Takeshi Takamatsu

Two-stage-type electrostatic precipitator re-entrainment phenomena under diesel flue gases

One of the applications of the electrostatic precipitator (ESP) is the cleaning of air to increase the visibility index in highway tunnels. Particles floating in air in highway tunnels are mainly carbon. Collection efficiency of a large particle diameter in an ESP often decreases when the ESP collects carbon particles which have low electric resistance. Collection efficiency often becomes negative in an experimental ESP. The negative collection efficiency means that the particle concentration flowing downstream is greater than that upstream in the ESP. This phenomenon is explained as the re-entrainment of particles. In this paper, experiments were carried out to investigate the cause of the decrease in efficiency of particle collection of the ESP. The time characteristic of the collection efficiency and the distribution of particle size on the collection electrodes were studied. Experimental results showed that the decrease in the collection efficiency was caused by re-entrainment of particles during the ESP operation. The effect of gas-flow velocity on the collection efficiency of the ESP was also investigated to study the cause of re-entrainment phenomena. The result showed that the re-entrainment phenomena depended on the gas-flow velocity.

Agglomeration of particles by ac corona discharge

Improving the collection efficiency for particles smaller than 1 μm on every precipitator is important. We sought to improve the collection of these particles on an ESP due to particle agglomeration. Particles are charged by ac corona discharge in a precharger and agglomerated by a dc electric field in an agglomerator downstream of the precharger. Diesel exhaust particles were used as particulate matter for the experiments. The distribution of particle size was measured using a particle counter and a scanning electron microscope. By these methods, particles as small as 0.01 μm could be counted. Results showed the agglomeration between particles at ac corona discharge operating mode. The concentration of particles smaller than approximately 0.35 μm decreases, and that of particles larger than approximately 0.35 μm increases in the agglomerator. The agglomeration rate increases with increasing applied voltage, then saturates. These results may be due to the size distribution and to decrease of concentration by agglomeration.

The relation between shape of particles and collection efficiency by electrostatic precipitators

Electrostatic precipitator (ESP) has been used to decontaminated polluted gases and improve the visibility index in expressway tunnels. Lots of particles in expressway tunnels are made of carbon that has low resistivity. The collection efficiency of large particles decreases due to re-entrainment phenomena. Therefore, it is important to prevent re-entrainment. In this work, we discussed the method preventing particles re-entrainment, and devised transforming shape of the agglomerated particles on the collecting electrodes.