Application of supersonic injection of electric charges in chemical engineering

Abstract Supersonic injection of electric charges provides a safe way of introducing charge carriers in dusty media. If a balanced current of positive and negative carriers is used, a neutral cloud of ions is released into the fluidised bulk material. Due to their mobility, ions of each polarity move from the cloud to the dusty particles that have the charge of opposite polarity, and neutralise them. In Chemical Engineering, and particularly in the processing of bulk material, a number of new possibilities stem from this innovation : improvement of product quality by a better elimination of waste (fines and streamers), reduction of maintenance costs by suppression of wall contamination, preservation of environment by a better control of waste rejection, protection of personnel and facilities by eradication of electric discharges.