Optimum design of venturi scrubbers: Fid-Bau Portal

Optimum design of venturi scrubbers

Goel, K.C. / Hollands, K.G.T.

Abstract Although venturi scrubbers are capable of removing submicron particles, they do this at the expense of a high pressure drop in the gas stream, with a coincident high fan operating cost. Designs of venturi scrubbers which, for a given gas flow rate and particulate removal efficiency, have minimum pressure drop, may be called optimal. This paper considers design procedures for optimized design. On the basis of a straight duct model, the optimum combination of liquid flow rate and gas velocity at point of liquid injection is treated. Using this combination, and using a multi-duct analysis, the optimum distance upstream of throat where nozzles for injecting the scrubbing liquid should be located is treated. Optimized design charts, based on air-water systems and pneumatic atomization are presented. An important result of this treatment is the prediction of very low pressure drops, if an atomization system giving the “optimum” droplet size (rather than the larger droplet size produced by conventional pneumatic atomization) is used.