Effect of Secondary Flows on the Particle Collection Efficiency in Single Stage Electrostatic Precipitator

Abstract

The ionic wind formed in a nonuniform electric field has been recognized to have a significant effect on particle collection in an electrostatic precipitator(ESP). Under normal operating conditions the effect of ionic wind is not pronounced. However, as the flow velocity becomes smaller, the ionic wind becomes pronounced and induces secondary flow, which has a significant influence on the flow field and the particle collecting efficiency. In this paper, experiments for investigating the effect of secondary flow on collection efficiencies were carried out by changing the flow velocities in 0.2-0.7m/s and the applied voltages in 9-11kV/cm. The particle size distributions and concentrations are measured by DMA and CNC. To analyze the experimental results, numerical analysis of electric filed in ESP was carried out. It shows that particle collection is influenced by two independent dimensionless numbers, not by alone. When , decreases for constant , the secondary flow prohibits the particle collection. But when increases for constant , it enhances the particle collection by driving the particles into the collection region.