REPORT SUBMITTED FOR

SEMINAR COURSE
IN

MECHANICAL ENGINEERING
BY

KSHITIJ KUMAR SHUKLA

ROLL NO 15228
ABSTRACT
In recent years, there has been increasing an awareness and worldwide
recognition of the problem associated with atmospheric pollution. One of the
most suitable form of arrestment device to reduce the level of pollution and
emission is The electric precipitator .ESPs are highly efficient filtration devices
that minimally impede the flow of gases through the device, and can easily
remove fine particulate matter such as dust and smoke from the air stream. It
can be used in Copper, aluminium, zinc smelter, fertilizer manufacturing plant,
and glass manufacturing plant, cement plant, paper manufacturing plant,
sulphuric acid, coke plant, and incinerators. Precipitators function by
electrostatically charging the dust particles in the gas stream. The charged
particles are then attracted to and deposited on plates or other collection
devices. When enough dust has accumulated, the collectors are shaken to
dislodge the dust, causing it to fall with the force of gravity to hoppers below.
The dust is then removed by a conveyor system for disposal or recycling.
INDEX List of figures……………………………………………………..
Nomenclature…………………………………………………………………
1. Introduction …………………………………………………………...

2. System components of ESP……………………….…………………………...

2.1 Discharge electrode……………………………………......................

2.2collection electrode…………………………………….......................

2.3high voltage equipment………………………………........................

2.4rappers…………………………………………………......................

2.5 hoppers………………………………………………….....................

2.6shells…………………………………………………….....................

3. Types of ESPs………………………………………………….

3.1 Plate-Wire Precipitators…………………………………….………....

3.2 Flat Plate Precipitators…………………………………………..…….

3.3Tubular Precipitators………………………………………………….

3.4 Wet Precipitators……………………………………………..……….

3.5 Dry type Precipitators………………………………………………...

4. Operation of Electrostatic Precipitator…………………….…

4.1 Particle Charging……………………………………………………..

4.2 Particle Collection……………………………………………………

4.3 Sneakage and Rapping Reentrainment……………………………….

5. Factors affecting performance of ESP ……………………….

5.1 Electrical resistivity of the dust…………………………...

 5.2 Dust particle size……………………………………………………..

6. New application of ESP………………………………………….

6.1 Dryers……………………………………………………………………

6.2 Wet units………………………………………………….......................

6.3 Thermal oil heater………………………………………………………..

7.Conclusion………………………………………………………..

8. Reference………………………………………………………….

III

LIST OF FIGURES

Fig.2.1 - Components of ESP……………………….

Fig.3.1 - Plate type precipitator…………………….

Fig.3.2 - Flat plate and plate wire ESP……………..

Fig.3.3- Dry type ESP………………………………

Fig.4.1 -Process of particle charging………………..

Fig.5.1 - Graph between Dust collection efficiency & Dust resistivity……

ACRONYMS

ESP- ELECTROSTATIC PRECIPITATOR;

MMS- MASS MEDIAN DIAMETER;

VOC- VOLATILE ORGANIC COMPOUND

 CHAPTER-1 INTRODUCTION
Nowadays, the environment protection has become a crucial problem and the
authorities are requested to set increasingly more stringent limits , one of
which is the emissions from the industrial plants of solid particulate and other
gaseous pollutants. Dusts and mists (aerosols) each have their own individual
properties. It is important to select an electrostatic precipitator that is suitable
for the properties of the gas and the particles to be collected. We use our
know-how and abundant data accumulated over 80 years to propose highly
reliable Electrostatic precipitator with the appropriate performance to suit the
customers' needs. Electrostatic (ESPs) are the most commonly used, effective,
and reliable particulate control devices .They are employed mostly in power
plants and other process industries. The particle-laden flue gas from the boiler
flows through the ESP before it enters the environment .It is a particulate
collection device that removes particles from a flowing gas (such as air) using
the force of an induced electrostatic charge. Electrostatic precipitators are
highly efficient filtration devices that minimally impede the flow of gases
through the device, and can easily remove fine particulate matter such as dust
and smoke from the air stream. In contrast to wet scrubbers which apply
energy directly to the flowing fluid medium, an ESP applies energy only to the
particulate matter being collected and therefore is very efficient in its
consumption of energy (in the form of electricity). Precipitators function by
electro-statically charging the dust particles in the gas stream. The charged
particles are then attracted to and deposited on plates or other collection
devices. When enough dust has accumulated, the collectors are shaken to
dislodge the dust, causing it to fall with the force of gravity to hoppers below.
The dust is then removed by a conveyor system for disposal or recycling.
Depending upon dust characteristics and the gas volume to be treated, there
are many different sizes, types and designs of electrostatic precipitators. Very
large power plants may actually have multiple precipitators for each unit.
 CHAPTER-2 SYSTEM COMP0NENT OF ESP
All electrostatic precipitators, regardless of their particular designs, contain the
following essential components:

