Filtration of flue gas by retaining of nanoparticles in microfluidic devices using dielectrophoresis

摘要

The burning processes are responsible for the emission in the environmentof a significant amount of nanoparticles. As the presence in the environment ofnanoparticles with size ranging from 50 nm to 150 nm has been shown to have aprofound impact on human health, the filtration of nanoparticles suspended in flue gasbecame an important technological challenge. In this context, the nanoparticlemanipulation using strongly non-uniform electric fields, and especiallydielectrophoresis (DEP), proved to be an extremely efficient tool.This paper presents an experimental DEP-based micro-system used for the selectiveretaining of nanoparticles suspended in a gaseous environment. The particlesdeposited on the electrodes are analyzed using a reflection metallographic microscopewith CCD camera and a data analysis system. The experimental results highlight thedeposition of nanoparticles on electrodes and the fact that the concentration ofcaptured particles diminishes as one depart from the input region, in concordancewith our simulation results.