LAUSR

Abstract An improved wave-plate demister equipped with vortex generators (VGs) has been proposed for wet flue gas desulfurization systems (WFGD) in this work. Numerical and experimental methods were used to evaluate the effect of VGs on the separation of small droplets. Five types of wave-plate demister with different VGs were analyzed. The vortex generators in question included rectangular plates, semi-elliptical plates, square tubes, round tubes, and triangular tubes, respectively. In order to explain the strengthening mechanism, the distribution of flow field, secondary flow, and droplet trajectory were shown, and the effect of VGs on the flow field in the demister was discussed in depth. The simulation results show that the separation performances of the demisters with VGs were significantly improved over that of the initial demister, and the accompanying pressure drop was small. For the vortex generators studied, the rectangular plate fully demonstrated its superior separation performance, followed by semi-elliptical plate. The strengthening effect of VGs was tested through experiments. Experimental data reveal that the average droplet diameter (D50) at the outlet of the demister with a vortex generator can be reduced to 23.13 μm, whereas this value for the initial demister can be maintained at 32.07 μm. Moreover, compared with the original demister 0.81, the overall separation efficiency of the improved demister was improved to 0.92.