Dust control is a very significant issue in underground coal mining. The benefits of reducing dust levels will be a lesser risk of lung disease to coal miners, improved working conditions and a reduced risk of dust explosions. Coal dust is commonly suppressed by water sprays but suppression efficiency is not high because dust tends to travel in the air flow round the water droplets rather than being captured by them. If water sprays are electrostatically charged, then a significant improvement in dust suppression efficiency may be achieved. Of the three principal droplet charging mechanisms, i.e. corona charging, induction charging and contact charging, corona charging is the most widely used in many industrial fields including dust suppression, However, it requires a high applied voltage, ranging from thousands to more than a hundred thousand volts, depending on the geometry of the charging equipment. Induction charging has been used in agricultural spraying since Law (1978) developed an embedded-electrode induction charging spraying nozzle. This nozzle provides a compact, inexpensively fabricated droplet charger and, reduces design requirements on size and output voltage (of the order of 1000 volts). It also reduces the potential for mechanical damage, misalignment and personnel hazard. In order to evaluate the effectiveness of dust suppression, either the charge on individual droplets or the charge-to-mass ratio of water sprays needs to be known. However, the parameters which control the charge applied to water and the charging rate have been unsolved theoretically for any charging mechanism. The existing theories for the induction-charged and air-atomising a liquid jet have been found to be inadequate. And there is no theory available for corona charging of the droplets produced with a pneumatic nozzle in order to predict the spray charge level or the spray charge-to-mass ratio. In view of this situation, mathematical models have been developed in this thesis for both the corona and induction charging mechanisms. During the development of the theories, it has been assumed that for corona charging, that the jet is disintegrated into droplets and the droplets are then charged; for induction charging, that the jet is first charged and the charged jet is then disintegrated into charged droplets. The Sauter mean diameter of the sprays, D32 , plays an important role in linking the individual droplet charge to the spray charge-to-mass ratio for both charging mechanisms. The developed theories are general models suitable for any liquid with both corona and induction charging. Theoretical calculations for the spray charge-to-mass ratio, individual droplet charge and the ratio of droplet charge to the Rayleigh charge limit have been presented for almost all of the influencing electrical and mechanical parameters such as applied voltage, air flowrate, liquid flowrate, liquid conductivity, liquid dielectric constant, nozzle dimensions, cylindrical electrode dimensions, and fluid parameters, for example, density, viscosity and surface tension. In the calculation for corona charging of droplets, the effect of the droplets on corona current and corona-onset voltage has been assessed for first time. The introduction of the Sauter mean diameter of the sprays, D32 , makes the assessment possible. Theoretical calculations for induction charging of liquid jets have shown that provided liquids have a conductivity value higher than the critical value, s = - 10 4 S/m, then they can be charged satisfactorily by the induction charging method. Among all of the influencing parameters, the electrical and mechanical parameters determine the charging rate and the water spray charge level. The suitability of employing these two charging mechanisms to dust suppression in coal mine has been evaluated based on the spray charge level, safety issues and the simplicity or otherwise of the equipment. The induction charging method was considered to have advantages over its corona charging counterpart, and has been chosen for charging the water sprays in the experiment program. Water has a conductivity of s = - 10 2 S/m, higher than the critical value, s = - 10 4 S/m. Based upon theoretical considerations, it is concluded that water is an appropriate liquid for corona charging, based on its dielectric constant, and for induction charging, based on its conductivity. In order to facilitate the testing of electrostatically charged water spray cloud parameters, a spray charger/collector was designed and constructed by others and a computerised data acquisition system has been employed. According to the theory developed for induction charging, the optimum length of the charging electrode has been analysed based upon the assumption that water jet is first charged and then the charged jet is disintegrated into charged droplets by the high pressure air. An experimental program examined the dependence of spray current upon four parameters: air flowrate, water flowrate, applied voltage and jet diameter. The experiments have shown that the induction-charged air-atomising nozzle used in the experiment is able to impart a significant charge into the water sprays. The spray charge-to-mass ratio calculated based upon the measured spray current demonstrates the same characteristics as predicted by theory: increasing with air flowrate, decreasing with water flowrate, increasing with applied voltage to a peak value then decreasing with further increase in the voltage, and increasing with jet diameter. A successful interpretation of an important phenomenon in the inductioncharged air-atomising a water jet, that spray charge-to-mass ratio and spray current increase with air pressure (or air flowrate) and decrease with increasing water flowrate, has been achieved based on the theories developed in this thesis. This phenomenon occurs because increasing air flowrate and/or decreasing water flowrate leads to a higher velocity of jet flowing through the induction electrode. However, when water flowrate becomes very small, a decrease in spray current with increasing air pressure (or flowrate) may be caused both by jet breakup inside the electrode and by contraction of the jet. In order to verify the theory, a preliminary comparison of experimental data with theoretical predictions employing a constant kic in the air-jet interaction coefficient a which was assumed to be 0.7 has shown a general agreement. However, the value of kic appears to be related to jet diameter, air/water mass ratio and applied voltage. An empirical equation for kic has then been formulated based on the experimental data for the spray charge-to-mass ratio. Finally a comparison of experimental results with theoretical predictions using the formulated kic shows an improved agreement. It is concluded that the induction-charged air-atomising nozzle has a potential application in dust suppression in coal mines, as the voltage required to charge water sprays is only 1000 ~ 1200 volts, and that the theory developed for induction charging of water sprays can be used to guide laboratory investigations and design processes for dust suppression and other industrial applications which might employ the electrostatic charging of liquid sprays.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:ADTP/234311 |
| Date | January 2000 |
| Creators | Xiao, Fuchun, Safety Science, Faculty of Science, UNSW |
| Publisher | Awarded by:University of New South Wales. School of Safety Science |
| Source Sets | Australiasian Digital Theses Program |
| Language | English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Rights | Copyright Fuchun Xiao, http://unsworks.unsw.edu.au/copyright |
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