Improving the electrostatic precipitation removal efficiency on fine particles by adding wetting agent during the chemical agglomeration process

Fine particles emitted from coal-fired power plant is one of the main sources in China, causing serious harm to the atmospheric environment and human health. By promoting the fine particles to form larger aggregates, chemical agglomeration technology is more beneficial for fine particles to be captured by electrostatic precipitator (ESP). The experimental results showed that the concentration and particle size of fly ash particles were significantly enhanced after the addition of sesbania gum (SBG) and styrene-butadiene emulsion (SBE), and the total dust removal efficiency was up to 89.45% and 91.05%. Moreover, as the surfactant (T-100) was added, the removal efficiency could be further increased to 93.58% and 94.42%. Simultaneous, the contact angle of the complex solution formed by surfactant T-100 and 0.1% SBE, which reached the lowest value of 23.6, showed better wetting performance. The SEM-EDS results suggested that the fine particles were formed new larger aggregate with a size larger than 10 mu m. Simultaneous, the surface of fly ash particles was covered by an organic layer and further adhered to some submicron fine particles. The result has useful guidelines in future applications for optimizing operating parameters of chemical agglomeration in coal-fired power plants.