Electrostatic

precipitators
for industrial applications

Kjell Porle (ed.)

Steve L. Francis
Keith M. Bradburn
rehva
Federation of European Heating and Air-conditioning Associations

Cost G3
Industrial Ventilation
 Rehva / Cost G3

Industrial Ventilation
Systems and Equipment

Electrostatic Precipitators

Kjell Porle (ed.)

Steve L Francis
Keith M Bradburn
Copyright 2005 by Rehva,
Federation of European Heating and Air-conditioning Associations

All rights reserved

No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means,
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system, without permission in writing from the publisher.

Requests for permission to make copies of any part of the work should be addressed to
Rehva, PO BOX 82, B 1200 Brussels 20
Belgium
e-mail: info@rehva.com

ISBN XXXXXXX

Printed in XXXXXXX

ii
List of contents
Preface.....................................................................................................................................viii
the authors ................................................................................................................................. ix
Reviewers .................................................................................................................................. ix
1 ESP IN A NUTSHELL ...................................................................................................... 1
2 TERMINOLOGY, SYMBOLS AND UNITS ................................................................... 5
2.1 Terms and definitions................................................................................................. 5
2.2 Symbols...................................................................................................................... 6
2.3 Abbreviations ............................................................................................................. 6
3 INDUSTRIAL ELECTROSTATIC PRECIPITATORS ................................................... 7
3.1 Introduction ................................................................................................................ 7
3.2 Design Methodology .................................................................................................. 9
4 HISTORY OF ESP'S........................................................................................................ 11
5 ESP BASICS .................................................................................................................... 13
5.1 Principal design of a dry ESP................................................................................... 13
5.2 Migration Velocity ................................................................................................... 15
5.2.1 Basic Formula .................................................................................................. 15
5.2.2 Process Corrections .......................................................................................... 17
5.2.3 Design Corrections........................................................................................... 18
5.3 Corona Power and Sparking..................................................................................... 19
5.4 Back-corona ............................................................................................................. 21
5.5 Sectionalisation ........................................................................................................ 22
5.6 Current Distribution and Ionic Wind ....................................................................... 23
5.7 Spacing and Corona Suppression............................................................................. 27
5.8 Re-entrainment and Rapping Losses........................................................................ 29
5.8.1 Measurements of Resistivity and other Dust Properties. ................................. 30
5.8.2 Resistivity......................................................................................................... 30
5.8.3 Other Dust Properties ....................................................................................... 34
6 POWER SUPPLIES AND CONTROLS ......................................................................... 37
6.1 Conventional Transformer Rectifiers....................................................................... 37
6.1.1 Equipment Evolution........................................................................................ 37
6.1.2 HV Rectifier Evolution. ................................................................................... 37
6.2 Supply Components. ................................................................................................ 38
6.3 Why High Voltage Switches were used................................................................... 40
6.4 Selecting and Substituting a Conventional TR. ....................................................... 40
6.5 Switched Mode Power Supplies can Improve ESP Performance. ........................... 42
6.6 Controlling the TR ................................................................................................... 43
6.7 Basic Components.................................................................................................... 45
6.8 TR Controllers Basic Functions ............................................................................... 46
6.8.1 Protecting the Equipment ................................................................................. 46
6.8.2 Spark / Arc Response. ...................................................................................... 46
6.8.3 Spark Rates....................................................................................................... 48
6.9 Advanced Control Functions.................................................................................... 49
6.9.1 Back Corona Detection .................................................................................... 49
6.9.2 Pulsing and Intermittent Energisation .............................................................. 49
7 WET ELECTROSTATIC PRECIPITATORS................................................................. 53
7.1 Applications and Properties. .................................................................................... 53
7.2 Vertical Flow WESP ................................................................................................ 55

iii
 7.3 Horizontal Flow WESP............................................................................................ 56
7.4 Design Considerations.............................................................................................. 57
7.5 Combined Wet and Dry ESPs................................................................................. 58
8 PRACTICAL ASPECTS OF ESP DESIGN.................................................................... 59
8.1 Ductwork and general layout ................................................................................... 59
8.2 Precipitator Inlet Transition ..................................................................................... 60
8.3 Casing....................................................................................................................... 60
8.4 Support Bearings ...................................................................................................... 61
8.5 Precipitator Hoppers and Bottoms ........................................................................... 62
8.6 Discharge Electrode System..................................................................................... 63
8.6.1 Discharge Electrode Support and Insulators .................................................... 64
8.7 Collecting Electrodes ............................................................................................... 65
8.8 Rappers..................................................................................................................... 66
8.8.1 Gas Distribution ............................................................................................... 68
9 CONDITIONING............................................................................................................. 71
9.1 General. .................................................................................................................... 71
9.2 Moisture Conditioning ............................................................................................. 71
9.3 SO3 Conditioning ..................................................................................................... 73
9.4 NH3 or Dual Conditioning........................................................................................ 75
9.5 Other Additives ........................................................................................................ 77
10 TYPICAL APPLICATIONS OF ESPs ........................................................................ 79
10.1 Overview .................................................................................................................. 79
10.2 Power Industry. ........................................................................................................ 83
10.2.1 General. ............................................................................................................ 83
10.3 World Coal. .............................................................................................................. 87
10.3.1 Anthracite Coals............................................................................................... 88
10.3.2 Bituminous Coals ............................................................................................. 88
10.3.3 Medium Sulphur Bituminous Coals................................................................. 88
10.3.4 High Sulphur Bituminous Coals ...................................................................... 89
10.3.5 Low Sulphur Bituminous Coals. ...................................................................... 89
10.3.6 Sub Bituminous Coals...................................................................................... 91
10.3.7 Lignite. ............................................................................................................. 92
10.3.8 Brown Coals..................................................................................................... 92
10.4 Other fuels ................................................................................................................ 93
10.4.1 Peat ................................................................................................................... 93
10.4.2 Fuel Oils. .......................................................................................................... 93
10.4.3 Orimulsion........................................................................................................ 95
10.4.4 Other by-product fuels ..................................................................................... 95
10.4.5 Biomass fired plants ......................................................................................... 96
10.4.6 ESPs after Dry Flue Gas Desulphurisation..................................................... 97
10.5 Cement ..................................................................................................................... 97
10.5.1 Wet Process ...................................................................................................... 97
10.5.2 Semi-wet Process ............................................................................................. 98
10.5.3 Dry Process ...................................................................................................... 98
10.5.4 Alkali By-pass ................................................................................................ 100
10.5.5 Clinker cooler................................................................................................. 101
10.5.6 Cement mill .................................................................................................... 102
10.6 Non-ferrous applications ........................................................................................ 103
10.6.1 Driers.............................................................................................................. 103
10.6.2 Roasters .......................................................................................................... 103
10.6.3 Smelters.......................................................................................................... 104

iv
 10.6.4 Converters ...................................................................................................... 104
10.6.5 Enriched Zinc and Lead slag furnaces ........................................................... 104
10.6.6 Wet ESP's for SO3 collection ......................................................................... 105
10.7 Pulp and Paper Industries....................................................................................... 106
10.7.1 Bark Fired Boilers .......................................................................................... 106
10.7.2 Soda Recovery Boilers ................................................................................... 106
10.7.3 Lime Sludge Kilns.......................................................................................... 108
10.8 Iron &Steel. ............................................................................................................ 109
10.8.1 General ........................................................................................................... 109
10.8.2 Iron Manufacturer .......................................................................................... 109
10.8.3 Steel Making .................................................................................................. 110
10.9 Glass industry......................................................................................................... 111
11 FUTURE DEVELOPMENT OF ESPs ...................................................................... 113
12 REFERENCES........................................................................................................... 117

v
vi
 Rehva
Federation of European Heating and Air-conditioning Associations

REHVA is a 40 year old organisation of basis with no commercial interest. The work has
European professionals in the field of building been done in co-operation with Cost G3
services (heating, ventilating and air- Industrial Ventilation activity supported by
conditioning). REHVA represents more than European Commission. REHVA has been
100 000 experts from 30 European countries. extremely pleased with this fruitful co-
operation. The board would like to express its
Rehvas main activity is to develop and sincere gratitude to the members of the working
disseminate economical, energy efficient and group for their invaluable work.
healthy technology for mechanical services of
buildings and industry. The work is supervised Olli Seppnen
by the board of directors. Each of the members President Elect of REHVA and Chairman of the
of the board is responsible for work in a specific technical committee
area of REHVA activities.
Rehva guidebook projects are coordinated by
the Technical Committee of REHVA. The Member countries of Rehva:
objectives of this work are: Austria
Belgium
Initiate work for technical guidebooks in the Bosnia and Herzegovina
area of building services, Bulgaria
Establish task forces for such guidebooks Croatia
Czech Republic
Develop distribution of REHVA Guidebooks
Denmark
to members and other professionals
Estonia
Supervise the quality of REHVA Guidebooks Finland
Several Task Forces are currently working France
towards REHVA guidebooks such as: Germany
commissioning of HVAC-systems for good Greece
energy efficiency and indoor climate, control of Hungary
exposure to environmental tobacco smoke with Ireland
ventilation, criteria of clean ventilation systems, Italy
low temperature heating systems, indoor Latvia
environment and productivity. Lithuania
The Netherlands
The topic of the guidebook on Electrostatic Norway
precipitators is extremely important in respect Poland
of indoor and outdoor air quality and material Portugal
recovery form industrial processes. This Romania
guidebook is the first product of REHVAs new Russia
activity in the area of industrial ventilation. The Serbia and Montenegro
guidebook presents theory on the principles of Slovakia
electrostatic precipitators and illustrates their Slovenia
practical applications. Spain
The guidebook on electrostatic precipitators is Sweden
written by a working group of highly qualified Switzerland
international experts under the leadership of Mr Turkey
Kjell Porle. The work is done on voluntary United Kingdom

vii
 Preface

It is with great pleasure, and with appreciation

of the effort of Mr. Kjell Porle and his co- Member countries of Cost G3
authors that I take this book in my hand. The - INVENT network
authors are experts that have been working
within the field of air cleaning and industrial Belgium
electrostatic precipitators for many years. The Czech Republic
work with writing this book has been done on a Denmark
purely voluntary basis, the motive for writing Estonia
being to convey the knowledge to younger Finland
generations. France
Germany
Hungary
This book is the first guidebook in the series Italy
System and Equipment that was initiated Latvia
within the EU-activity of Cost G3. The activity The Netherlands
of Cost G3 Industrial Ventilation was Norway
established in 1996, following a 5 year activity Slovenia
in Finland on industrial ventilation. The aim of Spain
this activity was to collect the best available Sweden
knowledge on industrial ventilation, and Switzerland
disseminate it to engineers and scientists in United Kingdom
Europe and the rest of the world. The first result
of this activity was the Design Guidebook
which contains fundamental knowledge on
industrial ventilation. Following the Design
Guidebook, a number of guidebooks on
applications and on systems and equipment
were initiated.

