DEPARTMENT OF CHEMICAL ENGINEERING,

UNIVERSITI TEKNOLOGI PETRONAS.

CDB 3082Z CHEMICAL ENGINEERING LAB IV

Title : [Experiment 4] – Spray Chamber

Group : 4

Group Members : Anis Amira binti Amir 22617

Liew Rae-Jean 22612

Muhammad Aqwa Fathiullah 22613

Nur Khairunnisa binti Mohamad Talid 22608

Prem Raj A/L Thiruchelvan 22603

Lab Coordinator : Dr Muhammad Ayoub

Graduate Assistant : Siti Shafriena

Experiment Date : 20th September 2018

Submission Date : 27th September 2018

CDB 3062Z Chemical Engineering Lab IV

TABLE OF CONTENTS

1 INTRODUCTION .................................................................................................... 3

2 LITERATURE REVIEW ......................................................................................... 5

2.1 Spray Tower Design ............................................................................................................ 5
2.2 Theory of Operation ........................................................................................................... 7
2.3 Advantages and Disadvantages ........................................................................................... 8

3 METHODOLOGY ................................................................................................... 9

4 RESULTS AND DISCUSSION .............................................................................11

Experiment A: To study the effect of droplet size upon separation efficiency. .......................... 11
Experiment B: To study the effect of liquid to gas ratio (L/G) upon separation efficiency. ........ 13

5 CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATION ........................................................16

Errors and Recommendations ................................................................................................ 17

6 REFERENCES ......................................................................................................18

7 APPENDICES .......................................................................................................19
Sample Calculation ................................................................................................................ 19

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1 INTRODUCTION
According to Wark, Warner, Davis and Wayne (1998), an air pollutant is defined as an
occurrence of constituent in the atmosphere above its geochemical mean value, as a
result of anthropogenic activities, which remains in the atmosphere long enough to
produce an adverse effect. There are two types of air pollutants:

a) Primary pollutants: consist of materials that enter the atmosphere through

natural and human-made events.
b) Secondary pollutants: consist of primary pollutants that have reacted with
each other.

A wet scrubber is an air pollution control device that removes particulate matter
and acid gases from waste gas streams of stationary point sources. Actually,
particulate matter consists of a mixture of solid particles and liquid particles that are
small enough to remain suspended in the atmosphere for extended periods of time
(de Nevers, 2000). The pollutants are removed primarily through the impaction,
diffusion, interception and/or absorption of the pollutant onto droplets of liquid. The
liquid containing the pollutant is then collected for disposal. However, the ability of a
particulate wet scrubber to remove particles depends on two or more of all these
variables such as the size (aerodynamic diameter) of the particle, the velocity of the
particle, and the velocity of the droplet, sheet, or jet (Schifftner & Hesketh, 1983).

The purpose of this spray chamber experiment is to filter the sand, dry it by using
oven at 2000oC and then we collect the efficiency after a long time. An experiment
regarding spray chamber was conducted to determine the effect of nozzle particle size
and sample size upon separation efficiency. According to Daniel and Paula (2002),
collection efficiency is the amount of particulate matter removed from the gas stream
by the wet scrubber. It can be figured out experimentally from following equation:

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As a result, the smaller the nozzle particle size, the higher the separation efficiency.
Also, the bigger the sample size, the higher the spray chamber collection efficiency.
On the other hand, due to systematic errors, the accuracy of the results obtained was
affected.

The objectives of the experiment are:

1) To study the effect of droplet size upon separation efficiency

2) To study the effect of liquid to gas ratio (L/G) upon separation efficiency

The main objective of this analysis is to examine the effect of droplet size upon
separation efficiency, for this situation, for the Spray Chamber. The reason for us to
concentrate on the consequence of droplet size is to empower us to observe the
efficiency of this spray chamber. The bigger the droplet size, the higher the collection
efficiency of it. The droplet size from the nozzles can be controlled to optimize particles
contact surface. Increasing the spray pressure will decrease the droplet size in order
to provide more surface area.

