Development of an explicit Eulerian method for treating particle-laden turbulent flow in dust collectors

Prediction of particle removal efficiency in all kinds of dust collectors includes mathematical modeling of particle-laden flow. One of the main problems for such modeling is to find particle velocity distribution which can be predicted using a particle momentum balance equation. A common simple alternative is to use equilibrium or settling velocities. In this work, a comprehensive mathematical model for particle removal in double-stage electrostatic precipitators was developed. Analysing the results of this model shows that the equilibrium assumption can be considered as a reliable method for a Stokes number less than 0.001. Also, for a higher Stokes number, an explicit Eulerian method was developed for the evaluation of particle velocities explicitly. This method eliminates solving particle momentum balance equations which is a relatively time-consuming step in mathematical modeling of dust collectors.