Optimization of Electrodynamic Screens for Efficient Removal of Dust Particles

Electrodynamic Screens (EDS) is a promising alternative for removing dust particles from solar collectors and advantageous compared to the current water-based cleaning methods used widely in solar industries. To operate the EDS for efficient removal of dust layer having different size distributions and compositions of particles, it is necessary to optimize the design of the EDS and the materials used for construction. Since the electric field is the main component in removal of the dust particles, this paper reports optimization of the electric field as the function of geometric parameters of the EDS. For the optimization of the EDS, two distinct objective functions have been defined and the optimal values for the electrode width and inter-electrode spacing have been provided. The EDS model has been implemented in the COMSOL Multiphysics finite element analysis (FEA) software and analytical results have been verified. Based on the optimized parameters, different designs have been gone under fabrication process and then testing. This is a work in progress paper and the experimental results will be provided later to corroborate the higher clearance rates for the optimal designs.Copyright © 2014 by ASME