• Discharge electrodes

• Collection electrodes

• High voltage electrical systems

• Rappers

• Hoppers

• Shell 2.1 Discharge electrodes

These are either small-diameter metal wires that hang vertically (in the
electrostatic precipitator), a number of wires attached together in rigid frames,
or a rigid electrode made from a single piece of fabricated metal. The most
common size diameter for wires is approximately 0.25 cm (0.1 in.). Discharge
electrodes create a strong electrical field that ionizes flue gas, and this
ionization charges particles in the gas. The size and shape of the electrodes are
governed by the mechanical requirements for the system, such as the
industrial process on which ESPs are installed and the amount and properties
of the flue gas being treated.

2.2 Collection electrodes

These electrodes are either flat plates or tubes with a charge opposite that of
the discharge electrodes which collect charged particles. The plates are
generally made of carbon steel. However, plates are occasionally made of
stainless steel or alloy steel for special flue-gas stream conditions where
corrosion of carbon steel plates would occur. The plates range from 0.05 to 0.2
cm (0.02 to 0.08 in.) in thickness.

2.3 High voltage equipment

It provides the electric field between the discharge and collection electrodes
used to charge particles in the ESP. This is accomplished by using power supply
sets consisting of three components: a step-up transformer, a high-voltage
rectifier, and control metering and protection circuitry (automatic circuitry).
The power system maintains voltage at the highest level without causing
excess spark over between the discharge electrode and collection plate. The
transformer steps up the voltage from 400 volts to approximately 50,000Volts.

2.4 Rappers
Rappers remove dust that has accumulated on both collection electrodes and
discharge electrodes. Occasionally, water sprays are used to remove dust from
collection electrodes.

2.5 Hoppers-
These are located at the bottom of the precipitator. Hoppers are used to
collect and temporarily store the dust removed during the rapping process.
Hopper vibrators are electrically operated devices that cause the side walls of
the hopper to vibrate, thereby removing the dust from the hopper walls.

2.6 Shell
The shell structure encloses the electrodes and supports the precipitator
components in a rigid frame to maintain proper electrode alignment and
configuration.
Fig 2.1 ESP Components
CHAPTER-3 TYPES OF ELECTROSTATIC PRECIPITATOR
ESPs are configured in several ways. Some of these configurations have been
developed for special control action, and others have evolved for economic
reasons. Some of the popular types are following:- -
-

3.1 Plate-Wire Precipitators

In this type of ESP, gas flows between parallel plates of sheet metal and high-
voltage electrodes. These electrodes are long wires weighted and hanging
between the plates or are supported there by mast-like structures (rigid
frames). Within each flow path, gas flow must pass each wire in sequence as
flows through the unit. Plate-wire ESPs are used in a wide variety of industrial
applications, including coal-fired boilers, cement kilns, solid waste incinerators,
paper mill recovery boilers, petroleum refining catalytic cracking units, sinter
plants, basic oxygen furnaces, open hearth furnaces, electric arc furnaces, coke
oven batteries, and glass furnaces.
Fig. 3.1 PLATE TYPE PRECIPITATOR

3.2 Flat Plate Precipitators

The flat plates increase the average electric field that can be used to collect the
particles and they provide an increased surface area for the collection of
particles.it is corona free ESP. Flat plate ESPs seem to have wide application for
high-resistivity particles with small (1 to 2 µm) mass median diameters
(MMDs). Fly ash has been successfully collected with this type of ESP, but low-
flow velocity appears to be critical for avoiding high rapping losses.
Fig.3.2: Flat-plate and Plate-wire ESP Configurations
3.3 Tubular Precipitators

Tubular precipitators consist of cylindrical collection electrodes with discharge

electrodes located on the axis of the cylinder. The contaminated gases flow
around the discharge electrode and up through the inside of the cylinders. The
charged particles are collected on the grounded walls of the cylinder. The
collected dust is removed from the bottom of the cylinder. Tubular
precipitators have typical applications in sulphuric add plants, coke oven by-
product gas cleaning (tar removal), and, recently, iron and steel sinter plants.

