Reduction of Submicron-Sized Aerosols by Aerodynamically Assisted Electrical Attraction with Micron-Sized Aerosols

A vortex generator was installed inside an electric agglomeration device to apply aerodynamic agglomeration in the same space as electric agglomeration. Computational fluid dynamics simulation was utilized to assess the combined effects of electric and aerodynamic agglomeration, and this was subsequently validated through experiments. The discrete phase model was used to track particle trajectories. The results showed that both the aerodynamic agglomeration through the vortex generator and the electric agglomeration through the electric field were effective. When these two agglomerations existed individually in series, the total removal efficiency for submicron particles was 32.5%. However, when they coexisted in the same space, the efficiency increased to 50%. This increase is attributed to the increase in residence time when the vortex generator was added to a space with an electric field. This led to particles being exposed to the electric field for a longer duration, thus generating a synergistic effect.