Powder Technology 354 (2019) 552–560

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Powder Technology

journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/powtec

Numerical simulation of electrostatic precipitator considering the dust

particle space charge
Ding Yang a,b, Baoyu Guo b,c,⁎, Xinglian Ye a,b, Aibing Yu c, Jun Guo b
a
School of Metallurgy, Northeastern University, 110819 Shenyang, China
b
Fujian Longking Co. Ltd, Longyan, Fujian 364000, China
c
Department of Chemical Engineering, Monash University, Clayton, VIC 3800, Australia

a r t i c l e i n f o a b s t r a c t

Article history: The coupled electric field, gas-particle flow and particle charging processes are simulated using Eulerian-
Received 22 February 2019 Lagrangian method in Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD), for a wire-plate electrostatic precipitator with
Received in revised form 6 May 2019 four-wire electrodes configuration. The effects of particle charging on the electric field distribution, V\\I charac-
Accepted 12 June 2019
teristics and particle collection efficiency are investigated, as the entry particle loading/concentration varies from
Available online 15 June 2019
0 up to 50 g/Nm3 for a particle size of 0.25–5.0 μm under fixed gas velocity of 1.0 m/s.
Keywords:
The results show that the electric field can be distorted significantly by the secondary electric field generated by
Dust concentration the space charges on the floating particles, which mostly reduces particle collection efficiency, except at a very
Corona quenching low loading. A maximum collection efficiency exists at a particle loading that depends on particle size. Under
ESP fixed voltage applied, the corona current decreases as particle loading/concentration increases. As particle load-
Numerical modelling ing increases to some point, the corona current from the downstream wires can be extinguished completely (co-
Electric field rona quenching). At high particle loadings, corona ion charges may fail to reach the plate due to the absorption of
passing particles. The electric streamlines in a small zone around the last wire reverse direction locally. A charged
particle, once falls accidently within the zone, could be trapped and be attracted to the same wire. Thus this wire
is subject to heavier dust deposition. The significance of ion transfer and space charge of fine dust particles is clar-
ified systematically.
© 2019 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

1. Introduction
Electrostatic Precipitators (ESP) have been widely used to separate fine
particles from large scale industrial exhaust gases, such as coal fired power
plants. In-depth knowledge and careful design optimization are critical to
meeting the increasingly strict emission standard in terms of PM2.5 emis-
sion limit, e.g., 5–10 mg/Nm3. Numerical modelling has been employed
as a powerful tool in this area. Complicated interactions among electric
field, gas flow and particle transport are summarized by Adamiak [1]. To
model such a system, various levels of simplifications have been made in
published papers. Among them, Lagrangian particle tracking technique is
a widely accepted approach to model the behaviours of discrete particle
phase. The mass concentration of ash particles in coal-fired flue gas is typ-
ically 10–50 g/Nm3, corresponding to a volume fraction in the order of
10−5. Such a small value is often regarded as sufficiently dilute particle
concentration in numerical modelling of multiphase flows.
For the case of ESP, complicated interactions among the e-field, gas
flow and charged particles are involved, even if the deposited dust
⁎ Corresponding author at: Department of Chemical Engineering, Monash University,
Clayton, VIC 3800, Australia
E-mail address: bob.guo@monash.edu (B. Guo).
layer is ignored. Full coupling between the continuous gas phase and
discrete particle phase is computationally expensive to achieve a con-
verged steady solution. To avoid such a high cost, the model for ESP
was simplified as so-called one-way coupling in many previous works,
so that the electric field is solved without the particle phase [2–4].
This simplification may be acceptable in the end stage of a multi-stage
ESP system, but will certainly introduce significant error in the early col-
lection stage. Limited studies reported in the literature have considered
the particle charges as a source term in the Poisson's equation of electro-
statics. For example, Choi and Fletcher [5] predicted a reduced current
for the particle-loaded case (Dp = 1–5 μm) compared with the
particle-free case, but the corona ion charge density somehow shows
an increasing trend along the stream. When fine dust particles are
treated, the large specific surface area of the particle phase, combined
with reduced collection efficiency, implies high space charge density
in the collection region. Its effect was understood as a partial suppres-
sion of the corona current [6]. (Note, the so-called “space charge den-
sity” here refers to the total charges attached to the particles per unit
volume of space, as opposed to the free ion density in the gas.) As was
experimentally proved by Podlinski et al. [7], space charge of charged
particles can contribute to the EHD flow pattern and particle transport.
Recent simulation works [8,9] showed that the effect of particle space