Cost G3 was terminated in 2003, after having

reached the maximum duration determined by
the EU. The activity on the dissemination is
continuing within Rehva. The preparation of
new applications is guided by Hkon Skistad
and we hope that there will be a fruitful
continuation to COST G3, where most of the
work was done on voluntary basis.

Esko Thti,
former chairman of Cost G3.
The authors

Kjell Porle, ALSTOM Power, Vxj, Sweden.

Kjell graduated from Chalmers Technical University in Gothenburg, Sweden, 1963 with a
Master of Science degree in Electrical Engineering. After a few years with ASEA in Sweden
he joined FLAKT in Vxj 1966 and has ever since worked with ESP's. The company
FLAKT was integrated in ABB and later on sold to ALSTOM. Development and applications
of the ESP technology have been the focus. Kjell is since many years a member of The Board
of Directors of the International Society of Electrostatic Precipitation see www. isesp.org.
During 2001-2004 he served as the President for that Society. Kjell has got the International
Fellow Award and the Frederic Cottrell Award for outstanding achievements of the ESP
Technology. He has authored and co-authored many papers.

Keith Bradburn, ALSTOM Power, Knoxville, Tennessee

Keith has an honors degree in Mechanical Engineering from Aston University in Birmingham
England. He began his career with ESPs joining Lodge Cottrell Ltd, Birmingham England in
1961. In 1970 he transferred to the newly formed Lodge Cottrell Inc in the United States and
served in a number of ESP engineering and technical positions. In 1981 Keith joined FLAKT
in Knoxville, Tennessee, later ABB and ALSTOM and has been ESP Product Manager with
responsibilities for ESP sizing, design and performance for power plant applications and is
currently ESP Technology Manager.
Keith is a member of the International Society of Electrostatic Precipitation and has authored
and co-authored numerous technical papers.

Steve Francis, ALSTOM Power, Knoxville, Tennessee

Steve has an Associates of Arts degree in Electronics Technology from Catonsville
Community College in Baltimore, Maryland. Steve first started working on electrostatic
precipitators in 1980 while working for Environmental Elements Corporation in Baltimore,
Maryland. During his time at Environmental Elements Corporation Steve progressed within
the organization to become a Senior Applications Engineer responsible for sizing, arranging
and guaranteeing the performance of ESPs applied to both Power and Industrial applications.
In 1997 Steve joined ABB in Knoxville, TN that is now ALSTOM Power. Steve was an ESP
Product Manager for ALSTOM Power with focus on Industrial ESP applications. Steve has
recently become a Strategic Technology Development Manager for ESPs and Fabric Filters
used for particulate collection on power generation plants around the world. Since joining
ALSTOM Power in 1997, Steve has been an author or co-author on many papers associated
with ESPs and fabric filters.

Reviewers

The following persons have reviewed the book,

Michael Schmidt, Dr.-Ing., professor at Universitt Stuttgart, Lehrstuhl fr Heiz- und
Raumlufttechnik, Germany
Petter Sagen, M.Sc, Norconsult AS, Sandvika, Norway

ix
x
 1 ESP IN A NUTSHELL

The Electrostatic Precipitator (ESP) has been used for about 100 years to clean industrial flue
gases from particles before the gas is emitted to the atmosphere. Flue gas is generated in
boilers, incinerators etc. and are then evacuated through a gas duct to the ESP. The ESP is
comprised of a casing to encapsulate the gas and sets of parallel rows of electrodes one having
high voltage (discharge electrodes) and the other grounded electrodes (collecting plates).
With a high voltage applied to the discharge electrodes a strong electrical field is created
between the electrodes and the flue gas is ionised plus-ions migrate to the negative electrode
and minus-ions migrate to the grounded electrode. On their way through the particulate laden
gas the ions collide with and attach themselves to particles and drag them to the electrodes.

Supporting insulator
Rectifier circuit

Charging

Earthed

Discharge electrodes
spiral wires
Collecting electrodes
plate curtains

Figure 1.1 Overview of a dry ESP.

Layers of particles adhere to the electrodes and from time to time the electrodes have to be
cleaned to give place for new particles. This is a continuous process and the particle layer
dislodged from the electrodes must be safely discharged from the ESP without being
entrained in the flue gas. Cleaning is often done with hammers that impact or rap on the
electrodes. This cleaning process is valid in a dry ESP; i.e. the particles are collected in a dry
form. Another alternative is to use liquid cleaning, the ESP is then called a wet ESP, and the
particles are suspended or dissolved in the liquid, e.g. in water.

The ESP's discussed in this book are all for industrial processes. In-door small units for
purification of ambient air are not covered. In the early days ESP's were developed for
recovery of precious material, e.g. Cu, Ni and Zn. The flue gases from smelting or refinery
processes contained large amounts of these metals and a particulate collecting efficiency of
80-90% was satisfactory and economical at that time. The losses of particulate to the
atmosphere, 10-20%, were not a major concern. Environmental aspects are however the main
focus today. Particle collecting efficiencies exceeding 99.9% are not uncommon. The most
frequent application for ESP's today is after coal-fired boilers. Two-thirds of all ESP's around

1
the world are installed for cleaning of these flue gases. Huge ESP plants for a 1000 MWe
boiler may occupy an area of 100 x 80 m in some extreme cases. The height of the units
above ground can reach 30 m. A 1000 MWe boiler generates a flue gas flow of about 1500
m3/s. Normal gas velocities inside the ESP's are in the order of 1 m/s, thus a cross sectional
area of 1500 m2 is needed for a 1000 MWe plant. The properties of the flue gas, the particles
and the desired collecting efficiency then decide the treatment length of the ESP.

Small ESPs for low gas flow applications are becoming common after e.g. small biomass
fired boilers where stringent emission requirements are in force today. Such ESP's, e.g. 3x 5
m, can be manufactured to a great extent in workshops and they have become viable
alternatives for the low emissions required today. The active volume for an ESP can therefore
differ by a factor of more than 1000 between large and small units. However, the basic design
is similar for all sizes. ESP's are designed based on modules that can easily be enlarged or
reduced in overall size to fit the application and emissions requirements.

ESP's are the common and preferred particle collector for a number of other applications than
coal firing. Frequent users of ESP's are seen in Cement, Pulp and Paper, Iron and Steel and
Non-ferrous industries as well as after Incinerators; Oil fired boilers and Biomass fuel boilers
for energy production. In each industry segment there are a number of different applications.
For example in cement plants ESP's are used after various types of cement kilns, cement
mills, clinker coolers, raw mills and after alkali bypass processes. Each process has its own
unique properties when it comes to gas temperature, gas composition, particle composition,
size and shape, electrical conductivity or resistivity of the particles and the size of an ESP,
therefore, varies significantly depending on the application. It is normally difficult to predict
an ESP's behaviour from a theoretical viewpoint, experience from actual installations is
instead the key parameter when designing and building new plants.

Today's environmental legislation requirements are specified as emissions in terms of e.g.

mg/Nm3 of flue gas rather than collecting efficiency. Extremely low emissions can be
guaranteed for most ESP applications today. It is not unusual to size a dry ESP for 10-20
mg/Nm3 and extremes down to 5 mg/Nm3 have been guaranteed. For wet ESP's emission
requirements of < 1 mg/Nm3 have been guaranteed and achieved.

What kinds of competing technologies exist for removal of particulate from flue gases? Years
ago it was quite common to use mechanical cyclones, which have the disadvantages of both
relatively high pressure drop and inability to capture fine particles, and scrubbers, e.g. so
called venturi scrubbers a wet collector with high-pressure drop and hence high power
consumption. An alternative to an ESP for collection of particulate is the fabric filter (FF) or
bag filter (BF) for many applications. A FF is generally considered as the device being able to
give the lowest emission. However the drawbacks are a relatively high-pressure drop, filter
bag material sensitive to high temperatures and acid attacks and a limited lifetime of the filter
material. For certain applications the FF is the preferred technology, for others the ESP is the
best choice.

The ESP is a robust product that can withstand various types of upset conditions without
being damaged. Thus if a temperature excursion occurs the performance might be upset but as
soon as normal conditions prevail the operation of the ESP normally returns to its previous
level. ESP's can be built for continuous operation at 400 C or slightly higher with ordinary
carbon steel. With some special steels, temperatures up to e.g. 600 C can be accommodated.

2
The ESP has a low pressure drop, normally about 200 Pa, making it very attractive for plants
where the cost for electricity is high. There is however required power consumption for the
high voltage supply to the ESP. The power supplies called transformer/rectifiers
commonly have 50-100 kV and 1-2 A output. Modern control technology has reduced this
power consumption substantially for most ESP's. As a result the overall demand for electricity
is much smaller for an ESP than for a FF. ESP's can be constructed for:

Minimum of in leakage of air, typically less than 0,5%,

Continuous operation with > 8000 hrs between outages for maintenance and
overhaul,
Low noise levels outside the ESP casing,
Minimal temperature drop across the ESP casing.