Next, the second objective of this experiment is to examine the effect of liquid to
gas ratio upon separation efficiency of the spray chamber. We studied the effect of
different blower frequencies, which also means different air velocities. The outcome of
this part is studied when we gradually adjust the air blower speed controller from a
lower to a higher blower frequency. Therefore, the higher the blower frequency, the
higher the velocity of air, thus results in a higher spray chamber collection efficiency.

Therefore, a study on spray chamber is thus required to determine the effect of air
pollutant towards atmosphere.

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2 LITERATURE REVIEW

2.1 Spray Tower Design

A spray chamber or a wet scrubber is a gas-liquid contactor used to achieve mass and
heat transfer between a continuous gas phase (that can contain dispersed solid
particles) and a dispersed liquid phase. It consists of an empty cylindrical vessel made
of steel or plastic, and nozzles that spray liquid into the vessel. The inlet gas stream
usually enters at the bottom of the tower and moves upward, while the liquid is sprayed
downward from one or more levels. This flow of inlet gas and liquid in opposite
directions is called counter current flow. Spray Chamber is mainly used in the removal
of air pollutants by inertial or diffusional impaction.

Figure 2.1 Schematic diagram of a spray chamber

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This type of technology can be used for example as a wet scrubber for air
pollution control. Counter current flow exposes the outlet gas with the lowest pollutant
concentration to the freshest scrubbing liquid. Many nozzles are placed across the
tower at different heights to spray all the gas as it moves up through the tower. The
reason for using many nozzles is to maximize the number of fine droplets impacting
the pollutant particles and to provide a large surface area for absorbing gas.

Wet Scrubber applications incorporate light-oil and benzene stockpiling tank

outflow control utilizing wash oil as a dissolvable. Splash towers do not experience the
ill effects of confinements to gas stream by aggregated build-ups regularly found in
stuffed bed scrubbers. However, spray chamber has the slightest successful mass
exchange ability and hence, are by and large constrained to use for particulate matter
removal and with high-solubility gases (EPA, 1992). Wet scrubbers are regularly
utilized as a major aspect of Flue Gas Desulphurization frameworks, where they are
utilized to control outflows from coal and in oil burning from electric utilities and
industrial sources. Spray chambers are one of the more mainstream wet scrubber
arrangements used to carry squander gases into contact with a sorbent intended to
ingest and respond with the SO2. Wet scrubbers have been connected to SO2
discharges from the essential nonferrous metals handling (e.g., copper, lead, and
aluminium), yet sulfuric corrosive or essential sulphur plants are more prominent
control gadgets because of the high SO2 fixations related with these procedures (Soud,
et al., 1993).

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2.2 Theory of Operation

Splash scrubbers comprise of empty cylindrical or rectangular loads in which

the gas stream is reached with fluid beads produced by spray nozzles. A typical frame
is a spray tower, in which the gas streams upward through a bank or progressive
banks of spray nozzles. Comparative courses of action are occasionally utilized in
spray chambers with flat gas stream. Such gadgets have low gas weight drops, and
everything except a little some portion of the reaching power is developed from the
fluid stream. The required reaching power is acquired from a fitting blend of fluid weight
and stream rate (Perry, 1984). Physical retention relies upon properties of the gas
stream and fluid dissolvable, for example, thickness and consistency, and additionally
particular qualities of the pollutant(s) in the gas and the fluid stream (e.g., diffusivity,
harmony solvency). These properties are temperature ward, and lower temperatures
by and large support ingestion of gases by the dissolvable. Retention is additionally
improved by more noteworthy reaching surface, higher liquid gas proportions, and
higher focuses in the gas stream (EPA, 1991). Synthetic assimilation might be
restricted by the rate of response, although the rate-constraining advance is commonly
the physical ingestion rate, not the compound response rate (EPA, 1996).

