Improving wet scrubber efficiency using fiber‐guided drops

Abstract

Wet scrubbers are widely used to mitigate fossil fuel emissions, making improvements in their efficiency an impactful pursuit. In this study, we analyze an atypical approach to liquid distribution in wet scrubbers that uses liquid drops flowing down vertical fibers which offers several benefits. These include extended residence time, reduced pressure drop, monodisperse drop size distributions and tunability of all of these, including the drop number density. The residence time and drop number density are the most significant of the aforementioned effects and are strongly affected by viscosity. Accordingly, we chose to study silicone oils, available in a range of viscosities, to investigate the scavenging coefficient of fiber‐guided drops, and demonstrate their potential to enhance wet scrubber performance. Additionally, we identify optimal system parameters for effectively capturing particles across a range of particle diameters, paving the way for more efficient wet scrubbers.