Years of operation have contributed to the knowledge about todays ESP's. The device is
sensitive to changes in the properties of the particles. For example, if an ESP is designed for a
lower resistivity "easy" fly ash (the particles in the flue gas after a coal-fired boiler) and
suddenly high resistivity "bad" fly ash from another coal should be collected in the same ESP
then the emissions will increase significantly. Thus, the ESP is very sensitive to the resistivity
of the ash. There is also a certain height limitation of the collecting electrodes, maximum 16-
18 m. Firstly, the manufacturing and transportation is a limiting factor and secondly the
cleaning through rapping cannot be made efficient over too large areas.

The gas velocity should be within a certain range to make sure that optimum performance can
be achieved.
For dry ESP's it is important that the operating temperature is above the dew point of the gas
to avoid clogging dust and corrosion.

The future will see even lower emission guarantees and for many applications the ESP will
remain as an important device for the removal of particulate from flue gases.

3
4
 2 TERMINOLOGY, SYMBOLS AND UNITS

2.1 Terms and definitions

The terms and definitions in this chapter are based on Goodfellow and Thti (2001).

Back Corona (Back Ionisation): The discharge phenomenon that takes place in the
particulate layer in an electrostatic precipitator.

Collection Efficiency: The ratio of the mass of the particles collected in an ESP to the mass
of particles entering the ESP. It is often expressed as a percentage.

Corona: The discharge phenomenon (ionisation of the flue gas) that takes place close to the
high voltage electrode, mostly negative voltage, in an ESP. The negative charges migrate to
the grounded electrode and constitute a current (mA).

Discharge electrodes: Electrodes that are placed at a certain distance from one or several
collecting electrodes. These electrodes are electrically insulated in order to carry a high
voltage, 30-100 kV, for generation of corona current.

Electrostatic Precipitator (ESP): A filtering system for particulate removal from a gas
stream by giving the particles electrical charges. These charged particles are then attracted to
plates of opposite polarity on to which they adhere.
Dry ESP An ESP type, where the particles adhere to the collecting plates and are dry.
Cleaning of the plates are mostly done by rapping or vibration of the plates. Dry dust falls
into hopper area.
Wet ESP An ESP where the dust is removed with help of water or other liquid, either
intermittently or continuously. Particles are then suspended or dissolved in the liquid.
High Voltage- The voltage that a transformer/rectifier supplies to the high voltage
discharge electrode system.

Hammer: A device used for the rapping of collecting plates and discharge electrodes. The
hammer falls down from a certain height and hits anvil that transmits the rapping energy into
the component that should be cleaned.

Migration Velocity: The velocity of a charged particle in an electric field). The average
velocity of a particle migrating towards the collecting plate in the space between the high
voltage and the grounded electrode in an ESP. In a standard ESP type this velocity is
perpendicular to the gas direction of the gas flow.

Rapping: The procedure to clean areas where dust adheres. Rapping areas are primarily
collecting plates and discharge electrode but also gas distribution screens, baffles and hoppers
might need rapping. During rapping a high acceleration is generated that dislodge the dust
form the surface.

5
 Sparking (Flash-over): The production of sparks; occurs under certain conditions on
electrostatic precipitators. The phenomenon that occurs if the voltage between the high
voltage and a grounded spot goes too high and a breakthrough of the voltage occurs. Sparking
implies that shortly after the spark (flash-over) there is no or very little high voltage in the
ESP and no corona is generated and migration velocity is occasionally low.

2.2 Symbols

A collecting area, m
A/Q Specific collecting area (collecting area [m2]/gas flow [m3/s]); alternatively SCA is
used for the same parameter.
I Corona current [mA]
k constant in formula for modified migration velocity, ranging from 0.5 to 1.0
Q gas flow m/s
SCA Specific collecting area (collecting area [m2]/gas flow [m3/s]); alternatively A/Q is
used for the same parameter.
V Voltage between discharge electrodes and collecting plates [V]
w Deutsch migration velocity of the dust particles [cm/s]
wk Modified migration velocity [cm/s]

collecting efficiency

2.3 Abbreviations
ac Alternating current
ACR Air core reactor
BF Blast furnace
BOF Basic oxygen furnace
CLR Current limiting reactor
C.V. Coefficient of variation (also RMS)
dc Direct current
DFGD Dry flue gas desulphurisation
EAF Electric arc furnace
ESP Electrostatic precipitator
FF Fabric filter
FGD Flue gas desulphurisation
HFWESP Horizontal flow wet electrostatic precipitator
HV High voltage
HVDC High voltage direct current
IE Intermittent energisation
LOI Loss on ignition
PCB Polychlorinated biphenyl
ppm part per million
RMS Root mean square
SCR Selective catalytic reaction (chemical) or Silicon controlled rectifier (electrical)
TR Transformer rectifier
WESP Wet electrostatic precipitator

6
 3 INDUSTRIAL ELECTROSTATIC PRECIPITATORS

3.1 Introduction

Electrostatic Precipitators (ESP's) have been used for the past century to collect particulates
from industrial sources. There are mainly two types of ESP's; the dry type and the wet type. In
the dry ESP the particulate is collected in a dry form, while in the wet case the particulate is
collected in a liquid. Their application has usually been for one or more of the following
reasons.

1) Recovery of material for process use or for the sale of collected product.
2) Removal of abrasive matter to reduce fan and process equipment wear.
3) Reduce particulate emissions from process discharge to the atmosphere to
reduce any environment impact and potential health hazards.
4) Removal of particulate that may influence any critical processes downstream
of the ESP

Users, vendors and consultants of ESP's may have different views on the applicability of an
ESP for a given task. Thus, anyone of these may decide on size, design features etc. but
ultimately the vendor has to guarantee what the customer asks for. Examples of various types
of specifications are

the user/consultant prescribes a minimum collecting area or a treatment time. The

vendor might decide that he must provide a larger area to meet the requirements.
the user/consultant gives specific site restrictions.
the user/consultant asks for a performance guarantee and the vendor has to offer what
they believe is correct in order to meet all the customer's requirements.
the vendor has full freedom to choose equipment not necessarily an ESP or
solutions to the problem.

Precipitators are sized and designed based mainly on experience and empirical data. It is
extremely important to obtain a full working knowledge and understanding of the process
conditions, physical plant conditions, emission requirements and applicable measurement
regulations.

Existing processes and plants that require new, replacement or upgraded precipitators in order
to lower particulate emission levels are normally able to provide accurate process operating
parameters. Information provided from a plant in a written request is not normally complete
and may not be fully accurate. Furthermore, it is often claimed that it is the vendor's
responsibility to ensure that correct data are used. Experience has shown that in order to
obtain complete and accurate data it is best for an experienced precipitator engineer to visit
the plant and to witness plant operation and obtain the essential operating parameters and
plant information.

Information provided for a precipitator for a new plant is based on process calculations and
predicted system equipment. Precipitator designers use the provided information to compare

7
with experience in their database. Unknown safety margins, assumptions and miscalculations
in provided data can result in costly oversized or undersized precipitator installations. Years
ago the designer had his library of achieved data and personal judgement and experience was
often used. However, with today's competitiveness reduced technical margins must be used
and test data and reference plants have to be considered in more rational and scientific ways.
Computer help for advanced regression analysis and prediction models are frequently used.
However, the designer still has to have a thorough understanding of the wide and varied range
of processes and applications for which the ESP can be applied.

In order to size a precipitator correctly, the emission requirements and measurement

procedures and techniques must be fully understood. Emission regulations and requirements
vary significantly not only from process to process but different countries and regions of the
world have different emission requirements for the same process.

The World Bank requirement for particulate emissions from new coal fired boilers is
50 mg/Nm3 (6% O2 dry) whereas in the USA the EPA New Source Regulations requirements
are 0.03 lb/mmbtu (~35 mg/Nm3) and in Germany the standard is 10 mg/Nm3. Although such
standards exist it may be necessary to design for even lower emissions in order to obtain plant
building and operating permits and there may be other local demands. In addition to mass
emission requirements there may also be regulations relating to the visual stack discharge gas
appearance. This demand is common today in North America.

Not only are there different particulate emission limits, there are different measurement
procedures associated with the emission regulations that must be fully understood.

This book will in the following chapters deal with industrial ESP's. This means common
applications with gas flows from 10 to above 1000 m3/s related to industry including power
generation. It will not cover e.g. standard filters for indoor ventilation purposes. For a deeper
study of the fundamentals of electrostatic precipitation the following references apply:
Goodfellow and Thti (2001); White (1963); Oglesby and Nichols (1978) and Parker (1997).

8
3.2 Design Methodology

The process of applying a precipitator for collecting and removing particulates from a gas
stream must start with a thorough understanding of the process from which it is generated.
Whether it is a fossil fired boiler, recovery boiler, cement kiln, or sinter process, a full
knowledge of the process and the formation of the particulate should be obtained and
understood. Failure to recognise higher boiler temperatures or that a process is a closed loop
or cycling operation can result in significant errors in precipitator sizing
Basic data required to size and manufacture a precipitator are:

Process flue gas analysis.

Load variations including special demands for start-up and shutdown procedures.
Gas temperature ranges, both for mechanical design and for performance guarantees.
Particulate loading, chemical analysis and particle size.
Required particulate emission. This may be required with some redundancy, e.g. with
one section or field of the ESP out of operation.
Plant ambient conditions, altitude, barometric pressure, temperature and humidity
ranges.
Plant layout and physical space available.

With all the above information available comparisons can be made to the performance
database for the specific process and adjustments necessary for variations. The designer must
have access to data and relations that enables him to make a cost-effective ESP design at a
minimum technical risk. Once a basic precipitator sizing factor, migration velocity, has been
determined the required plate area and contact time can be established. The precipitator
configuration can then be designed with any physical limitations that may be at the plant, or
any customer preferences or specified requirements. Minor adjustments may be required to
the precipitator sizing to compensate for any non-ideal conditions arising from the plant
limitations or requirements.

The detailed design of the precipitator must consider the flue gas analysis, temperatures and
particulate analyses to determine the acid dew point, risks for corrosion and particulate
adhesion properties. The structural design must consider wind and snow loads, under or over
pressure in the casing and must include risks from earthquake. Design features should be
included to minimise any potential detrimental affects in order to ensure operational reliability
and extended service life.