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2.3 Advantages and Disadvantages

Advantages of using wet scrubber:

1. Small space requirement

Scrubbers reduce the temperature and volume of the unsaturated exhaust streams.
So, vessel sizes, fans and ducts downstream are smaller than those of other air
pollution control devices. It results in lower capital costs and more flexibility.

2. No secondary dust sources

The dust collected cannot escape from hoppers or during the transport process.

3. Handles high-temperature and high humidity gas streams.

There is no temperature limit or condensation problem that can occur in bag-houses.

Disadvantages of using wet scrubber:

1. Corrosion problems
Generally, water and dissolved pollutants can form highly corrosive acid solution.
Hence, appropriate construction materials are needed as it deals with wet-dry
interface areas which can result in corrosion.

2. High power requirements

The high collection efficiencies for particulate matter are attainable only at high
pressure drops which results in high operating costs.

3. Water-disposal problems
The settling ponds or sludge clarifier is needed to meet waste-water regulation meter.

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3 METHODOLOGY

Experiment A: To study the effect of droplet size upon separation efficiency

1. It was ensured that all valves are initially closed except valve V9 to be initially
opened.
2. Centrifugal water Pump, P1 was switched on.
3. For the first test, N1 nozzle(520µm) was opened and the water was let to flow
though the spray chamber.
4. The nozzle flow rate was recorded.
5. V9 valve was closed to let the water inside the spray chamber increase until it
reached the maximum level that was indicated on the chamber. Once the water
reached the level, valve V9 was adjusted to maintain the water height.
6. The air blower speed was set to 20.0Hz.
7. 200g of sample (300 μm sand) was fed into the feed tank via the feed control
valve, V11.
8. Once the sand has been delivered into the air stream, the Centrifugal water
pump P1 and Centrifugal Air Blower were switched off.
9. Valve V9 was slowly opened to let the dust-laden water in the spray chamber
to flow down by gravity to dust collecting bucket.
10. The dust was allowed settle down in the bucket once the water has flowed down
the chamber.
11. The bucket was taken out slowly to prevent any dust sample from spill. The
excess water was drained off. The dust was collected in a tray and placed in
an oven at 2000c for 2 hours to let the sample to dry.
12. The data of the sample was collected, and the efficiency was calculated.
13. For the second test, the procedure above was repeated by using the same air
blower speed, 20.0Hz with step 3 was modified to N2 nozzle(290µm) and N4
nozzle(1000µm) instead of N1 nozzle(520µm) size.

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Experiment B: To study the effect of liquid to gas ratio (L/G) upon separation
efficiency

1. It was ensured that all valves are initially closed except valve V9 to be initially
opened.
2. Centrifugal water Pump, P1 was switched on.
3. For the first test, nozzle N4 (1000µm nozzle size) was used and the blower
speed was adjusted at 20.0Hz.
4. The nozzle flow rate from flow meter, FM 2 was recorded.
5. V9 valve was closed to let the water inside the spray chamber increase until it
reached the maximum level that was indicated on the chamber.
6. Once the water reached the level, valve V9 was adjusted to maintain the water
height.
7. 200g of sample (300 μm sand) was fed into the feed tank via the feed control
valve, V11.
8. Once the sand has been delivered into the air stream, the Centrifugal water
pump P1 and Centrifugal Air Blower were switched off.
9. Valve V9 was slowly opened to let the dust-laden water in the spray chamber
to flow down by gravity to dust collecting bucket.
10. The dust was allowed settle down in the bucket once the water has flowed down
the chamber.
11. The bucket was taken out slowly to prevent any dust sample from spill. The
excess water was drained off. The dust was collected in a tray and placed in
an oven at 2000c for 2 hours to let the sample to dry.
12. The data of the sample was collected, and the efficiency was calculated.
13. For the second test, the procedure above was repeated by using the same
nozzle, N4 with step 3 was modified to 30.0Hz and 40.0Hz instead of 20.0Hz
set frequency.

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4 RESULTS AND DISCUSSION

Experiment A: To study the effect of droplet size upon separation

efficiency.

