Correlation of design parameters with performance for electrostatic precipitator. Part II. Design of experiment based on 3D FEM simulation

The performance of electrostatic precipitators (ESP) depends on their geometrical and operational parameters. The first part of a two-paper series developed and validated a three-dimensional model describing corona discharge, turbulent flow, and particle charging and tracking in the ESP. Based on the model developed in Part I, this paper correlates the design parameters with ESP performance by applying the design of experiment (DOE) approach. Through a full factorial two-level DOE, both individual and interactive effects of design parameters on ESP performance are studied. Five design parameters are investigated, including wire radius, collecting plate length, plate-plate spacing, applied voltage, and particle diameter. The strength of these effects is quantified with sensitivity factors, based on which the parameters and their interactions are ranked. The ranking changes with the extent of its variation from the nominal value. This analysis can be extended to other design factors and different types of ESPs.