9
10
 4 HISTORY OF ESP'S

The first commercial ESP was constructed in 1907, but it was preceded by several attempts
during the nineteens century. In 1824 Dr Hohlfeld in Germany managed to precipitate fog in
an experimental set-up. Important l advancements were made during the 1880s mainly in UK.
Patents exist from 1884 and onwards regarding ESP technology. The most well known work
was by Professor O. J. Lodge, who tried to remove fumes from lead smelting. The results
were promising but suffered from inefficient high voltage supplies. The efforts at that time
used a positive corona in contrast to later developments in the field.

Dr Frederick G. Cottrell in the USA developed a high voltage supply, which could provide a
useful corona current. In the laboratory he collected sulphuric acid mist in an ESP. Following
this progress the first commercial ESP's were used for fumes and sulphuric acid mist after
lead smelters. The next ESP's were used for various smelter applications followed by
attempts in the cement and iron and steel industries. It was obvious that the knowledge on
the effect of resistivity, humidity in the flue gas etc was very limited at that time, resulting in
many installations experienced low collecting efficiencies compared to today's performances.
No real emissions limits existed at that time. The progress of developing the ESP's to meet
todays modern efficient machines follows to a great extent the development of power
supplies and their controls. The mechanical design of today is sophisticated but are essentially
refinements of the old basic concepts.

The development of ESP's occurred as the first commercial units were required for the
important and valuable recovery of dust. Smelters could recover large amounts of expensive
metals and the ESP's had short payback times. During the second half of the twentieth century
the ESP became a tool for environmental protection . Legislation being the main driver for
this product. This legislation is becoming more stringent as the effects of pollutants are more
widely understood.

The first ESP's for the collection of fly ash after coal-fired boilers were built in the 1920s. The
plants were small and the ESP's were normally limited to two independent electrical fields.
Satisfactory collection efficiencies in the 80 - 90 % range were achieved . No severe problems
were encountered however as high sulphur coals were fired which limited the resistivity of
the fly ash. As time went by, larger and larger plants were built dealing with boilers in excess
of 1000 MWe. With the demand for low sulphur coals the development of the technicalities
to ensure reliable ESP's and prediction models for plant sizing became more complex.

Dr Cottrell (USA) and other colleagues developed the ESP theory and E. Anderson (USA)
experimentally proved that an exponential relationship existed between collecting efficiency
and size of the ESP. This relation was further developed by Deutsch (Germany) in 1922 and
the so-called Deutsch-Anderson formula focusing on a migration velocity of the particles
towards the collecting plates was established. The migration velocity is in its first
approximation a constant related to a specific application. This formula has been developed
further and the most known is the modified Deutsch equation. The modified version was
developed by Matts-Ohnfeldt in the 1960s. The migration velocity is used among suppliers as
a key factor for proposing and estimating new plants and it is often considered as proprietary
information achieved from experimental data. The migration velocity, w (or sometimes called
), is a measure of how fast the particles are moving towards the collecting plates. Thus, a

11
low migration velocity indicates a large ESP for a given task. Efforts have been made to
develop the theory further with help of advanced programs. However, migration velocities
calculated from the theory deviate from those achieved experimentally but the theory is useful
in understanding trends. In practice, migration velocities vary with many parameters such as
dust resistivity, particle size and physical design of the ESP.

The development of large ESP's for dry collection of dust has lead to units having up to 8 - 9
fields in series, each one having its own power supply. Each field can have a length exceeding
5 m. The effective height of the collecting plate can be > 15 m. An ESP casing isolating the
flue gas from the surroundings can be over 40 m in width and comprise several independent
bus sections (= a part of the ESP energized by one power supply) in parallel. Casings with a
volume over 15 000 m3 have been built. There are also small standard units with volumes of
30 - 40 m3 or less.

During the last 20 years there has been rapid development in the power supplies and their
controls. Modern thyristor controlled transformer rectifiers for voltages up to 150 kVpeak and
secondary currents above 3500 mA are available. Controls comprising advanced algorithms to
achieve optimum performance automatically are used on new and upgraded ESP plants
Recent technology uses high frequency voltage transformation resulting in pure d.c voltages
in an ESP. Modern controls have also made it possible to provide substantial power savings
for the transformer/rectifiers. In many cases today's power consumption is < 10 % of what it
used to be without offsetting performance.

ESP's undergo continuous improvements in order to reduce cost, increase reliability and to
provide the requirements of new legislation with lower emissions. One example, of cost
reduction, is the shift to wider spacing between the collecting plates. For many applications
the treatment time in the electrical fields is the key factor and then by using wider spacing less
material is inserted in a given volume.

Modern ESP's have availability of > 99 % and a guaranteed air infiltration < 1 %.

12
 5 ESP BASICS

5.1 Principal design of a dry ESP

Figure 5.1illustrates the principal design of a section of a dry ESP.

Supporting insulator
Rectifier circuit

Charging

Earthed

Discharge electrodes
spiral wires
Collecting electrodes
plate curtains

Figure 5.1 Principal design of a dry ESP

The dust-laden gas flows horizontally between grounded collecting plates. Between these
plates there is a high voltage electrode discharge system. This system is powered from a
Transformer Rectifier (TR) and the assembly is called a bus section. There are usually several
independent bus sections in the length and for large plants with high gas flows there are
parallel bus sections. One or several (parallel) casings enclose the sections to form the ESP
plant. The TR sets are often placed on the roof of the ESP.

Figure 5.2 shows the basic function of an ESP. The high voltage generates a corona current
flowing from the discharge electrodes to the collecting plates. The flue gas and dust particles
enter the ESP and become charged. An electrical field moves the particles to the collecting
plate. A dust layer is created on the collecting plate. This layer is at certain time intervals are
dislodged, most commonly through rapping of the plates, with the dust falling down to the
hopper area for collection.

13
 Figure 5.2 Principle of collection of particles in an ESP.

ICAC, The Institute of Clean Air Companies, in the USA have given recommendations as to
the denominations of the different parts of an ESP. These recommendations are shown in
principle in Figure 5.3. Reference: ICAC (2000).

Width
Division wall
Depth

Field 4

Field 3

Field 2

Field 1
Cell
Cell
Cell
Chamber Cell
Chamber
Casing

Figure 5.3 Suggested terminology for ESP's.

Explanations of terminology in connection to Figure 5.3:

ESP A single precipitator is an arrangement of collecting surfaces and discharge

electrodes contained within one independent casing.
Bus section The smallest portion of the precipitator, which can be independently de-
energised.
Field (in depth) A field is an arrangement of bus sections perpendicular to gas flow that
is energised by one or more high voltage power supplies.
Cell (in width) - A cell is an arrangement of bus sections parallel to gas flow.

14
 Chamber A gas tight longitudinal subdivision of a precipitator. A precipitator with a
single gas tight division wall is referred to as a two-chamber precipitator.

The discharge system can have a negative voltage exceeding 100 kV depending on design and
operating conditions. High electrical field strength exists close to the discharge electrode.
When the voltage exceeds a threshold value, the onset voltage, gas ionisation occurs where
the high electrical field strength is, and the corona current starts to flow towards the grounded
plates. Some of the charges collide with the particles in the gas impart a charge and move
them to the collecting plates. A dust layer is formed on the plates. Some dust is also collected
on the discharge system. Rapping devices, e.g. hammers, cleans the collecting plates and the
discharge system.

5.2 Migration Velocity

5.2.1 Basic Formula

The estimation of the necessary treatment time or collecting area for a given gas flow and
collecting efficiency can be done in many ways. A common tool used globally is the modified
Deutsch equation developed by Matts-Ohnfeldt [Reference: Matts and Ohnfeldt (1963)].

wkA k
( )
= 1 e Q (5.1)

where
= collecting efficiency
wk = migration velocity, cm/s (sometimes k is used instead of wk)
A = collecting area, m
Q = gas flow m/s
k = constant, ranging from 0.5 to 1.0

A useful expression is A/Q, which compares (normalise) one ESP with another. It
indicates the collecting area that is required per m3/s of gas. It is also expressed as SCA
(Specific Collecting Area) in literature.

The migration velocity is in principle a constant for given conditions (particle size and shape,
gas composition and gas temperature etc). It is used e.g. for calculation of necessary area
increase in case an ESP should be designed for 99.7 % instead of 99.5 %. The challenge is , to
choose the correct wk when estimating the ESP size for a new plant. The wk can be calculated
by theory but the result normally deviates significantly from real precipitators. This is due to
the fact that theoretical formulas are simplifications of reality and that a number of the
practical aspects cannot be modelled accurately. The practical approach is, therefore, to use
wk's that are achieved from existing plants and if necessary to apply corrections for deviating
conditions see chapter 5.2.2. Note, the migration velocity cannot be measured, it must be
calculated from the measured collection efficiency, the measured or calculated gas flow and
from the actual collecting area.

The constant k in the formula has been found to be close to 0.5 for most applications through
regression analysis, but values up to 1.0 are used. The value of k = 1.0 corresponds to
Deutsch's original formula. The weaknesses with the Deutsch formula is that it assumes a

15
constant particle size and homogenous mixing of gas and dust in the inter-electrode space,
which is seldom the case. Fly ash from coal firing may e.g. have a few hundreds of mg/Nm3
dust with particle sizes < 1 m (micrometer) while the major mass from a few to 100 g/Nm3
- is around 10 20 m. The dependency of Deutsch migration velocity on particle size is
shown in Figure 5.4.

w = Particle migration velocity

0,1 1 10 100
d = particle diameter, m

Figure 5.4 Theoretical migration velocity (Deutsch) as a function of particle diameter.

30 - 40 years ago, when emission limits were in the range of several hundred mg/Nm3, the
Deutsch migration velocity could be used with reasonable accuracy. However, for modern
ESP's where low emissions, often < 25 mg/Nm3, are required and guaranteed, more of the fine
particulate with a low migration velocity must be collected. It is then more convenient to use
wk as it overcomes the problem with the particle size distribution in many instances. From
experience it is observed that wk is a constant in a much wider efficiency range than the
original Deutsch migration velocity.

