MicroMist™ Engineered Systems

Enhanced Dust Collector Performance

Evaporative Gas Conditioning
 Advanced Evaporative
Gas Conditioning System
Enhances Particulate Control

Evaporative Gas Conditioning (EGC) is a

technique for conditioning flue gas prior to
electrostatic precipitators and fabric filters
to improve particulate collection. Unlike
other flue gas conditioning techniques,
EGC does not add any toxic or hazardous
compounds to the plant site, flue gas,
or collected particulate. Instead, finely
atomized water is evaporated in the gas
stream to lower its temperature and raise
the moisture content. This beneficially alters
particulate properties by raising surface
conduction and increasing inter-particle
bonding, thereby enhancing the collection
of dust and trace elements in particulate
control devices.

Effect of Temperature
Benefits of MicroMist­™ EGC Effect of Temperature
on EP Emissions
on EP Emissions

1600
Electrostatic precipitator (EP) Fabric filter (FF)
Dust Emission mg/Nm 3

1400
Lowers gas volume and velocity Lowers gas volume and pressure drop 1200
1000
Increases humidity Allows use of lower-priced filter media 800
Increases specific collection area Decreases air-to-cloth ratio 600
400
Increases particle migration velocity Improves dust removal from media 200
Lowers gas viscosity Increases dust cohesivity 0
130 140 150 160 170 180 190 200
Decreases rapping reentrainment Improves filter cake characteristics Temperature, ˚C

“Moisture seems to be essential to the effectiveness of chemical conditioning

agents. In general, the action of the conditioner increases with the amount
of moisture in the gas and with decreasing temperature of the gas. Water
vapor is therefore frequently referred to as a primary conditioning agent MicroMist™
and chemicals are considered secondary conditioning agents.” Engineered Systems
Dr. Harry White — Industrial Electrostatic Precipitation
MicroMist™ Evaporative Gas Conditioning Nozzle Performance Comparison
Nozzle Performance Comparison

As a pioneer in the development and application of dual 600

fluid atomization technology, EnviroCare has supplied 500

Typical Nozzle

Droplet (µm)
400 Maximum Droplet
EGC systems worldwide to some of the largest industrial 300 Sauter Mean Droplet

producers and architect/engineers. EnviroCare’s MicroMist 200 MicroMist Nozzle

Maximum Droplet
EGC system has proven itself in difficult applications in 100
Sauter Mean Droplet
0
various industries around the world, and is capable of 0 1 2 3 4

Water Flow (GPM)

achieving the low gas temperatures required to meet
today’s stringent emission standards consistently and
efficiently.

MicroMist™ Series III Spray Nozzles

With the recent development of the Series III MicroMist

technology, gas cooling and conditioning systems can
be installed in previously impossible locations. Some
examples include power plant EP inlets, undersized cement
preheater downcomers and conditioning towers, and
BOF steel mill hoods. These results are achieved through a
thorough understanding of droplet generation and in situ
evaporation.

MicroMist™ Engineered System

EnviroCare’s control systems are designed to anticipate

small changes in temperature and respond quickly with
appropriate changes in water flow and atomizing air.
The injection water flow rate is precisely maintained by
manipulating the process variables and predicting demand. The MicroMist Nozzle
By accurately regulating the ratio of atomizing air to The MicroMist Nozzle
Patent No. 5,848,750
water, the degree of atomization is controlled across all
flow ranges, and can be tailored to match specific process Atomizing Air

parameters. It is this atomization control that generates

fine, uniformly sized water droplets. The resulting increase Fixed
Angle
Fluid
of
in surface area magnifies the probability of gas/water Atomization

interaction and reduces evaporation time. Reduced

evaporation time results in lower achievable temperatures
and dry system operation.
Dual Fluid, Four-Stage, Injection Spray Nozzle
 Dust Resistivity
Dust Resistivity Curves Curves
Dry Electrostatic Precipitators
in Various
in Various ProcessesProcesses

10 14 In many applications, older, existing EPs often fail to achieve specified

10 13 Clinker grate cooler collection efficiency. Gas conditioning systems have been utilized to
Resistivity, ohm-cm