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.powtec.2019.06.013
0032-5910/© 2019 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.
 D. Yang et al. / Powder Technology 354 (2019) 552–560 553

charge intensifies in such small particles as submicron scale on both the particle dispersion force. k-ω SST turbulence model is chosen for
electrical characteristics and particle transport behaviour. However, gas flow and a random walk force is added for particles. The Lawless
in these limited studies, the significance of particle space charge charging rate equation is used for particle charging [10], which is a hy-
was still not sufficiently clarified. In present work, particle space brid form of field charging and diffusion charging. A comparison of var-
charge is considered through two-way coupling and interesting re- ious charging models [11] suggests that it offers better compromise
sults are generated in terms of ESP performance as particle loading between accuracy and simplicity. The dimensionless Lawless charging
changes. equation has the following form,
8
2. Integrated ESP modelling >
> v−3w
>
> f ðwÞ ; vN3w
>
> expðv−3wÞ−1
>
<  
2.1. Mathematical equation dv 3w v 2
¼ 1− þ f ðwÞ; −3w≤v ≤3w ð7Þ
dτq >> 4 3w
>
>
Coupled electric field, gas-particle flow and particle charging pro- >
> −v−3w
>
: −v þ f ðwÞ ; vb−3w
cesses are simulated using Eulerian-Lagrangian method in Computa- expð−v−3wÞ−1
tional Fluid Dynamics (CFD). Major governing equations of vector
form in steady-state are listed below for completeness. For electric Several dimensionless numbers in the above equation are defined
field, Poisson equation of the potential is respectively as,

∇2 V ¼ −ðρion þ ρc Þ=ε0 E ¼ −∇V ð1Þ eqe κ Edp e bρ t

v¼ ;w ¼ ; τq ¼ ion ; ð8Þ
2πε0 dp kB T κ þ 2 2kB T ε0
where V is electrical potential, E is the electric field vector, ε0 is electric  
f ðwÞ ¼ min 1; ðw þ 0:475Þ−0:575
permittivity of the gas.
The current continuity equation for corona ions is
where e is unit charge or electron charge, T temperature, kB Boltzmann


 
∇ bE þ U g ρion −D∇ρion ¼ Sc ð2Þ constant, κ is particle dielectric constant, b is electric mobility of ion charge.

where Ug is gas velocity, ρion is corona charge density, b the ion mobility, 2.2. Model conditions
D is ion diffusivity coefficient. ρc is particle space charge density, evalu-
ated by averaging the charges of particles that pass through a control An integrated ESP model developed comprises two parallel modules
volume (cell) with a volume of Vcell, or submodels, namely, electric field model and coupled gas-particle
flow model. One-way coupling between the two modules used earlier
1 X_ [3,12] is upgraded to two-way in the present work. The secondary elec-
ρc ¼ N p qp Δt ð3Þ
V cell trostatic field caused by charged particles in suspension and the transfer
of free corona ions from the gas phase on to the particles are considered
where N_ p is the number rate of a parcel of particles tracked, qp is particle in the solution of electric field. The two submodels are coupled through
charge, Δt is particle integration time step. The summation is over all a small under-relaxation factor, in views of strong interaction between
particles and time steps in the control volume. The source term, Sc, in the electric field and particles flow, and the stochastic nature of the dis-
Eq. (2) is the volumetric rate of ion transfer due to particle charging dy- crete particle phase. In this way all the volume averaged quantities re-
namics, calculated as, lated to the particle phase (such as the particle space charge density)
are smoothed out over time in the simulation.
1 X_ A single channel, 4-wire and flat plate configuration is considered,
Sc ¼ − Np q_ p Δt ð4Þ
V cell and the computational domain is defined in Fig. 1. The dimensions are
3.5 mm in wire diameter, 0.24 m for wire-wire spacing, 0.2 m for
where q_ p is the electric charging rate on to a single particle. wire-plate spacing. The plate is 1.2 m long. The simulation domain is de-
For the gas flow, the momentum equation is, fined as 1.74 m long by 0.4 m wide rectangular box with four circular
  holes inside, representing the wire electrodes' body. The grid is
  2 h 
T  i
∇  ρg U g ⊗U g ¼ ∇ p þ ρg k þ ∇  ðμ þ μ t Þ ∇U g þ ∇U g smoothly refined at places where higher gradient in electric quantities
3 is expected, such as the proximity of the wires and middle of the adja-
ð5Þ
3πnp dp μ  