Thus, for new plants the collecting area is calculated based on achieved wk's from existing
plants. The challenge is in sizing a new plant, is to judge the conditions and compare these to
known conditions in existing plants. Can the same migration velocity be used or must
correction factors be applied? For some standard applications the achieved wk's do not deviate
significantly from plant to plant while for e.g. coal firing large variations exist. Various
vendors and consultants have developed correction models, which are more or less accurate
for predictions. These models are often proprietary information and are therefore not
necessarily published. Correction factors for deviations are applied and the important ones
selected influencing the final wk These are described qualitatively in the following
paragraphs. They can be divided into two groups: process corrections and design corrections.
In addition to corrections a safety margin is always applied to take care of

- variations between plants, which should have shown similar results due to
"identical" conditions.
- inadequate correction factors. This is important especially when the correction
factors have to be extended outside known ranges.

A safety margin can be expressed in different ways, e.g. that a more conservative migration
velocity has been used than achieved from similar applications or that the ESP size has more

16
collecting area compared to what is needed based on experimental data. The safety margin
implies that the expected the most likely emission will be lower than that guaranteed.

5.2.2 Process Corrections

Gas temperature and gas density. The corona properties change with these parameters.
Thus a lower temperature or a higher density, increases the corona onset voltage and enhances
the electrical field strength and the migration velocity. For dry ESP's it is important that the
gas temperature is above the flue gas acid dew point to avoid corrosion and to reduce heavy
dust build-up due to sticky dust.

Gas composition. For example, an increase in humidity and SO2 content strengthen the
electrical properties of the gas. This increases the voltage and enhances the migration
velocity. Humidity variations will influence the dust resistivity .

Particle size distribution. A larger fraction of fine dust may generate a lower wk. More fine
dust might also result in corona suppression see chapter 5.7. This may make it difficult to
achieve the adequate corona current. A reduction of wk can be predicted in such cases.

Dust composition and dust resistivity (see also chapter 5.8.2.1 for a discussion on dust
resistivity). The influence on migration velocity can be significant . A difference of five times
is not unusual for various fly ashes from coal firing. This also results in the same difference in
size of the ESP for a given collecting efficiency. Si, Al and Ca are often increasing the
resistivity while Na and Fe reduces it. An example showing necessary SCA's (Specific
Collecting Area see 5.2.1) for variations in Na for low S coals can be seen in Figure 5.5.
The relative SCA's are generated from pilot tests in 1960s and 1970s. Since then modern high
voltage control technologies have developed see chapter 6 and the relations are somewhat
different today. However, the ranking between the coals and the dependency on e.g. Na2O
remain unaltered.

Dust load. If the dust load increases it can depend on more and coarser particles from for
example a boiler. In such cases a positive correction on wk can often be applied. It is often
believed that pre- collecting the coarse particles, in front of an ESP will reduce the ESP size
to collect the fine particles. This is not always true; there are many examples of installations
where the emission has been decreased when a pre-collector has been bypassed. The coarse
particles help to catch the finer particles and the resistivity may reduce as the fine particles
often have a higher resistivity. Rapping efficiency can also be increased due to the changing
dust cake properties. A high dust concentration is in itself not a limit for efficient
precipitation. ESP's have been used successfully with dust loads exceeding 2000 g/Nm3.

Hydrocarbons. Small amounts, < 0.1 % of the inlet dust, from e.g. unburned oil can have a
detrimental effect on the resistivity and performance.

Unburned low resistivity particles. These particles tend to jump or bounce through the ESP
without becoming deposited in the dust layer on the collecting plate. The collection efficiency
of these bouncing particles depends on the gas velocity. A low velocity enhances the
collection. The content of unburned particles is often referred to as LOI (Loss On Ignition).

17
 Efficiency

A B C D E F A Poland
97
98 B Australia
99 C Australia
99,5 D Australia
99,8 E Canada
99,9 F Australia

0,2 0,5 1,0 2,0 5,0

Relative SCA

Coal A B C D E F
Ash content, %
10 16 31 19 18 28
(dry basis)
Sulfur, total, % 0,70 0,36 ,34 ,62 ,27 0,26
Na2O in coal
0,80 0,65 ,50 ,10 ,30 0,10
ash

Figure 5.5 Relative ESP size, SCA (Specific Collecting Area, m2/m3/s), for various
coals and collecting efficiencies. Example: For a collection efficiency of 99.5 % F
coal needs a collecting area that is five times larger than A coal for the same gas flow.

5.2.3 Design Corrections

Type of electrodes, rapping etc. The discharge electrodes can be designed for various
conditions, e.g. to combat high resistivity conditions, to reduce corona suppression or to
dislodge dust more easily. The type of rapping is important when designing an ESP.
Improper rapping for a difficult application will result in a build-up on collecting plates that
reduces the collecting efficiency. All are examples that influence the performance or wk.

Number of bus sections in length. As the space charge effect the corona suppression
decreases downstream in an ESP the electrical conditions change. More bus sections for a
given area will enhance the wk ???- see also chapter 5.5.

Size of a bus section. The size of each bus section is also a parameter to take into account.
For large bus section areas a spark will statistically appear more often than in small areas.
Sparking will slowly destroy the internals (electrical erosion) and will offset the performance
because during the spark and a short time afterwards there is no electrical field to drive the
particles to the plates. The spark rate (sparks/min) has to be maintained at a low value even
for large bus sections. Therefore the resulting power input per m2 is decreased with larger
areas. Bus sections with collecting areas up to 10000 m2 energised from one high voltage unit
have, been used. Note, with small pilot ESP's, it is common to see substantially higher
migration velocities than in large plants. A scaling-up factor, depending on the power input
and other parameters, has to be applied if pilot results are to be used for full-scale ESP's.

Aspect ratio. This is defined as total active length divided by active height. Small aspect
ratios (short and tall ESP's) result in higher rapping losses. When the dust is dislodged during

18
rapping, some part of it will be carried towards the outlet funnel due to the horizontal gas
velocity. Aspect ratios are normally close to 1.0 or higher but for special applications values
down to 0.6 have been used.

Gas velocity. With high gas velocities there is a risk for re-entrainment of dust, both during
the rapping and in between rapping. For low emissions the trend is to reduce the gas velocity
and for modern ESP's it is common to be around 1 m/s. Velocities up to 1.7 - 1.8 m/s can be
used without deterioration in k for special applications with dust that has good
agglomeration properties. Low gas velocities, of say < 0.5 m/s, should be avoided because
they may result in temperature stratification making it difficult to maintain a good gas
distribution. Experimental data from ESP's with velocities << 0.5 m/s as a design velocity are
scarcely found.

5.3 Corona Power and Sparking

A typical curve, often called I/V-curve, showing the relation between current and voltage in a
bus section is shown in Figure 5.6.

kV
Sparking level

Corona on-set

mA
Figure 5.6 Current Voltage relation (I/V curve) in a bus section.

When the current is increased, the voltage increases correspondingly. The I/V-curve will
change increased or decreased kV for a given mA depending on gas composition and
temperature, gas velocity, dust load (space charge effect) in the gas and dust build-up on the
electrodes. The curve in Figure 5.6 represents an ESP, with no back-corona (see 5.4) present.

A general rule is that the more power, kV*mA, that is used referring to Figure 5.6 - the
higher the collection efficiency will be. However, at a certain kV/mA level a spark between
the high voltage system and earth (mostly the collecting plates) will develop.
It should be emphasised that a spark is not solely depending on the high voltage level but also
on the current level. A - spark or a heavier "arc" - is a breakthrough of the gas, an avalanche,
and means a conductive path between the high voltage system and the earth so that the bus
section, electrically a capacitor, discharges itself. The ESP performance is reduced as long as
the voltage is zero or low in the bus section. Therefore sparks are unwanted and it is essential
to return to proper current and voltage levels as fast as possible. The sparking level change
with time and therefore automatic devices to control spark rate and power input are used.
Optimum performance of an ESP is found close to the sparking level. In practice the highest
collecting efficiency is achieved when some sparking is allowed. It is a compromise between
high power input between sparks and short-circuits during sparks. As the sparking time (from

19
microseconds for "sparks" to seconds for "arcs") varies, the optimum spark rate
(= sparks/minute) is very specific for a plant. Optimum performance can sometimes be found
for as high spark rates as 100 sparks per min or higher. It should also be remembered that
sparks always result in electrical erosion of the equipment and may shorten the lifetime or
the availability of the plant. It is therefore often recommended to run with moderate spark
rates, e.g. in the 10 - 20 sparks per min range.

wk is not a linear function of the power input. The typical function is as shown in Figure 5.7.

wk

mA, kW
Figure 5.7 Typical relation between migration velocity wk and total current or power
input. Linear scales are used on the axis.

For low power inputs there is a rapid increase in migration velocity while for high inputs the
increase is moderate. For oversized plants running with high current densities there is an
opportunity to substantially reduce the power consumption and still being in compliance with
regulations. A difficult choice a choice that belongs to the customer and/or authorities
Should the plant run with minimum emission and highest power consumption or should it
operate with power saving and somewhat higher emission. There are exceptional cases when
the cost for the power is such that it pays to purposely oversize the ESP in order to save
power.

The power consumption for the T/R sets in an ESP and for optimum conditions can be
anything from a few W/m2 to above 20 W/m2 of collecting area. The lower values are
applicable on high resistivity conditions see chapter 5.4 and 5.8.2.

20
5.4 Back-corona
The dust layer on a collecting plate has a certain resistivity. A high resistivity low electric
conductivity of the dust layer may generate back-corona on the collecting plate. This is
illustrated in Figure 5.8. See also chapter 5.8.2 for further discussions about resistivity of dust.

Figure 5.8 Corona current, I, penetrating the dust layer generates ionisation, back-
corona, along the collecting plate.

