Fine-Particle Collection Using an Electrostatic Precipitator Equipped With an Electrostatic Flocking Filter as the Collecting Electrode

In recent years, special environmental concern is directed towards controlling the emission of fine particles (from 0.1 to 1.0 μm). These fine particles possibly cause serious health hazards because of heavy metals and toxic compounds adsbjrbed on the particles. To improve the collection efficiency of fine particles, the electrostatic flocking technique has been employed in this study. This technique is based on increasing the surface area of the collecting electrode and on producing a gradient force at the tip of fibers to suppress the re-entrainment. In this article, an experimental study was perftrttned to evaluate the effect of fine fibers on the collection efficiency of fine particles using the ESP with electrostatic floddng electrodes as collecting plates. The ESP achieved a collection efficiency of about 95% at a d.c. voltage of 9 kV, which was higher than that of flat-plate electrode for fine particles (0.3-0.5 μmin diameter) with a short residence time (0.06 s). We confirmed that the fine particles agglomerated at the tip of the flocking fibers. These results indicate that the new type of ESP examined in this study is effective to improve the removal performance of fine particles.