þρion E− 1 þ Re0:687
p U g −U p cent wires. Other base case conditions are as follows.
CC
• The plate side is electrically grounded with zero voltage. Applied volt-
where electric force and particle drag force are included. The symbol ρg age on all the wire electrodes is Va = −60 kV. The charge density on
is gas density, μ is dynamic viscosity, μt turbulent eddy viscosity, np par- the wire surface, ρ0, is determined using an injection law combined
ticle number density, dp the particle diameter, CC Cunningham slip cor- with Peek equation [13].
rection factor, Rep particle Reynolds number.
For the particle flow, the force balance of a single particle is ρ0 ¼ abε 0 EPeek maxð0; E−EPeek Þ ð9Þ
 pffiffiffiffiffi
dU p 3πdp μ  
 1 3   
mp ¼ 1 þ Re0:687
p U g −U p þ πdp g ρp −ρg þ qp E þ F dis EPeek ¼ 2:7  106 ½V=mfδ 1 þ 0:054 m0:5 = δr ð10Þ
dt CC 6
ð6Þ
where a is a model constant, f is the surface roughness factor, δ gas den-
sity correction factor, r the wire radius.
where drag force, gravity, electric force and particle dispersion force are
considered on the right-hand side. In the range of dust concentration • Gas temperature: 120 °C. As the inlet boundary condition for the gas
considered, the maximum volume fraction of the particle phase is phase, the velocity is set as 1.0 m/s (STP); relative turbulence intensity
about 2.5 × 10−5. The chance of direct particle-particle interaction in 3.7%, turbulent length scale 0.3Dh = 0.24 m.
such a dilute aerosol away from the plate surface can be reasonably • Dust particle size is monodispersed at dp = 2.5 μm. Particle density is
neglected. The symbol mp is particle mass, Up is particle velocity, Fdis is 2000 kg/m3; ash dielectric constant κp = 6.6, Particle loading/mass
554 D. Yang et al. / Powder Technology 354 (2019) 552–560

240 240 240

Inlet Outlet

400
Collection plate
Circular wire of 3.5 (grounded)
(not to scale)

180 1200 360

Fig. 1. Schematic of simulation domain and dimensions.

Fig. 2. Field streamlines and intensity distribution (no particles).

Fig. 3. Corona charge density (no particles).

Fig. 4. Particle trajectories with colour scaled to particle charge.

 D. Yang et al. / Powder Technology 354 (2019) 552–560 555

1E+0
Wire side
1E-1 Plate side

Relative current
1E-2

Fig. 5. Indicative pattern of particle deposition rate on the plate. 1E-3

concentration at the inlet, (ρp)in, is varied up to 50 g/Nm3 with default 1E-4

value of 10 g/Nm3.
1E-5
0 10 20 30
3. Typical results Particle loading (g/Nm3)

3.1. Electric field without particles Fig. 8. Mean corona current density as function of particle loading (Va = 60 kV).

Given the importance of electrical phenomena concerned, some
sorts of model validation for the electric field are necessary. Firstly, a
verification and validation of the overall electric field model is given in
reference [13]. Meanwhile, simulation and physical experiment are
compared in terms of current-voltage (V\\I) characteristics which
shows a similar quadratic trend. Quantitatively, the model constant, f,
in Peek equation is tuned so that the simulation results fit the measured
data within 15%. The final value is determined as f = 0.25.
When the inlet/outlet boundaries are moved sufficiently long dis-
tance away from the electrodes in the simulation domain (referred to
as “natural boundary condition”), the electric field around the boundary
wires show an asymmetric distribution pattern that differ from that
around the inner wires. Electric field-lines/current can go out of the
limit of the collection region (Fig. 2). Electric field intensity on the col-
lection plate is of interest as it is considered a factor to determine the
upper limit of operation before spark-over [14]. Normally the field
intensity on the plate is highest at the point that faces exactly the wire
center with the least distance. This maximum field intensity on the
plate is 3.80 × 105 V/m. However, when the natural boundary condition
is used, the highest value (1.06 × 106 V/m) predicted in field intensity
appears at the endpoint of the plate due to its sharpness. This is a likely
point that would trigger electric spark-over prematurely. Practically
such a sharp edge should be avoided. Generally, the field strength at
the middle wires is smaller than that at a boundary wire, due to the
counteraction of adjacent wires. Then the corona charge density at the
boundary wires should be greater than that at the inner wires (Fig. 3),
which is similar to the simulation result of Kasdi [15].
3.2. Effect of particle space charge
Particles are randomly injected from the inlet plane with uniform
probability in locations and no-slip for velocity (same as the gas

Fig. 6. Distribution of space charge density of particles.