The corona current through the dust layer on the collecting plate multiplied with the apparent
resistivity of the dust generates a voltage (electrical field) drop through the dust layer.
Depending on the gas conditions and dust properties (size, shape, compactness etc.) the field
strength in the layer may lead to a breakthrough of the gas local sparking in the dust layer -
and positive and negative ions are generated. The positive ions travel to the discharge
electrode and may discharge any negatively charged particles on their way. As a consequence
the collecting efficiency decreases . This is further aggravated by the re-entrainment of dust
due to the sparking. Examples of I/V curves under back-corona condition are seen in Figure
5.9. Typically the voltage decreases with increasing current under severe back-corona
conditions. It is common for the best collecting efficiency to be achieved in such cases for
low currents, e.g. close to where the voltage peaks. This may differ from one bus section to
another. Thus, higher power input is not contributing to a higher wk for a high resistivity dust
as long as back-corona conditions prevail.

kV

no back-corona

some back-corona

severe back-corona

mA
Figure 5.9 Typical I/V curves with and without back-corona conditions.

21
In some cases depending on the ESP design the gas dust conditions and on the plates, the
"negative" slope on the I/V curve does not appear, because sparking occurs already for low
currents.

In the literature it is often claimed that an ESP is not efficient above a certain critical
resistivity level. This is partly true. The critical resistivity level can vary and is for example
reduced with increased gas temperature due to the changing electrical properties of the gas.

What can be done to reduce the negative influence of back-corona? There are basically four
concepts to consider:

Design the ESP so that it is more efficient for higher resistivities see chapter 5.6.
Reduce the resistivity and at the same time increase the dust cohesiveness, e.g. by
reducing the gas temperature or by conditioning see chapter 9. With increased
cohesiveness re-entrainment is decreased.
Reduce the corona current, this can be achieved efficiently by pulsing the high voltage
see chapter 6.
Change the process conditions, e.g. mixing fuels.

5.5 Sectionalisation

Instead of building an ESP with one large collecting area and energised by one TR set there
are many advantages building several bus sections, each one having its own power supply.
One obvious reason can be seen from Figure 5.10.

kV

1st field

2nd field
3rd field

mA
ia ib

Figure 5.10 Typical I/V curves from a three field ESP.

The figure illustrates typical I/V curves from a three field ESP. In the front field a high
voltage and a low current is achieved before sparking. In the last field the current is higher
often equal to rated TR current without sparking - the lower the voltage. Should one TR set
be used, the voltage in principle is given from the last field and as the same voltage applies in
the front very little average current per m2 of collecting area will be used in that part of the
ESP. This is not an efficient use of expensive collecting area. Thus, the migration velocity is
higher for a three or multifield ESP due to higher average current per m2 than a single section
ESP and as a result the total collecting area is smaller. The drawback is of course that TR sets
and the matching electrical equipment, insulators etc. add to the price. It is not uncommon to

22
see installations in the USA with a high degree of sectionalisation while European suppliers
have found it to be cost-efficient to build few and large bus sections.

Sectionalisation of the ESP also means separate rapping devices for the individual bus
sections. This implies that e.g. the first section with the higher dust load is rapped more
frequently than the last section needs to be rapped. This reduces not only rapping losses from
the last section but also maintenance of the ESP due to extended lifetime in the rear sections. .
The sectionalisation means a redundancy in the ESP. Should a bus section be out of operation
there are other sections taking over and limiting the emission. As an example: a three field
ESP designed for 99.9 % collection efficiency may still give an efficiency > 99.6 % with only
two fields in operation. There is a built-in redundancy in many plants from the very beginning
implying that the emission guarantee should be kept with one bus section off.

5.6 Current Distribution and Ionic Wind

It is essential to have a good current distribution, both in the inter-electrode space

for fast and efficient charging and along the collecting plates. This avoids back-corona and
ensures electrical holding forces on the collected particles Figure 5.11 illustrates the 2-
dimensional current distribution along a collecting plate from a discharge electrode with a
peak or tip and from a continuous wire.
+

E
I
E

wire rigid
discharge
electrode discharge
electrode
collecting
collecting plate
plate collecting collecting
plate plate

Figure 5.11 Current distribution along the collecting plate from a wire and an electrode with
peaks (tips) and a body.

The current on the collecting plate from the peak is very concentrated to an area just opposite
the peak. The reason for this is that the increased electrical field generating the corona is
concentrated to the peak while there are other electrical field lines from the body of that
electrode preventing the current to expand in the space. From a wire the corona generation
close to the wire surface takes place over a larger area and the distribution in the inter-
electrode space and along the collecting plate is more even.

Back-corona is triggered from the local current density, and if that is high in certain areas the
back-corona will start there. The peak electrode generates much higher local current densities
than a wire for the same total average current. The ideal case would be a completely even
corona distribution. It may be possible to get it from a wire in a round tube. However, that is
not practical for large systems. Small deviations, <10 - 20 mm off the centre line, will cause
most of the current to go to the nearest surface. Practical measurements in the laboratory of

23
current distribution from two different discharge electrodes are shown in Figure 5.12 and
Figure 5.13. [Reference: Porle and Bradburn (1987)].

Figure 5.12 Current distribution along a part of a collecting plate (left) for geometry seen
from above (right). The numbers on the plate represent the current density in percentage of
the average current density. The spiral discharge electrode is seen in chapter I.

Figure 5.13 Current distribution along a part of a collecting plate (left) for geometry seen
from above (right). The numbers on the plate represent the current density in percentage of
the average current density. The discharge electrode produces corona in front and rear ends
from peaks.

The discharge electrode with the peaks in the front and rear ends generates islands with high
current densities and large areas in the middle of the plate having no current at all. The wire
electrode in this cases a helical wire or spiral - results in a substantially better distribution

24
and there are no real areas with zero current. The C.V. value in the figure represents the
Coefficient of Variation a statistical measure of how good the distribution is. In Figure 5.12
and Figure 5.13 the current densities in the two examples are comparable. This is essential
because for a given electrode a higher current density always results in a lower C.V. value.

Practical trials in both pilot tests and full-scale plants prove that good current distribution
results in a substantially higher wk for the same current compared to an electrode with a bad
distribution [Reference: Porle and Maartmann (1990)]. This is important for both high
resistivity and low resistivity conditions. Higher resistivities are tolerated in the ESP before
back-corona starts when lower local current densities prevail. For lower resistivities the
holding forces are higher with a better distribution. Some of the dust might re-entrain during
the rapping. A good current distribution in the inter-electrode space will capture these
particles and bring them back to the collecting plates.

The above discussion covers the micro-current distribution. There is another important
parameter, which could be called the macro-current distribution. That reflects the distribution
over a whole bus section. It is necessary to generate corona in the top and in the bottom, on
the left side and on the right side and in the front as well as in the rear part of a bus section.
Low average current densities, in the order of 50 A/m2, are often a result of a spotty corona
a bad macro-current distribution - indicating a low collecting efficiency. Current densities >
150 A.m -2 often secure a reasonable macro-current distribution. The reasons for a spotty
corona can be many, but generally result from different I/V curves in the various parts of the
bus section. This can depend on e.g. gas stratification (temperature, composition), uneven dust
load, different gas velocities, dust build-up and mechanical deficiencies. A spotty corona
generates a large average C.V. value, even if the micro-current distribution is reasonable. This
is often a critical item in a front field, where a heavy dust load prevails and where the particles
should be charged. It can sometimes be overcome by using peaked electrodes. Then the
possibility to get currents everywhere in the bus section is better. The higher currents with a
peaked electrode compared to a wire type can result in enhanced collection.

Another way is to operate with a pulsed corona especially for high resistivity conditions. A
high voltage and a high corona current is formed during a limited period of time and
thereafter a low voltage and is maintained and no corona generation takes place until next
pulse is applied. The average current through the dust layer can still be kept low with a good
macro distribution. During the pulsing an intense ion cloud is generated and well distributed.
This intermittent corona is not so sensitive to the imperfections mentioned above.

The ions flowing to the collecting plates bring gas molecules towards the ion trajectories
(ejection). This ionic wind becomes stronger the higher the current density. The gas molecules
return in areas where the ionic flow is low or zero. Turbulence is created by the corona
current. Figure 5.14 and Figure 5.15 illustrate the ionic wind for two types of discharge
electrodes one with peaks on a body and the other one from a wire (see Figure 5.6).

The ionic wind in the direction towards the collecting plate is for the peak electrode
electrode number two from right in Figure 5.6 - in the same order of magnitude as the velocity
of the gas flow and is substantially higher compared to the spiral.

25
 0.50
0.45
0.40
0.35
0.30
0.25
0.20
0.15
0.10
0.05
0.00
-0.05
-0.10
-0.15
-0.20
-0.25

GASFLOW

Figure 5.14 Ionic wind perpendicular to the gas flow. Spiral discharge electrode.

0.70
0.60
0.50
0.40
0.30
0.20
0.10
0.00
-0.10
-0.20
-0.30
-0.40

Figure 5.15 Ionic wind perpendicular to the gas flow. Discharge electrode with corona peaks.

The forces on the particles caused by the turbulence are large and small particles moving
towards the plates may rather follow the turbulence and become "re-entrained" without
reaching the dust layer. From a theoretical viewpoint it would be an advantage to have the gas
flow as laminar as possible, i.e. the ionic wind and turbulence caused from protrusions etc.
should be minimised. This is a critical item for low emissions and it is advisable to use
electrodes generating low turbulence in the rear end of an ESP. Ref. [Halldin et al. (1996)]
supports this conclusion.

26
5.7 Spacing and Corona Suppression

The Deutsch formula and its successor the Matts-Ohnfeldt imply that a certain collecting area
is required for a given efficiency. However, there is no guidance as to the spacing between the
collecting plates perpendicular to the gas flow. This initially led suppliers to use as narrow
spacing as possible the maximum collecting area could be achieved in a small volume. There
was however practical limitations caused by the tolerances when building large ESP's. As a
result most ESP's were built with spacing around 200 - 250 mm. With time taller plates were
used it became common to use 300 mm. For major applications today the standard is rather
400 mm but conventionally designed ESP's with spacing up to 600 mm are in operation.
Special designs, e.g. small vertical flow ESP's, with spacing above 1000 mm also exist.

