A FALLING FILM MIST ELIMINATOR

THIS PROJECT ADDRESSES THE NATIONAL NEED TO DEVELOP AN EFFECTIVE CONTROL DEVICE FOR CONDENSED ACID MIST EMISSIONS FROM UTILITY POWERPLANTS. SULFURIC ACID MIST EMISSIONS ARE SYMPTOMATIC OF POWER GENERATING PLANTS BURNING HIGH SULFUR COAL AND EQUIPPED WITH WET LIME OR LIMESTONE SCRUBBERS, RESULTING IN A HIGHER PARTICULATE LOAD, CORROSION OF METAL SURFACES, AND THE FORMATION OF A BLUE PLUME LEAVING THE STACK. IN MOST CASES, STACK GAS REHEATING HAS NOT REDUCED THE OPACITY PROBLEM, THEREBY MAKING REMOVAL OF THE MIST THE ONLY ACCEPTABLE SOLUTION. HOWEVER, THE MIST DROPLETS ARE PRIMARILY SUBMICRON IN SIZE AND ARE QUITE DIFFICULT TO REMOVE WITH STANDARD PARTICULATE CONTROL EQUIPMENT. A NOVEL FALLING FILM MIST ELIMINATOR (FFME) IS PROPOSED AS A CONTROL DEVICE FOR THESE EMISSIONS. THE PRINCIPAL ADVANTAGES OF THE FFME ARE ITS LOW PRESSURE DROP, ITS COMPACTNESS, AND ITS ABILITY TO CAPTURE MIST DROPLETS EVEN SMALLER THAN 0.1 MICRONS. THE DEVICE CAN BE EASILY RETROFITTED WITHIN AN EXISTING FUSION GAS DESULFURIZATION (FGD) SCRUBBER GAS DUCT. IN PHASE I, LABORATORY TESTING IS BEING PERFORMED TO VERIFY PROOF-OF-CONCEPT IN REMOVING AN AEROSOL MIST. FFME COLLECTION EFFICIENCY IS BEING DETERMINED WITH STANDARD PENETRATION TEST PROCEDURES, USING A STIMULANT AEROSOL. IN PHASE II, FURTHER TESTING AND REFINEMENT OF THE DESIGN WILL BE COMPLETED, CULMINATING WITH A TEST USING AN ACTUAL MIST AT THE ELECTRIC POWER RESEARCH INSTITUTE MIST ELIMINATOR PILOT FACILITY.