Simulations of particle fi ltration and tracking in an electrical field

The movement of charged particles in an electrical eld is of practical importance in ltration eciency and in electrostatic coating. In this paper, both of these applications have been investigated computationally. For the case of ltration, a mathematical model is introduced for the electric lter, which is made of split type bers. The lter was assumed to be composed of rectangular bers arranged in a staggered array eld. Simulation was conducted to study ltration eciency. Single ber eciencies under various ltration conditions were calculated and compared with results obtained from semiempirical expressions. In the electrostatic powder painting, gas ow and particle ow elds inside a coating booth under given operating conditions are considered and the eects of particle size on their trajectories are studied. Steady state turbulent gas ow is simulated by solving incompressible Navier-Stokes equations and the standard k ?? " turbulence model. The discrete phase of particles is modeled based on the Lagrangian approach. In both cases studied here, the ow eld and the collection mechanisms were accurately simulated experimental observations.