3.4 Wet type precipitator

In this type of systems, water is passed over the collecting electrode surface of
an electrostatic precipitator to form a water film, and the water film collects
the aerosol (dust, mist), which is washed away along with the water film, or an
aerosol consisting of liquid droplets in a mist, etc., is collected and washed
down off the collecting electrode surface. Wet type Electrostatic precipitator
can be a duct-type that uses parallel plates as the collecting electrodes, or a
tubular-type that uses a cylindrical electrode as the collecting electrode. In wet
type Electrostatic precipitator the collecting electrode is covered with a water
film i.e. no back corona due to high-resistivity dust, no re-entrainment due to
low-resistivity dust, and no effect due to the electrical resistivity of the dust.
Also, the dust collection efficiency is very high.

3.5 Dry type precipitator

When the dust is a dry solid, such as dust or fumes, and it is collected on a
collecting plate in the dry state, the precipitator is referred to as dry type. The
dust particle collecting on the surface of the plates are periodically removed by
rapping or shaking of the plates and drop into hopper below. Dry type
Electrostatic precipitator can be a fixed-electrode type or a moving-electrode
type, depending on the method for removing the collected dust.
Fig. 3.3 Dry type precipitator
CHAPTER-4 Operation of Electrostatic Precipitator
The ESP is basically an electrical machine. The principal actions are the
charging of particles and forcing them to the collector plates. The amount of
charged particulate matter affects the electrical operating point of the ESP.
The transport of the particles is affected by the level of turbulence in the gas.
The losses mentioned earlier, sneakage and rapping reentrainment, are major
influences on the total performance of the system .Following are the main
steps used in ESP operation:-
sneakage and rapping reentrainment..

4.1 Particle Charging

ESP has thin wires called discharge electrodes which are evenly spaced
between large plates called collection electrode which are grounded .an
electrode can conduct or transmit electricity. A negative, high-voltage,
pulsating, direct current is applied to the discharge electrode creating a
negative electric field. You can mentally divide this field into three regions .The
field is strongest right next to the discharge electrode ,weaker in the areas
between the discharge and collection electrodes called the inter- electrode
region, and weakest near the collection electrode . The electric field for which
this process is self-sustained has been determined experimentally. For round
wires, the field at the surface of the wire is given by:-

Ee=3.126*10^6Dr(1+0.0301(Dr/r)^0.5)

Where Ee = corona onset field on wire surface(v/m)

10

Dr = relative gas density

r = radius of wire in meters

The voltage that must be applied to the wire to obtain this value of field, Vc, is
found by integrating the electric field from the wire to the plate. Vc is given by:

Vc=Ee*R*ln(d/r)
 Where Vc = corona onset voltage(v)

d=outer cylinder radius for tubular ESP (m)

Fig. 4.1- process of particle charging

4.2 Particle collection

The electric field in the collecting zone produces a force on a particle

proportional to the magnitude of the field and to the charge:

Fe=QE

Where; Fe=force due to electric field

Q=charge on particle

E=electric field (v/m)

The motion of the particles under the influence of the electric field is opposed
by the viscous drag of the gas. In the ESP, the flow is usually very turbulent,
with instantaneous gas velocities of the same magnitude as the particles
velocities, but in random directions.

4.3 Sneakage and Rapping Reentrainment

Sneakage and rapping reentrainment are best considered on the basis of the
sections within an ESP. Sneakage occurs when a part of the gas forced to flow
by passes the collection zone of a section. Generally, the portion of gas that by
passes the zone is thoroughly mixed with the gas that passes through the zone
before all the gas enters the next section. If the dust layer can't be kept
adhered to the collecting plate between rapping cycles, lumps of dust fall off
and particles may be re-dispersed into the flow. During rapping the plate
buckles and dust lumps are broken loose and falling downwards due to
gravity. The lumps fall close to the dust surface below and may scour off more
dust from the layer. The velocity increases towards the hopper and re-
entrainment from the hopper dust may occur due to too high gas velocities
below the electrode system. Re-entrainment during rapping can't be totally
avoided, but by proper rapping intensity and proper rapping frequency and
strategy, e.g. synchronization, the re-entrainment may be minimized.
CHAPTER 5. Factors affecting performance of ESP