Fig. 7. Distribution of electric potential (in absolute value).

556
1 60
Relative current
0.1
0.01
0.001
0 10
Particle loading (g/Nm3)
Fig. 9. Corona current (a) & collection efficiency (b) as function of particle loading (Va = 60 kV). Dotted line: without loss of corona charge.
velocity). In using random number generator, it is ensured that the in-
jection points are not repeated for every coupling cycle. Fig. 4 shows
sampled particle trajectories with colour scaled to particle charge. For
particle deposition on the wall, a finite restitution coefficient is
attempted initially, and it is found that the particles may bounce in a
decaying pattern, but settle down eventually on the plate, with little dif-
ference to the final collection efficiency. This is particularly true when a
dust layer is formed, and collisions of falling particles with the packed
bed cause their kinetic energy to dissipate quickly. For simplification,
the stick-to-wall (or inelastic) model is used in present study. Fig. 5
shows a pattern of particle deposition rate on the plate, which can be
taken as the cake layer thickness. It is seen that the end points of the
plate, particularly the downstream one, are special spots to accumulate
more dusts.
Fig. 6 shows the averaged space density of charges carried by parti-
cles. Highest space charge density appears near the first wire electrode,
where electric current density is highest. It diffuses gradually from the
centre line with particles drifting toward the plate while moving for-
ward. Due to the radiating nature of the field-lines around each wire,
the lateral component of Coulomb's force in the region close to the cen-
tre line may not be as large as that off the centre line. Uncollected
charged particles of negative polarity are conveyed toward the outlet,
lowering the potential downstream outside the collection region (Fig.
7), causing distortion of the overall electric field distribution.
4. Effect of particle loading
4.1. On electrical current
Fig. 8 shows relative corona current (normalised by that of zero par-
ticle loading) at the wire electrode side and plate side respectively.
1 1.5E-02
0 g/Nm3
0.8
10 g/Nm3
I, mA/m
0.6
0.4
0.2
0 0.0E+00
0 20 40 60 80
Va, kV
\I characteristics for cases of dust-free and dust concentration of 10 g/Nm3.
Fig. 10. V\
D. Yang et al. / Powder Technology 354 (2019) 552–560
Collection efficiency, %
50
40
30
20
10
0
20 30 0 10 20 30
Particle loading, g/Nm3
(a) (b)
Without particles, the corona charges should be conserved, so that the
currents on both electrodes are the same. This is nearly the case for
low particle loading below 5 g/Nm3. With particles present, the ion
charges generated at the wire surface, when migrating toward the
plate, are partly adsorbed by passing particles, so a smaller corona cur-
rent is expected at the plate side. The difference between the two sides
increases with the particle loading, until few free ion charges are left to
reach the plate after particle loading exceeds 25 g/Nm3. As can be seen,
the corona currents on both sides drop as particle loading increases, al-
though a fixed voltage is applied. This is caused by the secondary elec-
trostatic field created by the space charges of particles that cancels out
the primary electric field at the wire surface and subsequently sup-
presses the corona generation.
Fig. 9(a) shows the mean corona current, with and without loss of
corona charges from the gas phase considered during particle charging.
It should be noted that neglecting the loss of corona charges from the
gas phase leads to more or less imbalance to the overall current. The
comparison highlights the increasing discrepancy as particle loading in-
creases, as will be discussed further in Section 4.2.
Fig. 10 plots the V\\I characteristics for two cases, namely, dust
particle-free and dust concentration of 10 g/Nm3 respectively. While
they show a similar trend, the overall current in the latter case with par-
ticle laden is reduced significantly by two order of magnitude.
4.2. On particle collection efficiency
Predicted particle collection efficiency, as particle loading changes, is
given in Fig. 9(b). The collection efficiency increases initially with parti-
cle loading (b3 g/Nm3), peaks at particle loading of 4–5 g/Nm3 and then
decreases as particle loading increases further. When ignoring particle
space charge, the electric field would be independent of particle loading.
This is the case for very low particle loading, where the fractional collec-
tion efficiency is constant, or in other words, the quantity of dust col-
lected as well as that penetrated increases proportionally with particle
loading. The observed enhancement of collection by a slight amount of
particles is attributed to the redistribution of electric field so that the
1.0E-02 near-plate and volume-averaged field intensities happen to increase,
which favours the charging of most particles.
Theoretically, for a given particle, the electric charging is driven by
the field intensity at the location of the particle relative to its saturation,
5.0E-03
whereas the charging speed is controlled largely by the corona ion den-
sity. Therefore, both quantities affect the outcome of particle charging.
For these reasons, it is the current density that may be correlated to
100
the particle precipitation rate. In fact, it was observed experimentally
that the structure of particles deposition layer was correlated to the cur-
rent density. [16] After the loading exceeds a certain value
(e.g., 15 g/Nm3), a sort of balance is established, when both the corona
 D. Yang et al. / Powder Technology 354 (2019) 552–560 557

