ABSTRACT
I. INTRODUCTION The electrostatic precipitator (ESP) is a device for removing particulate pollutants in the form of either a solid (dust or fumes) or a liquid (mist) from a gas using an electrostatic force. Electrostatic precipitation has been widely used for cleaning gas from almost all industrial processes with a medium to large gas volume (>2,000 m3/min), including utility boilers, blast furnaces, and cement kilns. ESP is also in wide use for air cleaning in living environments (homes, offices, hospitals, etc.) and work places (machine shops, food processing plants). ESP has large advantages over other particulate control devices: a lower operating cost, because of its low corona power and the low power needed in its blower due to a low pressure drop (<ca 10 mm H20); a high collection performance (99-99.9%) even for submicron particles (0.3 μπι or smaller); and ease of maintenance. In particular, its low energy consumption has a great importance in view of the current concern in energy saving. An industrial precipitator represents one of the elements in an overall integrated pollu tion control system, including control devices for gaseous pollutants, so that its planning and design must be considered in this context.
