THE EFFECT OF THE ELECTRIC-FIELD ON THE FORMATION OF PCDD IN ELECTROSTATIC PRECIPITATORS

Sufficient evidence exists to suggest that there is some PCDD formation in electrostatic precipitators attached to municipal solid waste incinerators. This paper deals with the possible effect of the corona discharge in an electrostatic precipitator on PCDD formation from chlorophenols in the gas phase. The corona discharge may cause an increase in O and OH present in the system which in turn may lead to an increase in the concentration of chlorophenoxyl radicals. Preliminary modeling studies indicate that increases in PCDD can be explained by electric field effects.