The first cost and maintenance is the main reason for switching to increased spacing rather
than the question of tolerances. For large ESP's it is cheaper to use a larger spacing as
experience has shown that it is not the collecting area but the treatment time or active
volume, which is of importance. The first approximation is that the migration velocity is
proportional to the spacing. It means that a specific volume is needed. To use e.g. 400 mm
spacing instead of 200 mm spacing in that volume means a reduction of the collecting area to
half without offsetting the treatment time in the ESP. The cost for collecting plates and
discharge system is less with larger spacing. However, the cost for the T/R set and support
insulators are more expensive. The overall cost benefit for larger spacing depends on the total
size (volume) of a bus section. For small bus sections the extra cost for higher voltages will
easily overrun the saving on internal components. A reduced collecting area within the same
volume also gives a lighter ESP and the casing and support structure can benefit from this. An
ESP with a wider spacing also has less internal components implying less maintenance and
easier access to the various components. A minor drawback is that electrical clearances must
be enlarged and this will increase the cost.

There is no generally accepted theory, which explains why the treatment time is more
important than the collecting area. Contributing factors can be reduced turbulence, less
rapping losses, improved current distribution in the space and on the collecting plate and less
sneakage (gas surrounding the electrical fields). A general acceptance was achieved 1984
about the treatment time as an important parameter during an International ESP Conference,
[Reference: Heinrich (1984)].

Experience shows that there is less current and higher voltage in the first field compared to
the downstream fields for most industrial applications see Figure 5.10. The main reason for
this is the heavy dust load, which results in a substantial space charge. The high amount of
particles (or rather the surface area of these particles) in the flue gas store charges that hinders
further generation of corona current unless the voltage is raised. When the voltage increases
above a certain level a spark occurs. A stable corona can be difficult to achieve and the total
current can be small at this sparking level. This phenomenon is also called corona
suppression. The more submicron particles in the flue gas, the more likely it is that this
suppression takes place. Figure 5.16 shows an example of number of particles from
Pulverised Coal (PC) fired boilers firing South African and Colombian coals [Reference:
Porle et al. (1995)]

27
 dN/dlog (Dp)
[#/cm dry NTP]
100 000 000

10 000 000

1 000 000 Inlet, plant A, SA

Inlet, plant A, CO
100 000 Inlet, plant B, SA

10 000

1 000
0,01 0,1 1

Dp [m]

Figure 5.16 Number distribution of fly ash particles at ESP inlet from coal firing.

The highest number of particles by far is around 0.1-0.2 m in spite of a small total mass for
these particles. The surface area from these small particles dominates the electrical behaviour
and causes corona suppression. It is not unusual to see this phenomenon after e.g. oil or
Orimulsion firing in spite of the low mass dust load.

Using narrow spacing can reduce the effect of corona suppression; e.g. 250 or 300 mm instead
of 400 mm. Ref. [Lindau and Matts (1984)] gives further insights into this subject. It is
therefore not unusual to see ESP's, where the front field has a smaller spacing than the
downstream fields. This concept is considered to give the lowest overall treatment time and
likely to give the lowest cost. Thus, the earlier statement that the migration velocity is
proportional to the spacing is somewhat modified. It is also believed that the ideal ESP having
the shortest treatment time should have varying spacing in length. A three field ESP may have
300, 400 and 500 mm spacing respectively. Practical reasons for not building ESP's in this
manner increase, manufacturing and erection costs and the requirements for a larger storage
of spares may offset the saving in treatment time. Another aspect is that the ESP might
operate with one bus section out of service. It implies that the second field has to be able to
operate as a first field and may experience corona suppression.

An ESP after a soda recovery boiler has normally spacing in the range of 250 - 300 mm due to
the fact that almost all particles are below 1 m, which easily leads to corona suppression.

28
5.8 Re-entrainment and Rapping Losses

This chapter deals with some practical aspects of re-entrainment (of already collected
particles) and rapping losses. Rapping losses can be assumed to be one form of particle re-
entrainment.. Other types of re-entrainment are from local high velocities, electrical forces
(particles can become positively charged during certain conditions), sparking, inleakage of air
(e.g. in the hopper area), "boil-up" in the hopper area etc. In fact, there are reasons to believe
that most particles seen in the stack have been collected once or several times but they have
re-entrained. Observations justifying such a statement are that most precipitators show an
excellent collecting efficiency when clean and no rapping has started. However, after some
time the emission starts to increase without deterioration in electrical data. Most likely the
particles are still collected, but for some reason they re-entrain again..

The amount of dust re-entrained compared to the amount that escapes the collector plate, is
extremely difficult to measure. One reason for this is that re-entrainment is neither constant in
time nor in space. The dust, in the flue gas, is concentrated to the lower part of the ESP, the
degree depends on particle size. The many measurements at the outlet of ESP's may be (in the
outlet funnel or in horizontal ducts downstream) showing that the dust concentration is
heavily skewed height-wise. An example: an ESP after a cement kiln had an emission of 5 - 6
mg/Nm3 in the two upper horizontal sampling levels while the two lower levels showed 190 -
210 mg/Nm3. This distribution depends not only on that large particles fall down through
gravity during passage through the ESP. It also re-entrains the agglomerates from the plates
during rapping and the collected dust reaches its peak in this bottom region. Contributions
from hoppers leakage may also prevail. The rapping losses are furthermore intermittent and
also appear in different areas sidewise as a function of time, depending on which collecting
row is rapped.

An opacity meter fitted at the outlet assists in identifying from where the rapping losses
emanate as a function of time providing relevant signals can be recorded. Great care must be
paid to the location of an opacity meter. The best place is often in the stack, where the gas and
dust have sufficient time to be well mixed and distributed. It should be noted that an opacity
meter is calibrated to correspond to a given particle size distributions. If the rapping losses are
excessive the agglomerates may not follow the calibration curve.

Rapping losses and re-entrainment of large particles that flow in the bottom region of the
precipitator can be minimised by different means. The first criterion is to have a good gas
distribution over the face of the ESP. It is advisable to have a lower gas velocity in the bottom
of the ESP and especially in the rear section. By having this, the dust will readily fall into the
hopper area without becoming re-entrained. The cohesiveness of the dust is of great
importance. The ideal situation is to collect a dust layer on the plate that sheers off during the
rapping. With high cohesiveness the dust falls down in a cake. The cake is hardly moved
towards the outlet by the gas flow due to the mass. For such applications a higher average gas
velocity can be used. For less-agglomerating dust the velocity must be low and the dust
should still build up a certain thickness before rapping. The rapping sequences are often site
specific in order to reach optimum performance. The cohesiveness of the dust can be altered
with the help of conditioning of the flue gas.

Using different types of baffling e.g. between and under fields to minimise any effects of
sneakage (gas passing outside of the electrical fields) also reduces re-entrainment. The

29
designer of an ESP must know the local legislation for any emission see also chapter 10.
Rapping losses, emission peaks, are tolerated differently from plant to plant. The extreme is
that no peak emissions as seen from an opacity meter above a certain level are allowed.
This has in some cases led to a concept called "off flow rapping" when several parallel
casings have to be used. During the off flow rapping sequence a whole casing is shut off with
help of dampers during a rapping period. Meanwhile there is an increased gas flow in adjacent
casings. The increased emission during these occasions must be less than the increased
emission from rapping in one of the parallel filters during operation without "off flow
rapping" applied. It is imperative to control rapping in adjacent parallel ESP's in such a way
that rapping is not carried out simultaneously in several casings. The time required to perform
an "off-flow" rapping in one casing is likely to take 15 - 25 minutes due to operation time of
the dampers etc.

Re-entrainment can also be reduced by changing the dust properties , e.g. conditioning see
chapter 9.

5.8.1 Measurements of Resistivity and other Dust Properties.

A number of parameters characterising the dust to be precipitated are important. Among these
are resistivity, particle size, composition and physical shape. As resistivity is often claimed to
be the key parameter it will be discussed in greater detail than the other parameters. The effect
of resistivity on ESP performance is critical and should not be ignored

5.8.2 Resistivity

General. Resistivity is the reverse of the dust conductivity, and is a helpful tool in designing
and understanding ESP operation. This is especially true for theoretical considerations and to
get a basic understanding of how an ESP works and where the limitations are. The resistivity
range that the ESP's are working under has a wide range, from 107 cm to 1013 cm and
occasionally higher. It is a general perception that ESP's work most efficiently around 109
cm 1011 cm. Re-entrainment may occur for lower values and back-corona can occur for
higher values.

Laboratory measurements. It is not easy to measure dust resistivity in a way that always
makes sense. Resistivity is typically measured in two ways in-situ or in the laboratory. A
typical measurement in the laboratory is similar to Figure 5.17.

Laboratory measurements are a standard using ambient air with a variable and controlled
humidity; thus no flue gases are used. The curve represents different percentage by volume of
water in the air and is typical for a fly ash after a coal-fired boiler. The resistivity peaks
around 150 C. A fly ash measured under completely dry conditions shows an ever-increasing
resistivity for decreasing temperature. At 200 C the curves in Figure 5.17 start to deviate
from a dry ash sample due to initial absorption of water in the dust layer. The lower the
temperature the more water is absorbed and the deviation from the dry curve increases. A
lower resistivity curve is obtained at a given temperature if the water content is increased
implying that the degree of absorption is higher.

30
 Temperature [C]
13 38 76 113 151 189 227 264
10

12
10

Electrical dust resistivity [ m]

11
10 Dry air

10
10

9 6,6 % H2O
10

8
10 13,5 % H2O

7
10
20 % H2O
6
10
310 366 422 478 534 590 646
Temperature [K]

Figure 5.17 Laboratory measurement of fly ash resistivity for varying humidity (% by
volume) in the flue gas.

