ESP performance for various dust densities

In this paper, results of particle image velocimetry (PIV) measurements of the electrohydrodynamic (EHD) flow velocity fields in an electrostatic precipitator (ESP) are presented. The measurements were carried out for various densities of submicron dust. The ESP was an acrylic parallelepiped with a wire discharge electrode, placed perpendicularly to the main flow, and two plate collecting electrodes. The positive DC voltage was applied to the wire electrode. The PIV measurements were carried out in an observation plane set perpendicularly to the wire electrode at its half-length. The obtained results show that the general shape of the flow patterns at different dust densities is similar in the bulk of the flow. However, the flow velocity and the level of its turbulence strongly depend on the dust density, in particular in the region around the wire electrode.