The table below shows the data collected from Experiment A.

Table 4.1 Relationship between effect of varying nozzle size and separation efficiency.

Weight of
Blower Weight of
Particle Sample Efficiency
Nozzle Frequency Sample
Size (μm) Calculated (%)
(Hz) Loaded (g)
(g)
N1 290 20 200 198.76 99.38
N2 520 20 200 195.52 97.76
N3 1000 20 200 187.61 93.81

The figure below shows the graph of separation efficiency against particle size.

Graph of Separation Efficiency against Particle Size.

100

99

98
Separation Efficiency (%)

97

96

95

94

93

92

91
290 520 1000
Particle Size (μm)

Figure 4.1 Graph of separation efficiency against particle size.

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For Experiment A, we are studying the effect of particle size upon separation
efficiency. The air blower speed for the experiment are the same which is 20 Hz. The
parameters that we are changing is the size of water droplet by using nozzle N1 (290
µm), N2 (520µm), and N3 (1000 µm). Spray chamber control the size of particle
droplets using several techniques. For example, the droplet size is determined by the
type of nozzle and the system operating conditions. In dynamic chamber, the speed
of the rotor and L/G controls the droplet size.

From the graph above, the separation efficiency decreases when the particle
droplet size increases. This is because, the bigger particle droplets have a smaller
surface area to volume ratio. This is due to the bigger size of particles produce from
the nozzle provide a lower dispersion inside the chamber. The particles from the air
will be captured by the liquid droplets. So, the bigger droplet will capture less particle
per volume of liquid injected and will resulting lower separation efficiency. T
his show that, the smaller particle size is better, which give higher efficiency.

However, the particle droplet size cannot be too small. This is because, the
momentum of the waste gas can be imparted to the droplets. This will decrease the
relative velocity between the droplet and the particles. If the relative velocity is lower,
the results will show the lower separation efficiency.

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Experiment B: To study the effect of liquid to gas ratio (L/G) upon

separation efficiency.

Table 4.2 Relationship between effect of liquid-to-gas ratio and separation efficiency

Weight of
Blower Weight of
Droplet Sample Efficiency
Nozzle Frequency Sample
Size (m) Calculated (%)
(Hz) Loaded (g)
(g)
N1 1000 20 200 187.61 93.81
N2 1000 30 200 197.71 98.86
N3 1000 40 200 199.82 99.91

Figure 4.2 Graph of Efficiency against Blower Frequency

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For the second part of the experiment, we studied the effect of different liquid
to gas ratio upon the separation efficiency of the spray chamber, where liquid flow is
a function of the gas flow rate that is being treated. The liquid to gas ratio is the volume
injected per volume of gas treated. In general, a higher liquid to gas ratio increases
collection efficiency since the density of droplets across a given cross-section is higher.

The theoretical effect of liquid to gas ratio on the efficiency is also proven by
the formula of fraction of gas swept:

3𝑅𝐿
𝑓=
2𝐷𝑑 𝐺

Where,
f = fraction of gas swept
R = distance travelled by the droplet with respect to the gas
L = liquid flow rate
Dd = droplet diameter
G = gas flow rate

𝐿
From the formula, increasing the liquid to gas ratio, 𝐺 will increase the fraction

of gas swept. When the fraction of gas swept increases, it will increase the chance of
the particles in the gas to collide with the liquid droplets and undergo diffusion
collection mechanism.

For this experiment, we kept the nozzle size constant, which was at 1000 μm,
and initially set the blower frequency of the spray chamber to 20 Hz. The collection
efficiency was then calculated by weighing the mass of dry sand collected after the
whole experiment was completed and the values were compared with the loaded sand
mass.

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From Table 4.2, the data shows the efficiency values that were calculated when
we set the blower frequency from 20 Hz, to 30 Hz and finally 40 Hz. The efficiency
values for each blower frequency is 93.81%, 98.86% and 99.91% respectively. Based
on Figure 4.2, this experiment shows that a higher blower frequency value, which also
indicates a higher air velocity, gives a higher separation efficiency of the spray
chamber. An increase in the relative velocity between the gas and liquid droplets will
cause an increase in the momentum of the particulate, as it allows smaller particles to
be collected by impaction.

