Modeling the pre-breakdown V-I characteristics of an electrostatic precipitator

A novel mathematical model for determining the electrical characteristics in a dc energized duct type electrostatic precipitator is described. The method is a quasi-analytical one, based on solving the current continuity equation by finite-difference method and Poisson's equation by variational principle with the help of Rvachev functions (R-functions). The methodology described represents a valuable design tool for simulating and comparing the voltage-current characteristics of different wire-plate precipitator configurations before optimizing the geometric parameters namely shape of the corona wire, shape of the collection electrodes, wire cross-section, wire-wire and wire-plate spacing. The proposed method will be useful in trying innovative ideas in the design aspect of a wire-duct precipitator. Other significant features of this method are reduced problem domain, less memory space, and faster convergence. The proposed method has been validated with published experimental results and the agreement is excellent. A comparison of electrical characteristics has been made for different sizes and shapes of corona wire and also for various configurations of the wire-plate precipitators.