Fig. 11. Visualizations of corona charge density and field streamlines for different particle loadings.

current and the collection efficiency decrease more steadily with further
increase in the loading. The asymptotic lower limit of the curve should
correspond to the situation when the corona current is so small that tur-
bulent dispersion dominates over the drift force.
During particle charging process, the corona ion charges will be
partly lost from the gas phase, a factor that has received little attention
in the literature. Failing to take this into account in the model formula-
tion may introduce significant prediction error, when the particle load-
ing is high. Corona current may be under-predicted, whereas the
collection efficiency is over-predicted remarkably (Fig. 9). For example,
the collection efficiency may be over-predicted by 18% and 120% for the
cases of 10 g/Nm3 and 20 g/Nm3, respectively.
4.3. On electric field distribution
Fig. 11 visualizes the predicted corona charge density and field-lines,
which shows how the electric field distribution evolves with particle
loading. As the electric field is distorted starting first from the end
side, corona density at 3 of the 4 downstream wires is suppressed faster
than the 1st wire. When the particle loading is above 7.5 g/Nm3, all
wires except the first one stop emitting. Meanwhile, reversed field-
lines appear around the last wire, and the affected region expands as
the loading increases further. Otherwise the field-lines become
smoother with increasing loading. Since the field-lines are extended to
the outlet, some escaped particles can be pulled back into the collection
558
Fig. 12. Visualizations of space charge density for different particle loadings.
region, a factor that contributes to significantly greater deposition rate
around the end-point of the plate.
Fig. 12 shows the distribution of particle space charge density for dif-
ferent dust loadings. As particle loading increases, the space charge den-
sity distribution becomes more centralized, due to the localization of
corona charge density. Its crosswise spreading with the flow reflects
the turbulent mixing or spreading of charged particles. Overall, the par-
ticle charges affect the particle collection adversely, as they tend to sup-
press the corona emission or reduce the corona current. Particularly the
penetrated particles, which carried significant charges, have prolonged
effect as they float along. The corona at the downstream electrodes
even extinguish unless the applied voltage is raised individually.
When highly charged, more particles precipitate to the plate, reducing
the number of particles floating ahead (or less space charge density).
The charges carried by these remaining particles exert a negative feed-
back to the electric field and particle charging, which compromises the
collection efficiency.
The slight collection enhancement for the very low loading should
be attributed to the distortion/deformation of the electric field by the
particle charges, but this needs further detailed analysis. Without parti-
cles, the electric field distributes very unevenly in space, i.e., very high at
the wires and much lower near the plate. The secondary electric field
2.5
Elec tric field intens ity
1.5
1 base case. Here collection efficiency for two more particle sizes are
0.5 Surface mean
Volume mean
0
0 10 20
Particle loading, g/Nm3
Fig. 13. Averaged electric field as a function of particle loading.
D. Yang et al. / Powder Technology 354 (2019) 552–560
generated by the charged particles has a positive effect in that it raises
the field near the plate and in large part of the space, as indicated by
the on-plate mean field and volume mean field intensities (Fig. 13),
which would benefit the charging of particles over wide space. When
particle loading is low, the afore-mentioned benefit dominates over
the negative effect (i.e., reduced corona current), so that the collection
efficiency increases to a peak value (at the loading of 4 g/Nm3), which
can be taken as a preferred optimal condition with respect to particle
loading.
4.4. On corona quenching
Corona quenching is a common phenomenon in ESP when fine par-
ticles are treated. Riebel et al. [17] experimentally studied the corona
discharge characteristics of ESP with glycerol aerosol. It was found
that corona onset voltage increases and the corona current significantly
decreases after the glycerol steam was injected into the system. Under
fixed voltage in the present simulation, corona currents from all the
wire electrodes drop with increasing solid loading. The downstream co-
ronas (from the second one) will eventually extinguish at some point.
An interesting phenomenon arises when the particle loading increases
above 10 g/Nm3, i.e., the electric streamlines in a small zone around
the last wire reverse direction locally. This implies that a charged parti-
cle, once falls accidently within the zone, could be trapped and attracted
to the same wire, as seen from the particle trajectories in Fig. 14. Thus
this wire is subject to heavier dust deposition.
4.5. Effect of particle size
Only a uniform particle size of 2.5 μm was considered above as the
also predicted: 5.0 μm and 1.5 μm (with prediction results shown in
Fig. 15, respectively). A maximum collection efficiency commonly exists
for all particle sizes, although the curves appear differently. For smaller
particle size, the peak of collection efficiency curve is also narrower and
30 sharper than that of larger particle sizes, and the collection efficiency
declines at a lower particle mass loading, which means smaller particles
have a stronger effect on the electric field. As particle loading increases
further, the collection efficiency approaches asymptotically to a lower
 D. Yang et al. / Powder Technology 354 (2019) 552–560 559

