Numerical analysis of charged particle collection in wire-plate ESP

•The structure of single wire-plate unit in ESP was optimized.•Dust collecting process of an entire wire-plate ESP was simulated.•Collection efficiency is higher in the center, but becomes lower near the edges.•The influence of operating parameters on dust collection efficiency was investigated.•The influence of operating parameters on particle trajectories was investigated.

In this paper, the structure of single wire-plate unit in electrostatic precipitator (ESP) was optimized and dust removal process in an entire ESP was investigated using computational fluid dynamics (CFD). Collection efficiency is higher in the center of the ESP, but becomes lower near the edges. High applied voltage, low inlet velocity and large particle diameter are beneficial for dust collecting. As particle concentration increases, collection efficiency increases at the beginning, then decreases. When particle diameter is smaller, inlet velocity and particle concentration is higher, particle trajectories become less stable as turbulence is more severe.