Collection efficiency in narrow electrostatic precipitators with a longitudinal or transverse wire electrode

Recently narrow electrostatic precipitators (ESPs) have become a subject of interest because of their possible application in diesel engine exhaust systems. In this work, results of particle collection efficiency measurements in narrow electrostatic precipitators for negative and positive dc voltage polarity are presented. The ESP used in this work was a parallelepiped equipped with wire discharge electrode and two collecting plate-electrodes. The experiments were carried out for two discharge electrode positions: longitudinally or transversely to the main flow direction. The obtained results showed that the collection efficiency strongly depends on the discharge electrode position. It is higher in the ESP with longitudinally-to-flow placed discharge electrode. The collection efficiency is also influenced by the EHD secondary flow generated in the ESP. The EHD secondary flow with high migration velocity (y-component of the particle velocity) and low turbulence intensity increase the chance of the particle deposition on the collecting electrodes.