Therefore, our results show that when the blower frequency of the spray
chamber increases, the relative velocity between gas and liquid droplets increases,
resulting in a higher efficiency of collection of the spray chamber due to a higher
number of liquid droplets in contact with the particles in the gas.

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5 CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATION

This experiment is divided into two parts, which was to study on the effect of droplet
size upon separation efficiency and to study on the effect of liquid to gas ratio upon
separation efficiency.

For the first part of the experiment, three nozzle sizes were used (Droplet Size:
290, 520 and 1000 μm) at constant frequency of 20Hz. After calculating the efficiency
relating the weight of sample loaded and the weight of sample calculated; it can be
seen that the smallest size of nozzle (droplet size 290μm) has the highest efficiency
of 99.38% while the second smallest (droplet size 520μm) has the efficiency of 97.76%
and followed by the largest size (droplet size 1000μm) at 93.81%. This shows that the
larger the droplet size, the lower the separation frequency. This is due to smaller
droplets have a larger surface area to volume ratio, therefore, more particles per
volume of liquid are injected. (Daniel, 2002)

Moreover, for the second part of the experiment on the study of liquid to gas
ratio, constant nozzle size of 1000μm is used on three different frequencies which are
20Hz, 30Hz and 40Hz. In our experiment, it can be seen that the separation efficiency
increases as blower frequency increases. The lowest frequency of 20Hz has an
efficiency of 99.38% while the highest frequency of 40Hz scored the highest efficiency
of 99.91%. This proves that the higher the frequency of the blower, the higher the
relative velocity of the liquid and gas droplets, thus, a higher collection efficiency of
the spray chamber.

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Errors and Recommendations

Errors

When conducting the experiment, some errors were detected in which it may affect
the accuracy and outcome of the experiment.

1) Systemic error occurs because of faulty equipment and some equipment that
have not been properly calibrated to fit the experiment.

2) Human error occurs when introducing manual disturbance.

Recommendations

To obtain a more accurate result, some modification and precaution should be

considered.

3) Regular check on the equipment need to be carried out to ensure that they
are functioning in optimum condition and have been properly calibrated to
obtain accurate results.

4) Automatic disturbance can be used to avoid the occurrence of human errors

when introducing the disturbances to the system.

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6 REFERENCES

AWMA, 1992. Air & Waste Management Association, Air Pollution Engineering
Manual, Van Nostrand Reinhold, New York.

Cooper, 1994. David Cooper and F. Alley, Air Pollution Control: A Design Approach,
2nd Edition, Waveland Press, Prospect Heights, IL, 1994.

Daniel, M., & Paula, H., Wet Scrubbers for Particulate Matter, 2002.

De Nevers, N., Air pollution Control Engineering, 2 nd Edition, Mc Graw Hill, 2000, pp.
249 - 314.

Perry, 1984. “Perry’s Chemical Engineers’ Handbook,” edited by Robert Perry and
Don Green, 6th Edition, McGraw-Hill, New York, NY, 1984.

Schifftner, K. C., & Hesketh, H. E. (1983). Wet scrubbers.

Soud, et al., 1993. Hermine N. Soud, Mitsuru Takeshita, and Irene M. Smith, “FGC
Systems and Installations for Coal-Fired Plants” from “Desulfurization 3,”
Institution of Chemical Engineers, Warwickshire, UK, 1993.

Wark, K., Warner, C. F., Davis, W. T., and Wayne, T. D., Air Pollution Engineering
Manual, 3rd Edition, Addison Wesley, 1998, pp. 188 - 291.

