Evaluation of Particle Collection Efficiency in a Wet Electrostatic Precipitator Using an Electrosprayed Discharge Electrode

The wet electrostatic precipitator (wet ESP) is an effective control device which removes submicron particles reentrained in a collection plate and water soluble gas. However, its collection efficiency decreases, as its operation is subject to water-induced distortion of the collection electrode. In order to make up for the limitation, we modified the wet ESP system by installing electrosprayed discharge electrodes. The modified wet ESP system can wash both the collection plate and discharge electrode. As a result, we were able to fabricate a compact wet ESP with a small specific collecting area (0.18 m(2)(m(3)/min)) that can accomplish a high collection efficiency of fine particles (97.1%). In addition, the device obtained a relatively low specific corona power of approximately 10 W/(m(3)/min).