10 12 regain some of this loss in efficiency. In such cases, a precipitator’s

Preheater kiln
10 11 performance is often based on the ability of the gas conditioning
10 10 system to respond to process changes and variations in flue gas
10
Coal fired boilers, S<1%
9 composition. These variations, even in small amounts can have a
10 8 marked effect on particulate collection. MicroMist™ EGC precisely
0 100 200 300 400
controls the flue gas properties to maximize collector efficiency.
Gas Temperature, ˚C

Improving Dust Resistivity

MicroMist™ EGC systems optimize the resistivity to improve

SCA vs. Temperature

electrical operation, resulting in greater particulate collection in the
SCA vs Temperature
precipitator. If the resistivity of the dust layer on the EP collecting
30 plates is too high, a large
voltage gradient is generated
Dust Resistivity Characteristics
SCA, % Increase

20 across it. Dust Resistivity Characteristics

10 15
10 This condition limits
Dry air
10 14
precipitator performance,
Resistivity, ohm-cm

requiring low power levels to 10 13

100 150 200
avoid electrical breakdown 10 12
Temperature, ˚C
in the precipitated dust 10 11
5% H 2O
layer, a phenomenon called 10 10
“back corona”. Conversely, 10 9
12.5% H 2O

if the resistivity of the 20% H 2O

Particulate Collection Efficiency precipitated dust is too low, 40 95 150 205 260 315 370
Particulate Collection Efficiency
as Function of SCA Temperature, ˚C
as Function of SCA dust reentrainment occurs,
MicroMist EGC reduces resistivity by increasing
99.9 resulting in high emissions. moisture and decreasing temperature of flue
Collection Efficiency, % Increase

gas

The MicroMist™ EGC system

99.5
efficiently adds atomized water to increase the moisture content
of the flue gas, resulting in evaporative cooling. The reduction
99.0
in temperature, combined with the higher water content, yields
the optimum dust resistivity, improving electrical operation and
0 25 50
increasing precipitator efficiency.
SCA, % Increase
Increasing Precipitator SCA Reentrainment Control

SCA is the ratio of collecting plate surface area
to gas volume. The higher the SCA, the higher
the collection efficiency. Even a relatively
small reduction in gas volume can increase
a precipitator’s SCA to dramatically reduce
emissions.
Viscosity Reduction
The greatest single factor affecting precipitator
efficiency is migration velocity. This term indicates
the speed of the particle traveling toward the
collecting electrode. MicroMist™ EGC lowers the
viscosity of the gas stream resulting in increased
migration velocity and thereby improving
collection efficiency. This is a benefit that cannot
be achieved through any chemical conditioning
method.
A portion of the particulate emissions from a
precipitator is attributed to dust that at one time
had been precipitated onto the collecting plate. This
condition is referred to as particle reentrainment.
These particles are either scoured off the collecting
surfaces by the gas stream, electrostatically repelled,
or reenter the gas stream when the electrodes are
rapped.
MicroMist™ EGC lowers the gas velocity and affects the
electrical and cohesive forces. Lowering the velocity
of the gases decreases the scouring effect of the gas
stream. Electrostatic repulsion between dust particles
is eliminated by changing the surface conductivity of
the dust particles. The cohesive particle-to-particle
bonds are greatly strengthened, thereby reducing
reentrainment during rapping.

Energy Savings and Maintenance

Reduction
Effect of EGC Effect of EGC Energy can be applied more efficiently with EGC by
on VoltageonandVoltage
Current (V-I)
& Current (V-I) reducing sparking, thereby decreasing the energy
700 spent in recharging the field. Further, components
EGC ON
600 9% Opacity of a steadily operating precipitator do not see
100% Gas Flow the cycling conditions found in precipitators with
500 282˚F/135˚C
excessive sparking, resulting in considerable savings in
Current, mA

400
maintenance.
300

200
EGC OFF
100 29% Opacity
90% Gas Flow
325˚F/165˚C
20 22 24 26 28 30 32 34 36 38 40
Voltage, kV

V-I curves for EP field collecting

high resistivity dust
 Fabric Filters

Fabric filter dust collectors are often chosen for their

efficiency in capturing particulate. Unfortunately, higher
gas temperatures require the use of expensive filter bags.
Furthermore, any increase in gas volume can upset a
marginal air-to-cloth ratio and severely affect emissions
and pressure drop.

