Iran Occupational Health

Background and aims: Development of new air pollution control techniques have always been the main concern of the researchers. The purpose of this experimental study was to investigate the effects of using acoustic fields at high sound pressure levels on the removal of sulfuric acid mist from the air stream.

Methods: In this experimental study, an experimental scale agglomeration chamber was used. This study was conducted using standing waves at a total flow rate of 40 l/min, resonance frequency of 852 Hz, concentration of sulfuric acid mist in the range of 5-30 ppm, and sound pressure level (SPL) in the range of 115-165 dB. In order to measure the concentration of sulfuric acid mist in the acoustic agglomeration chamber, the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) standard method 8 was used for sampling air isokinetically. The data were analyzed with SPSS 22 for Windows.

Results: The results showed that the removal efficiency of sulfuric acid mist in the acoustic agglomeration chamber significantly increased with increasing sound pressure level (P=0.001). The average efficiencies at 115, 135, 155, and 165 dB SPL were 22.75, 42.54, 64.27, and 78.69 percent, respectively. The results of statistical test did not show any significant differences in the removal efficiency of sulfuric acid mist in the acoustic agglomeration chamber at different input concentration ranges (P=0.985).

Conclusion: The results of this study indicate that acoustic fields have effects on agglomeration of sulfuric acid mists. It seems that the approach is appropriate for removing mists and reducing the level of emissions of contaminants into the environment.