which weak electrification can affect the microphysics of clouds, with consequences for cloud lifetime, radiative properties, and precipitation efficiency. Kauffman [2011] suggested ions produced by direct current generators will add to and enhance the catalysing effects that cosmic ray ions are now known to produce in among other things, lowering nucleation barriers, stimulating charged particle growth and stability and increasing the scavenging rate in clouds. Thus to electrify the atmosphere ions can be generated artificially in abundance along with large electric field.Ions can be generated by the corona effect using Atmospheric electrifiers (a device used to generate negative ions) which makes use of corona discharge phenomenon to charge the air particles. Exact assessment of electric field and charge density distributions and the flow dynamics inside the electrifiers is essential to understand the particle behaviour inside the electrifiers.In this paper, a novel model of governing equations to evaluate the space charge density, electric field intensity and velocity of ionized airflow is suggested as a function of applied voltage. The Poisson and charge conservation equations are derived and hence can be used to estimate the electric field and charge density distributions. Navier stokes equation can be used to get the velocity of ionized airflow because of electric force on the air. Simulation is carried out to validate the proposed model and verify that velocity is function of input voltage and is proportional to it.     

Three-dimensional EHD simulation for point corona electrostatic precipitator based on laminar and turbulent models

The three-dimensional flow interaction for tuft or point corona for industrial electrostatic precipitators was investigated using both laminar and turbulent flow models. The secondary flow distribution based on laminar flow model forms a pair of organized donut-shaped rings generated from every corona or tuft points, while a pair of rings is less organized for turbulent flow model. When the primary flow exists, the organized spiral motion for turbulent model is further diffused in the direction of gas flow and increased N_EHD, which leads to turbulent flow. Turbulent model appears to be more appropriate for predicting the wire-plate ESP based on experimental investigation.     

Numerical simulation of the electrostatic powder coating process with a corona spray gun

In this paper results of investigations are described aiming to numerically simulate the electrostatic powder coating process using an extended commercial computational fluid dynamics (CFD) code. The fully three-dimensional turbulent flow was calculated. Based on the Lagrangian approach the trajectories of the powder particles were modelled considering electric and aerodynamic forces. In the calculations of the particle propagation both the particle size distribution and the particle charge distribution obtained through experiments have been applied. The model accounts for the space charge effect of the charged particles and the turbulence dispersion on the particle trajectories. It was found that the space charge plays an important role for the final spray pattern shape, also increasing the transfer efficiency. The numerical results, such as velocity profiles, static and dynamic film thickness on the target were in good agreement with experiment.     

Particle Dynamics in an Electrohydrodynamic Flow Field investigated with a two-component laser-doppler velocimeter

A laser-Doppler instrument has been used to measure the migration velocity of NaCl particles in an electrohydrodynamic flow field of an electrical precipitator. The measured average migration velocity of 1.40-μm particles (number distribution median with a geometric standard devitation of 1.46) is approximately five to six times higher than the calculated steady-state velocity for a 1.40-μm particle, provided there is a saturation charge of at least 90f%. Further, the particle velocities in the main flow direction are also influenced by the electrical operation conditions. Both observations demonstrate the important role of the state of the electrohydrodynamic flow field (superposition of moving gas ions and neutral gas molecules) on the particle transport, characterized by the dimensionless electrohydrodynamic number N_EHD. A comparison between six different electrohydrodynamic states revealed that N_EHD ≈? 1 is a critical value for the mutual interactions between the gas ions and the neutral gas phase. Whereas for N_EHD values > 1 the stochastic particle motion is chiefly determined by the nonsteady-state character of the negative corona, for N_EHD values < 1 the particle velocity fluctuations are governed by the turbulence level of the neutral fluid. These finding might be helpful in adjusting the operating conditions in electrical precipitators for and optimized particle separation.     

