Novel Wire-on-Plate Electrostatic Precipitator (WOP-EP) for Controlling Fine Particle and Nanoparticle Pollution

A new wire-on-plate electrostatic precipitator (WOP-EP), where discharge wires are attached directly on the surface of a dielectric plate, was developed to ease the installation of the wires, minimize particle deposition on the wires, and lower ozone emission while maintaining a high particle collection efficiency. For a lab-scale WOP-EP (width, 50 mm; height, 20 mm; length, 180 mm) tested at the applied voltage of 18 kV, experimental total particle collection efficiencies were found as high as 90.9-99.7 and 98.8-99.9% in the particle size range of 30-1870 nm at the average air velocities of 0.50 m/s (flow rate, 30 L/min; residence time, 0.36 s) and 0.25 m/s (flow rate, 15 L/min; residence time, 0.72 s), respectively. Particle collection efficiencies calculated by numerical models agreed well with the experimental results. The comparison to the traditional wire-in-plate EP showed that, at the same applied voltage, the current WOP-EP emitted 1-2 orders of magnitude lower ozone concentration, had cleaner discharge wires after heavy particle loading in the EP, and recovered high particle collection efficiency after the grounded collection plate was cleaned. It is expected that the current WOP-EP can be scaled up as an efficient air-cleaning device to control fine particle and nanoparticle pollution.