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7 APPENDICES

Sample Calculation

Experiment A: To study the effect of droplet size upon separation efficiency

For N1,

𝑊𝑒𝑖𝑔ℎ𝑡 𝑜𝑓 𝑆𝑎𝑚𝑝𝑙𝑒 𝐶𝑜𝑙𝑙𝑒𝑐𝑡𝑒𝑑 198.76

𝐸𝑓𝑓𝑖𝑐𝑖𝑒𝑛𝑐𝑦 = 𝑥 100% = 𝑥 100 = 99.38%
𝑊𝑒𝑖𝑔ℎ𝑡 𝑜𝑓 𝑆𝑎𝑚𝑝𝑙𝑒 𝐿𝑜𝑎𝑑𝑒𝑑 200

For N2,

𝑊𝑒𝑖𝑔ℎ𝑡 𝑜𝑓 𝑆𝑎𝑚𝑝𝑙𝑒 𝐶𝑜𝑙𝑙𝑒𝑐𝑡𝑒𝑑 195.52

𝐸𝑓𝑓𝑖𝑐𝑖𝑒𝑛𝑐𝑦 = 𝑥 100% = 𝑥 100 = 97.76%
𝑊𝑒𝑖𝑔ℎ𝑡 𝑜𝑓 𝑆𝑎𝑚𝑝𝑙𝑒 𝐿𝑜𝑎𝑑𝑒𝑑 200

For N3,

𝑊𝑒𝑖𝑔ℎ𝑡 𝑜𝑓 𝑆𝑎𝑚𝑝𝑙𝑒 𝐶𝑜𝑙𝑙𝑒𝑐𝑡𝑒𝑑 187.61

𝐸𝑓𝑓𝑖𝑐𝑖𝑒𝑛𝑐𝑦 = 𝑥 100% = 𝑥 100 = 93.81%
𝑊𝑒𝑖𝑔ℎ𝑡 𝑜𝑓 𝑆𝑎𝑚𝑝𝑙𝑒 𝐿𝑜𝑎𝑑𝑒𝑑 200

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Experiment B: To study the effect of liquid to gas ratio (L/G) upon separation
efficiency

For N1,

𝑊𝑒𝑖𝑔ℎ𝑡 𝑜𝑓 𝑆𝑎𝑚𝑝𝑙𝑒 𝐶𝑜𝑙𝑙𝑒𝑐𝑡𝑒𝑑 187.61

𝐸𝑓𝑓𝑖𝑐𝑖𝑒𝑛𝑐𝑦 = 𝑥 100% = 𝑥 100 = 99.38%
𝑊𝑒𝑖𝑔ℎ𝑡 𝑜𝑓 𝑆𝑎𝑚𝑝𝑙𝑒 𝐿𝑜𝑎𝑑𝑒𝑑 200

For N2,

𝑊𝑒𝑖𝑔ℎ𝑡 𝑜𝑓 𝑆𝑎𝑚𝑝𝑙𝑒 𝐶𝑜𝑙𝑙𝑒𝑐𝑡𝑒𝑑 197.71

𝐸𝑓𝑓𝑖𝑐𝑖𝑒𝑛𝑐𝑦 = 𝑥 100% = 𝑥 100 = 98.86%
𝑊𝑒𝑖𝑔ℎ𝑡 𝑜𝑓 𝑆𝑎𝑚𝑝𝑙𝑒 𝐿𝑜𝑎𝑑𝑒𝑑 200

For N3,

𝑊𝑒𝑖𝑔ℎ𝑡 𝑜𝑓 𝑆𝑎𝑚𝑝𝑙𝑒 𝐶𝑜𝑙𝑙𝑒𝑐𝑡𝑒𝑑 199.82

𝐸𝑓𝑓𝑖𝑐𝑖𝑒𝑛𝑐𝑦 = 𝑥 100% = 𝑥 100 = 99.91%
𝑊𝑒𝑖𝑔ℎ𝑡 𝑜𝑓 𝑆𝑎𝑚𝑝𝑙𝑒 𝐿𝑜𝑎𝑑𝑒𝑑 200

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