Fig. 14. Trajectories of particles falling on the corona wire ((ρp)in = 20 g/Nm3).

70 70

60 dp [µm] 60 dp [µm]
Collection efficiency, %

Collection efficiency, %
50 5 50 0.25
2.5
40 40
1.5
30 30

20 20

10 10

0 0
0 10 20 30 40 50 0 0.2 0.4 0.6 0.8 1
Particle concentration, g/Nm3 Particle concentration, g/Nm3

Fig. 15. Collection efficiency as the function of particle loading for different particle sizes.

limit (about 4.0%), which is almost the same for all particle sizes consid-
ered. At this low efficiency, the particles collected comprise two parts:
The major part is likely the consequence of random motion of particles
in the turbulent flow, while the role of the electric force becomes
smaller due to shrinking corona. At such extremely high particle load-
ing, even though a small number of particles in the proximity of the
first wire can be electrically charged, these under-charged particles
will likely disperse along the centreline and take a long time to migrate
to the plate. The minor part collected, much smaller in quantity, is the
deposits on the wires, particularly on the last wire where electric force
reverses direction. Finally, the critical dust loading corresponding to
the maximum collection efficiency can be viewed as an optimal condi-
tion. Data-fitting to the three set of results gives a roughly linear approx-
imation, ρp =½g =Nm3  ¼ 1:9dp =½μm−1:0.
It is known that charging of particles above 1 μm is controlled largely
by field charging mechanism, while diffusion charging mechanism
comes to play for submicron particles. Therefore, a submicron particle
size of 0.25 μm is chosen for a further investigation. However, the collec-
tion efficiency shows a very similar trend with increasing dust concen-
tration, though the peak appears at (ρp)in = 0.1 g/Nm3, earlier than
those of the larger particles. For the case of poly-dispersed dust with
log-normal size distribution, it is confirmed that most of the above ob-
servations are still valid, so the result is not repeated here.
The values presented for collection efficiency should be taken as il-
lustrative, since they appear to be lower than expected. The main reason
is that, for convenience, we used a much smaller specific collection area
(SCA = 6.0 s/m) than a typical value (e.g., 72–90 s/m, according to Ref.
[6]). The applied voltage in practical processes may also be higher than
60 kV assumed, so the collection efficiency will certainly increase with
increasing voltage.
5. Conclusions
A CFD-based wire-plate type ESP model developed earlier has been
advanced with enhanced two-way coupling between electric field and
gas-particle flow. So the model can be readily applied to the early collec-
tion stage of the ESP, where dust particle loading is too high to neglect.
Space charge of particles and ion transfer from the gas phase to particles
are considered in the simulation of a 4-wire configuration, and their sig-
nificance is clarified in a broad range of dust mass concentration (or par-
ticle loading) in the gas. The detailed space charge density as well as the
total electric field is quantitatively characterized.
Dust particle loading significantly affects the dust collection effi-
ciency for fine particles considered. A maximum collection efficiency
exists at a critical particle loading that depends on particle size. How-
ever, as particle loading increases, collection efficiency declines and
eventually approaches asymptotically to a lower limit. The phenome-
non of corona quenching is observed, where downstream corona is
extinguished or one of the emitters is polluted when the particle loading
is high. These findings have provided new insights into the process phe-
nomena, which will hopefully assist ESP design and operation
optimisation.
Acknowledgements
This work was supported by ARC and Fujian Longking Co. Ltd.
(IH140100035).
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