Method for Electrically-driven classification of combustion particles

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-9371994-B2
Application number	US-201414203539-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Mar 10, 2014
Priority date	Mar 8, 2013
Publication date	Jun 21, 2016
Grant date	Jun 21, 2016

Abstract

In a combustion system, a charge source is configured to cooperate with a collection plate and a director conduit to cause at least one particle charge-to-mass classification to be reintroduced to a flame for further reaction.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A method for reducing particles entrained within an exhaust flow leaving a combustion system, comprising the steps of:
applying a first electrical potential between shaped electrodes that are positioned above a flame within a combustion volume and are adjacent to the exhaust flow leaving the combustion volume, thereby generating an ionic wind between the shaped electrodes, such that the exhaust flow-entrained particles pass through the ionic wind;
generating a corona discharge proximate to the shaped electrodes, thereby providing the ionic wind, the ionic wind comprising a plurality of electric charges passing through the exhaust flow;
depositing at least a fraction of the electric charge having a first polarity onto at least a fraction of the plurality of particles when the particles pass through the ionic wind and ions of the ionic wind become attached to the particles, such that the particles become charged;
providing an electrically conductive collector plate, the collector plate disposed above and away from the combustion volume distal to the flame; and
applying a second electrical potential between ground and the electrically conductive collector plate, the second electrical potential having an attractive polarity, whereby at least a fraction of the plurality of charged particles is collected at a surface of the collector plate.

2. The method of claim 1 , wherein the step of generating a corona discharge proximate to the shaped electrodes includes providing at least one shaped electrode that is tapered to a sharp tip.

3. The method of claim 2 , wherein the step of generating a corona discharge proximate to the shaped electrodes further includes generating a high voltage potential proximate to the at least one shaped electrode that is tapered to a sharp tip.

4. The method of claim 3 , wherein the ionic wind is partly responsible for causing the fraction of the plurality of the charged particles to flow to the surface of the collector plate.

5. The method of claim 4 , wherein the collector plate includes an electrically conductive surface proximate to the exhaust flow.

6. The method of claim 5 , wherein the electrically conductive surface includes a metal.

7. The method of claim 6 , wherein the metal is iron, steel, copper, silver or aluminum, or alloys of each, wherein the preponderant constituent of the alloy consists of iron, steel, copper, silver or aluminum.

8. The method of claim 7 , further including the step of providing a director conduit configured to receive a flow of at least a fraction of the plurality of particles at an input location and to convey the flow to an output location.

9. The method of claim 8 , wherein the director conduit includes an inlet port disposed above the combustion volume proximate the input location disposed away from the collection plate, an outlet port disposed adjacent the combustion volume proximate the flame, and a hollow body connecting the inlet and outlet ports.

10. The method of claim 9 , wherein the director conduit further includes a fan, impeller or vacuum means to provide an additional dragging force on at least a fraction of the plurality of particles through the hollow connecting body from the inlet port to the outlet port.

11. The method of claim 10 , wherein the output location is selected to cause the flow of the at least a fraction of the plurality of particles to flow toward the flame.

12. The method of claim 8 , wherein the director conduit includes a dielectric or insulator material.

13. The method of claim 12 , wherein the dielectric or insulator material is selected from the list consisting of elastomeric foam, fiberglass, ceramics, refractory brick, alumina, quartz, fused glass, silica, VYCOR™, and combination thereof.

14. The method of claim 1 , further comprising providing a director conduit comprising an inlet port disposed above the combustion volume, an outlet port disposed adjacent to the flame, a tubular body between the inlet and outlet ports, and a fan, impeller or vacuum means for drawing a fraction of the exhaust flow through the tubular body thereby redirecting a fraction of the plurality of particles not captured by the collector plate back into the combustion volume.

15. The method of claim 1 or 14 , further including the step of providing one or more sensors in electrical communication with a programmable controller.

16. The method of claim 15 , wherein the one or more sensors each provide a plurality of time-sequenced sensor inputs to the programmable controller.

17. The method of claim 16 , wherein the programmable controller changes the electrical potential applied by a high voltage power supply (HVPS) to the one or more shaped electrodes from time-to-time based on a comparison of the plurality of time-sequenced sensor inputs received by the programmable controller against a set of one or more predetermined values preprogrammed onto the programmable controller.

Assignees

• Clearsign Comb Corp

Inventors

• Goodson David B
• Prevo Tracy A
• Colannino Joseph
• Breidenthal Robert E
• Krichtafovitch Igor A
• Wiklof Christopher A

Classifications

• F23J15/022 Primary

  for removing solid particulate material from the gasflow · CPC title