Fine particles were separated by applying an electrostatic field in a designed wet classifier to improve the classification performance. Separation experiments were performed using fine silica particles with a size range from 0.21 to 8.71 μm based on the zeta potential of the suspended particles in the water. The effects of feed flow rate, electrode voltage, and feed particle concentration on separation performance were discussed. The results show that partial separation efficiency increased with feed flow rate and feed particle concentration, but decreased with electrode voltage. Maximum total separation efficiency was achieved at a given feed flow rate, a given electrode voltage, and a given feed particle concentration. The total separation efficiency reached 61.9 % when the nozzle diameter was 1.0 mm, the feed flow rate was 46.2 mL/min, and the electrode voltage was 150 V, which was higher by approximately 11.1 % compared to gravity settling. The separation factor for electrostatic wet classification reached 44,000 for 0.5 μm particles. The 50 % cut size decreased linearly with the increase in electrode voltage and a minimum 50 % cut size of 1.033 μm was obtained. Particle agglomeration effect, fishhook effect, and strong reverse flow should be considered when wet classification technology is employed in engineering applications.

通过在设计的湿式分级机中施加静电场来分离细颗粒，以改善分级性能。基于水中悬浮颗粒的Zeta电位，使用尺寸范围为0.21至8.71μm的二氧化硅细颗粒进行分离实验。讨论了进料流速，电极电压和进料颗粒浓度对分离性能的影响。结果表明，部分分离效率随进料流速和进料颗粒浓度的增加而增加，但随电极电压的降低而降低。在给定的进料流速，给定的电极电压和给定的进料颗粒浓度下，可获得最大的总分离效率。当喷嘴直径为1.0 mm，进料流速为46.2 mL / min时，总分离效率达到61.9％，电极电压为150 V，与重力沉降相比提高了约11.1％。对于0.5μm颗粒，静电湿式分类的分离系数达到44,000。50％的切割尺寸随电极电压的增加而线性减小，最小的50％切割尺寸为1.033μm。在工程应用中采用湿分级技术时，应考虑颗粒团聚效应，鱼钩效应和强逆流。