Evaluation of the performance of a wire-plate electrostatic precipitator

This work presents an analysis based on experimental measurement of the influence of gas velocity, applied potential, diameter of the active electrode and distance between two consecutive active electrodes in the performance of a wire-plate electrostatic precipitator. The dimensions of the experimental equipment were as follows: length = 0.5 m, height = 0.3 m, width = 0.3 m, number of ducts = 3, distance between the collection electrodes = 0.1 m and collection area = 0.9 m(2). The particulate material used in the tests was a phosphatic concentrate with a density of 3.0 x 10(3) kg/m(3) and a mean particle size of 8.0 mum. The performance of the precipitator was evaluated by measuring its overall collection efficiency, obtained by isokinetic sampling at the entrance and exit of the experimental system. The results were compared to predictions obtained using the classic Deutsch-Anderson equation as well as the one from Zhao et al. (1996). A correction factor is proposed.