MicroMist EGC is beneficial to the performance of fabric

filters because of the reduction in gas volume (lower air-
to-cloth ratio) that occurs from evaporative cooling. This
effect is similar to the effect of raising SCA in precipitators.
Increased humidity can also improve the filterability of
particles resulting in lower pressure drop and higher
collection efficiency. This is especially true for ashes that
are inherently non-cohesive. Cooling the process exhaust
gas will reduce both the temperature and the gas volume,
allowing the selection of reasonably priced filter media
and reducing the gas volume through the fabric filter.

Improving Air-to-cloth Ratio

Process & Instrumentation Diagram
Process & Instrumentation Diagram
As with the increase in SCA for precipitators, the
cooling of flue gases by evaporation of water
droplets is beneficial to fabric filter performance. Plant Water
Supply
The lower gas volume means lower filtering face Process Pump
Off Gases
velocity, also called the air-to-cloth ratio. Lowering
the air-to-cloth ratio allows for production increases MicroMist
Spray Back-Pressure

with the same dust collector or decreased emissions

Lances Relief Valve
Analog Digital
PT TE Outputs
Inputs
if bleed-through is occurring. Microprocessor
Controller
PT

Analog
Outputs
To Dust
Collector
PT
Process & Instrumentation Diagram FE

TE Flow W ater Flow Block Valve

A typical MicroMist installation follows this schematic. The signals from the Meter Control
Valve

thermocouples are compared against a temperature setpoint, and a signal

to increase or decrease the water flow is transmitted to the water flow
PT
control valve. The air flow control valve is then modulated to control the PT
Screw Type
Air
proper air-to-water ratio. Alarms and interlocks are utilized to prevent Air Flow
Compressor

Control
poor atomization of the injected water. Valve
Decreasing Pressure Drop Typical MicroMist™ Applications
MicroMist™ EGC is an effective means of MicroMist™ EGC systems are used throughout the
lowering pressure drop of a fabric filter by world to improve the efficiency of dust collection
lowering the filtering drag through the filter systems, to condense out vaporized substances
cake. and to create an inert process environment by
means of a false evaporative load. Industries
Large reductions in drag can now be achieved using EnviroCare’s systems include cement
through moisture conditioning. The reduction works, power plants, municipal and hazardous
in drag is a result of higher cake porosity. The waste incinerators, non-ferrous metals, lime
porosity is increased because water absorbed plants, coal drying facilities, electric arc and basic
onto the dust strengthens particle-to-particle oxygen furnaces, and glass plants.
bonds so that the resulting agglomeration
structure is Cement Dry Process
Particulate Collection Efficiency more open.
Filter Cake Properties
asHumidities
at Various Function of SCA
0.7
5% H 20
Pressure drop is
0.6
proportional to
Drag, In H20/(ft/min)

0.5 10% H 0 2

0.4 the air-to-cloth

0.3 15% H ratio. For many
2

0.2
reverse-gas
0.1
fabric filters, the
0.00 0.01 0.02 0.03 0.04 0.05 pressure drop is
Filter Cake Density, lb/ft 2

typically three
times the air-to-
cloth value. That means that a small reduction
Power Plant
in the air-to-cloth ratio will produce a marked
influence on the pressure drop of the system.
The combined effect of lowering the air-to-cloth
ratio and lowering the filtering drag results in a
dramatic reduction in pressure drop in the dust
collector.

The MicroMist™ Advantage

As in the case of the EP, an impressive amount
of energy is saved and maintenance is reduced
with the implementation of a MicroMist EGC Non-Ferrous Metals BOF Steel Mill
system. The lower pressure drop will continue
to save energy day after day, and the lower
velocity of the gas stream traveling through the
filtration membrane equates to savings in bag
replacement and associated maintenance.
 Valve Rack Alkali Tower

Lance Layout

Gas Conditioning Tower

EnviroCare International, Inc.

Headquarters:
507 Green Island Road
American Canyon, CA 94503
P. 707.638.6800 • F. 707.638.6898
www.envirocare.com

4797 Dovecote Trail • Suwanee, GA 30024

P. 678.714.8065 • F. 678.714.8076

P.O. Box 8921

400 072, Mumbai, India
P. 91.22.2857.5252/5333 • F. 91.22.2857.5322

EnviroCare Australia
Suite 15, 96 Manchester Road, Mooroolbark
Victoria 3138 Australia
P. +039.727.2022 • F. +039.727.2422