Laboratory demonstration of DPM mass removal from an exhaust stream by fog drops

Mining Engineering , 2017, Vol. 69, No. 11, pp. 55-60

Rojas-Mendoza, L.; Henderson, Z.; Sarver, E.; Saylor, J.R.

DOI: https://doi.org/10.19150/me.7854

Diesel particulate matter (DPM) is a major occupational health hazard in underground mine environments, even with available abatement technologies. Prior work has demonstrated that micrometer-scale water droplets, or “fog,” may be effective in removing significant number fractions of DPM from a conditioned exhaust stream. Here, a series of laboratory experiments are described which demonstrate that such a treatment can remove significant DPM mass from an unconditioned stream. The removal mechanism involved coagulation of the DPM and drops. The fog treatment removed about 45 percent more DPM mass on average than no treatment. Varying engine load, flow rate and fog droplet number density did not significantly affect the results under the range of conditions tested.