INVESTIGATIONS OF THE COLLECTION EFFICIENCY OF AN ELECTROSTATIC PRECIPITATOR WITH TURBULENT EFFECTS

Particle collection in an electrostatic precipitator mainly depends on the flow conditions and superimposed electrodynamic conditions, withi n the collecting channel. The flow field structure is decisively gover ned by the interactions between the gas phase and ionic wind. An impro ved model of an electrostatic precipitator was made from the particle convection diffusion equation, which takes into account the effects of the turbulent mixing on the particle transport by fluid mechanical an d electrostatic forces. The theoretical expression of the turbulent mi xing coefficient, a representation of the turbulent mixing effects, wa s directly developed on the basis of the mass transfer, Navier-Stokes, and Shaughnessy equations; this excellently agrees with observations published by Self and his co-workers (various studies) and Gross (1979 ). The comparison of the theoretical and experimental data published b y Riehle and Loffler (1990) shows that the presented collection effici encies are well identified with experimental results regarding the sub stantial case at an applied voltage of 35 kV, while the particle is co llected in the range > 1 mum for the laboratory-scale precipitator.