Separation of fine particles with electrostatically enhanced cyclone

Despite many advantages of cyclone-based particle separation, insufficient removal efficiency limits its use in fine particle removal. In this paper, we have developed an electric field-assisted cyclone capable of removing ultrafine particles (0.3 mu m) with enhanced efficiency. Effects of several design parameters including flow rate, applied voltage, and the length of vortex tube have been experimentally evaluated for inertial and electrostatic separations of particles. With an optimization of the normalized vortex tube length, s/D = 1, the presented cyclone demonstrated the improved removal efficiency of 76% at the flow rate of 400 lpm and 25 kV voltage.