5.1 Dust Collection efficiency and electrical resistivity of the dust

The dust collection efficiency of Electrostatic precipitator is affected by the

electrical resistivity of the dust collected. In the normal resistivity area, the
dust collection efficiency is high, so dust collection is stable. Most of the
aerosols handled by Electrostatic precipitator are in this electrical resistivity
area. Particles in the low-resistivity area lose their charge as soon as they arrive
at the collecting plate, so they are re-entrained in the dust collection area, and
the dust collection efficiency is greatly reduced. The dust collection efficiency
in the high resistivity area reduces as the electrical resistivity of the dust
increases. Also, partial discharge occurs within the dust layer collected on the
collecting plates, and as a result flashovers frequently occur, the applied
voltage is reduced, and the discharge current is reduced. If the electrical
resistivity of the dust is further increased, the discharge current increases
abnormally, and the applied voltage is reduced (back corona phenomenon).
The moving-electrode type electrostatic precipitator we developed is suitable
for high-performance collection of high- resistivity dust. Therefore, an
important factor when planning Electrostatic precipitator is the electrical
resistivity of the dust to be collected.
Fig 5.1 Graph between Dust collection efficiency & Dust resistivity

5.2 Dust collection efficiency and particle size distribution

The dust collection efficiency of Electrostatic precipitator is affected by the

particle size of the aerosol (dust, mist) to be collected. The theoretical
migration velocity at which a particle diameter of several µm moves towards
the collecting plate is almost directly proportional to the particle diameter.
When dust collection is performed on an aerosol with different size particles
using an electrostatic precipitator, the collection efficiency is high for the large
particles, and low for the small particles.

To obtain the same dust collection efficiency for an aerosol with small
particle size, the electrostatic precipitator must be larger (to increase the
treating time it takes for the process gas to pass through) than that of large-
size particles. Therefore, the particle size distribution of the aerosol to be
collected is an important factor when planning an electrostatic precipitator.
Chapter-6 New applications of ESP
As new invention are coming in ESP, now central and state regulatory
authorities has started to use very much of its to pollution control
&environment safety. Some of the applications are following:

6.1 Dryers

There is an inside emission problem because the fly ash accumulates on top of
the veneer. A dry precipitator can be installed after the burner blend chamber
to remove the fly ash. The recirculation of the dryer air stream is then cleansed
of incoming ash.

6.2 Wet Units

Wet electrostatic precipitators have seen renewed interest in the wood

products industry , particle board, and veneer plants are required to control
VOC (volatile organic compounds )emissions form their dryer exhaust. The wet
EST serves to remove particulate emissions and condensable VOC's (pinenes,
trepans, cymene, toluene, etc.) from their dryer exhaust. Wet electrostatic
precipitators are also excellent particulate removal devices for use ahead of
RCO's, TRO's, and Bio filters.

6.3 Thermal Oil Heater

Several of the recent plants have selected electrostatic precipitator to control

the particulate from combustion of wood. The electrostatic precipitator's low
power consumption combined with low maintenance make it an excellent
choice for plants with a limited number of operating personnel.
Chapter -7 CONCLUSION
This report describes the great potential that an electrostatic precipitator has
in order to achieve very high collecting efficiencies for most particle sizes. The
reasons for lower performances with full scale ESP units are discussed and
include aerodynamic re-entrainment and rapping re-entrainment, back corona
and secondary rolls. These non-ideal effects in an ESP are part of the reason for
the modern particulate removal equipment may have difficulties in reducing
the emissions. To mediate these effects new invention are
increasing.Electrostatic precipitators have proven to be reliable workhorses in
the wood products industry as more companies focus on profits .it can collect
both dry and wet type of dust, gas mist, droplets .it operates with low
operation cost(though initial cost is high).To promote the development of
technology for control emissions of fine particles, performance standards
should be expressed in terms of particle size and where feasible, composition.
Chapter-8 Reference
1. http://www.isesp.org/

2. http://www.neundorfer.com/

3. K. R. Parker Institution of Electrical Engineers 2003- Electrical operation of

electrostatic precipitators Page 207-216

4. Dust and fume control: a user guide By D. M. Muir, Institution of Chemical

Engineers (Great Britain) page70-73

5. Perry,, R. H., et al., Perry’s Chemical Engineers Handbook (Sixth

Edition), McGraw-Hill, New York, 1984.

6. Water & Air Pollution & Environmental Protection Laws, Vol. - II – M.C.
Mehta