Novel cross-flow electrostatic precipitator: Numerical and experimental study

Area of Science:

• Environmental Engineering
• Fluid Dynamics
• Electrostatic Separation

Background:

• Traditional electrostatic precipitators (ESPs) use channel walls for particulate collection.
• A novel ESP configuration with cylindrical surfaces in a crossflow arrangement has been patented.

Purpose of the Study:

• To evaluate a novel, patented cross-flow electrostatic precipitator (ESP) configuration.
• To model gas flow and particulate capture in this new ESP design using computational fluid dynamics (CFD).

Main Methods:

• Developed and implemented User-Defined Functions (UDFs) in ANSYS Fluent software.
• Created a two-dimensional numerical model for cross-flow ESP gas flow and particulate capture.
• Simulated particle collection dynamics on cylindrical collector surfaces.

Main Results:

• Particle collection was concentrated on the anterior and posterior surfaces of the first two collector rows.
• Observed particle entrainment in collector wakes influenced by electric fields.
• Simulation results underestimated experimental data, potentially due to electrode vibration, mist, or agglomeration.

Conclusions:

• The numerical model provides foundational insights into the novel cross-flow ESP's collection mechanisms.
• Findings offer critical data for enhancing particulate efficiency in this and similar cross-flow ESP systems.