Investigation of the effect of electro-hydraulic pulses on the combustion process of phosphorus sludge

Abstract

The article considers the influence of electro-hydraulic pulses on the combustion of phosphorus sludge. Electric discharges in the environment of phosphorus sludge are sources of shock waves, which destroying the structure of phosphorus sludge and contribute to the intensification of the combustion process. A distinctive feature of the electro-hydraulic effect is the ability to control the parameters of pressure waves over a fairly wide range using the characteristics of the electric discharge circuit. For determine the optimal productivity and purity of the final product of the electric discharge unit’s operation mode, experiments were conducted on the effect of the discharge energy on the efficiency of the electric discharge method for extracting phosphorus from phosphorus sludge. The efficiency of the electric discharge process was estimated by the amount of phosphorus that was released after settling and expressed as a percentage of the total amount of phosphorus in a phosphorus sludge’s portion. The experiments were conducted out for sludges of different structures, with different phosphorus content and were conditionally divided into three groups: “rich” with phosphorus content — 70 %, “medium” — 50 % and “poor” — phosphorus content — 30 %.