LES-DSMC方法研究超细颗粒气固两相流动过程

采用考虑颗粒脉动流动对气相湍流流动影响的大涡模拟(LES)研究气相湍流,采用直接模拟蒙特卡罗方法(DSMC)模拟颗粒间的碰撞。单颗粒运动满足牛顿第二定律,颗粒相和气相相间作用的双向耦合由牛顿第三定律确定,考虑超细颗粒间的van der Waals作用力。数值模拟垂直管内超细颗粒气固两相流动,对颗粒相速度、浓度以及团聚物流动过程进行分析。     

高频感应热等离子体中粉末颗粒的运动行为研究

建立了高频电感耦合等离子体炬的二维轴对称模型,利用商用软件FLUENT对钛粉颗粒在纯氩热等离子体内的运动轨迹进行了模拟,研究了前驱体粒径及载气流量的变化对粉末颗粒受力过程的影响。研究结果表明,粒径小的颗粒受炬内回流作用的影响较大,颗粒运动轨迹杂乱,而粒径大的颗粒受回流的影响则很小;降低载气流量可以使钛粉的受热更加充分,使得更多的颗粒被加热至熔化,可提高粉末的球化率。     

Formation of Suprathermal Particle Fluxes in a Strongly Turbulent Plasma

We consider the problem on the formation of suprathermal particle fluxes by electrostatic structures in strongly turbulent cosmic plasmas. It is shown that regions with a strong plasma turbulence can be large accelerators of charged particles. We give solutions of the stationary kinetic equation in a turbulent layer for different acceleration regimes and estimate the efficiency of diffusion over the longitudinal and transverse velocities of particles with respect to the magnetic field. The transverse diffusion in velocity space is more efficient for ions and leads to strong isotropization of ion fluxes. Electrons move almost along the magnetic field. We reveal the conditions under which the regular force in a nonuniform magnetic field influences the stochastic-acceleration process. The average energy of axial motion of the particles and the particle fluxes at large distances from the injection region are estimated. Ions and electrons can be accelerated up to comparable energies. We analyze the characteristic features of the motion of the relativistic-particle beams. It is shown that strong plasma turbulence can form particle beams with specific energies. The proposed mechanism is useful for explanation of the properties of energetic particles in cosmic plasmas with magnetic-field-aligned currents, e.g., in high-latitude regions of planetary magnetospheres, force-free configurations of the solar corona, and the solar wind.     

Simulation of electromagnetic scattering by random discrete particles using a hybrid FE-BI-CBFM technique

A hybrid finite element–boundary integral–characteristic basis function method (FE-BI-CBFM) is proposed for an efficient simulation of electromagnetic scattering by random discrete particles. Specifically, the finite element method (FEM) is used to obtain the solution of the vector wave equation inside each particle and the boundary integral equation (BIE) using Green's functions is applied on the surfaces of all the particles as a global boundary condition. The coupling system of equations is solved by employing the characteristic basis function method (CBFM) based on the use of macro-basis functions constructed according to the Foldy–Lax multiple scattering equations. Due to the flexibility of FEM, the proposed hybrid technique can easily deal with the problems of multiple scattering by randomly distributed inhomogeneous particles that are often beyond the scope of traditional numerical methods. Some numerical examples are presented to demonstrate the validity and capability of the proposed method.     

Quasi-Maxwell interpretation of the spin–curvature coupling

We write the Mathisson-Papapetrou equations of motion for a spinning particle in a stationary spacetime using the quasi-Maxwell formalism and give an interpretation of the coupling between spin and curvature. The formalism is then used to compute equilibrium positions for spinning particles in the NUT spacetime. This work was partially supported by FCT/POCTI/FEDER.     

可压稠密气固两相流动过程的模拟计算

基于稠密气体分子运动论和颗粒动理学,建立可压稠密气固两相流动模型。采用梯度模拟来考虑气相可压缩性对气相湍流的影响。模拟计算表明气固两相射流速度沿轴向和径向减小,颗粒浓度下降。气固两相射流具有高的颗粒温度,呈现强烈的气固两相湍流流动特性。     

Differential mobility analysis of nanoparticles generated by laser vaporization and controlled condensation (LVCC)

Silicon and iron aluminide (FeAl) nanoparticles were synthesized by a laser vaporization controlled condensation (LVCC) method. The particles generated by the laser ablation of solid targets were transported and deposited in the presence of well-defined thermal and electric field in a newly designed flow-type LVCC chamber. The deposition process of nanoparticles was controlled by the balance of the external forces; i.e., gas flow, thermophoretic and electrostatic forces. The size distributions of generated nanoparticles were analyzed using a low-pressure differential mobility analyzer (LP-DMA). The effect of synthesis condition on the size distribution was analyzed by changing the pressure of the carrier gas (20–200 Torr), the temperature gradient in the LVCC chamber (ΔT=0–190°C) and the electric field applied between the LVCC chamber plates (E=0–3000 V/m). It was found that electrostatic field was effective to selectively deposit small size nanoparticles (about 10 nm) with expelling large droplet-like particles.