Computational fluid dynamics modeling and laboratory analysis of aerosol particles' capture on thin swirling water film in a Vortecone

This study was conducted to look at a new use case for the Vortecone scrubber. A Vortecone is an inertial separator that utilizes the momentum of dust particles to promote their capture. The turbulent airflow forces the water supplied at the periphery to deform continuously, resulting in a rapidly swirling film on the Vortecone surface. The heavier dust particles are differentially shed from the bulk airflow towards the vortex chamber surface where they are captured by the running water film. The Vortecone surface serves as the filter element. The authors use computational fluid dynamics to model the multiphase flow and particle transportation inside the Vortecone. Laboratory experiments using coal dust show the Vortecone to capture about 73% and 97% of particles exceeding 2.9μm and 5.9 μm at 0.28 m³/s. The cleaning improves to 89% and 99% at the airflow of 0.38 m³/s.