The laboratory measurements can be divided into four categories:

representative dust sample

changes due to transportation and storage
procedures and equipment used in the laboratory
deviations from real flue gas conditions

The purpose of resistivity measurements is to

use the result for reducing the risk with sizing of a new ESP or
ranking of different ashes from e.g. different coals, or
assist with investigations when an ESP is not performing according to expectations.

There are difficulties in obtaining a representative dust sample. The ideal sample should be
taken upstream the ESP by isokinetic sampling over the cross sectional area of a duct. The
correct mixing of fine and coarse dust is then achieved. A sample taken from a dust layer in
the duct or from any other "storage" area is normally of limited value, as it may consist only
of coarse particles and the layer may have been exposed to gases for a long time and is,
therefore, not a pure sample. Sometimes a compromise is made for practical purposes by
taking a dust sample from the dust discharge system. The uncertainties are that it is not known
from where in the ESP it has come.

It is usual to find varying resistivity in the different fields. The chemical composition of the
dust is likely to be different in the various sections. Large particles in the front may have a
lower resistivity than the small particles collected in the rear end. Another alternative or
challenge could be to sample and to measure the dust entering the stack. It is of interesting
to know the reasons why some of the dust is not collected. A reason could be a different
composition, e.g. more unburned particles, compared to the incoming dust. The difficulty is
to collect enough dust, often 10 - 20 g, in order to utilise existing laboratory equipment.

31
Sometimes it is of interest to take samples from the collecting electrodes in different fields. It
is not unusual to find different layers of dust on collecting plates. An inner layer close to the
plate may be difficult to dislodge and may never reach the hopper area. This inner layer has
sometimes a different (higher) resistivity than the virgin dust falling down. One sampling
method is that of sodium depletion this approach was discovered with ESP's operating at
around 350 C in coal fired boilers [Ref. Bickelhaupt (1980)]. If there is a thin layer of dust
of a high resistivity nature on the collecting plate, back-corona conditions will prevail. It does
not matter if the new incoming virgin dust has a low or medium resistivity. A sample of virgin
dust from the hopper can, therefore, be misleading. A dust layer on the collecting plate can
also show different layers of dust implying that different conditions have prevailed at different
times. Composition as well as resistivity and other properties can vary substantially between
these layers and may justify further investigations e.g. when the task is to investigate a non-
performing ESP.

The second concern with laboratory measurement is the transportation and storage of dust
before measurements are made . Chemical reactions can take place before the measurement
are performed. A dust sample must be stored as soon as possible in a sealed container where
ambient conditions can affect the dust. High temperatures should also be avoided to reduce
the risk for chemical reactions.

A third concern is the procedures when handling dusts are different between laboratories.
This applies to loading the dust in a measuring cell, measuring equipment including type of
control of humidity, time for measurements to reach steady conditions and choice of
decreasing or increasing temperature curves (these can show different resistivities).
Resistivity is calculated on measurements of an applied voltage across a dust layer and the
corresponding current through the layer. Sometimes the result depends on the voltage used
across the dust layer. A too high voltage, may cause an excess current, which may result in
an increased temperature in the dust layer.

A fourth concern is that realistic gas conditions do not prevail. Thus, e.g. any SO3 in the flue
gas influencing the resistivity is not present. Even if it were, the outcome can be questioned as
the chemistry may be different as if the SO3 had been present at high temperatures as it is
upstream an ESP.

Laboratory measurements, can be useful for comparison purposes. One dust sample can be
compared with another and for example the dependency on temperature and humidity can be
different for different samples and may help in understanding ESP performances. Dust
sampling and resistivity measurements procedures are often not described for specific dust
samples and the resistivity is, therefore, of a limited value for the designer.

IEEE Institute of Electrical and Electronic Engineers has recommendations on how to

measure the resistivity in the laboratory. These proposals are based on investigations of the
procedures used in different laboratories. Dust samples from a well-mixed consignment of fly
ash from coal firing are tested and compared and reasonably similar results achieved after
applying "standard" recommendations. Ref. [IEEE (1984)].

In-situ measurements. To ensure the correct gas conditions to collect virgin dust, resistivity
measuring equipment is installed in the duct at a specific point, or just outside use is made
of the flue gas slipstream. The particles are electrostatically collected on the equipment

32
collecting electrodes. The conductivity of the dust layer is then measured under the prevailing
conditions by switching off the high voltage and attaching another plate to the dust layer. The
new plate and the collector plate are then used as the positive and negative electrodes to
measure the resistivity.

What are the drawbacks with this method? Firstly, it is difficult to get a representative sample
compare the discussion earlier about dust stratification in a duct. Secondly, the small ESP
that collects the dust has a minimal treatment time. Therefore a representative sample with a
mixture of fine and large particles is difficult to achieve. The collection efficiency may be <
20 % and only the easily collected dust is obtained and measured.

Measurements have been made comparing the two methods; the laboratory tests and the in-
situ one. In most cases similar results are achieved, however there are cases where the
deviation between the results has been two orders of magnitude (100 times). The laboratory
measurements are the most common ones.

It should also be remembered that for a new plant, e.g. a new coal-fired boiler with a new
coal, the resistivity could not be measured because there are no relevant ash samples. Boiler
design and conditions affect the particle sizes and composition and may have an additional
effect on the resistivity - see example in Table 1. Ref. [Porle et al. (1995) and Srinivasachar
and Porle (1997)].

Table 5.1 Laboratory measurements of fly ash resistivity from similar South African coals in
two different power stations in Germany and Denmark respectively.

Boiler 1 (Germany) Boiler 2 (Denmark)

Ash resistivity (cm) 1012 8*1012

Flue gas temperature, (C) 120-125 115-120

Moisture content (% by
7 7
volume)

In spite of the lower temperature for Boiler 2 the resistivity is eight times higher with the
same coal. Boiler 1 is a 500 MWe and the Boiler 2 is a 630 MWe boiler.

Bickelhaupt, [Reference: Bickelhaupt (1979)] has developed a mathematical model that can
calculate the resistivity based on coal and coal ash analysis. The model has the limitation that
it is only calibrated for US bituminous and sub-bituminous coals. Emphasise should be paid to
the fact that resistivity is only one tool for predicting the ESP performance. There are
difficulties and uncertainties when trying to measure the actual resistivity as it appears on the
collecting plates. The resistivity is, however, not the goal to measure it is rather the

33
appearance of back-corona and its effect on the ESP performance. On an existing plant I/V
curves see chapters 5.3 and 5.4 may therefore be a better indicator in some cases than
resistivity measurements.

5.8.3 Other Dust Properties

Particle size and shape. As discussed in chapter 5.2.2 the migration velocity depends on the
particle size. All practical applications comprise a range of particle sizes at the inlet of the
ESP. For some applications, e.g. after soda recovery boilers see chapter 10.7.2, the range is
smaller than for others, e.g. fly ash from coal fired boilers. From pulverised coal firing it is
common to see a bimodal distribution; the highest number of particles are in the range 0.1
0.2 m but low in mass, while the mass mean may be in the order of 15 m. Depending on
the history of the particles firing conditions, evaporation/condensation, time to ESP etc.
some of the particles may have agglomerated forming larger particles. The agglomerates can
be a cluster of ultrafine particles or the very fine particles may have condensed on larger
particles. Dust samples with short exposure time in the gas have been investigated by electron
microscopes for characterisation of sizes and particle shape. The submicron particles are often
round spheres while the larger particles can have any irregular shape. The difficulty then
arises when defining the size of a particle. The most common is to use the equivalent Stoke's
diameter of free falling velocity.

Old methods for measuring particle sizes comprised of dust sampling compare above
discussion on resistivities and analysis in the laboratory. Sieving, inertial systems (e.g.
Bacho centrifuge, Malvern) and sedimentation systems were used as well as electron
microscopes. One uncertainty prevails: Is the dust dispersed to a degree, which is similar to
actual conditions in the flue gas?

Modern, but more elaborate and expensive methods, use in-situ measurements such as
impactors, e.g. the Berner impactor, differential mobility analysers and optical particle
counters. [References: Keskinen et al. (1993) and Kauppinen et al. (1993). With these
methods the virgin particles can be characterised down to a few hundred's nanometres .

Chemical composition of dust. The composition of the particles can differ dramatically
within the same application, e.g. after coal fired boilers. In other applications such as after a
soda recovery boiler the composition is much more unified and does not vary much from
plant to plant.

Examples of variations in fly ash after coal firing are given in chapter 10.2. However, the
composition of fly ash is usually given as oxides, e.g. CaO and Na2O, while the real minerals
can be quite different, e.g. complex Ca-Al-silicate. The distribution as oxides gives helpful
information as to the properties of the dust but often more details are wanted. It should be
noted that coal ash and fly ash are not meant to be identical conceptions. The coal ash
composition is slightly different from the fly ash composition. Coal ash comprised all ash
before firing, while fly ash is the portion of the ash after burning that leaves the boiler and
enters the ESP. The fly ash is for pulverised coal fired boilers during full load conditions 80 -
90 % of the total ash.

Special attention should be given to the free carbon and hydrocarbon content in the dust as
these can considerably influence the performance. For some cement processes alkali chlorides

34
give rise to large fluffy agglomerates often found concentrated to the rear fields and which
often easily re-entrained. In a case that all dust is returned to the kiln it could also mean that
excessive amounts of chlorides build up. A bleed off from the last hopper may be necessary
to reduce the level of chlorides.

Cohesiveness. This is strictly not a property of the particles but rather a property of the
collected dust layer. The cohesiveness is a measure of how the particles are held together on
the collecting plates and during the transport to the hopper after rapping. The forces keeping
the dust together comprise both electrical and mechanical Van-der-Waal forces. A high
cohesiveness is desired in order to keep the re-entrainment low. Cohesiveness depends on the
chemical composition, particle shape and gas conditions (e.g. humidity, sulphuric acid).
Investigations have shown that measuring the tensile strength of the dust layer gives valuable
information about the degree of cohesiveness [Reference: Dalmon and Tidy (1972)]. These
of measurements are not commonly used so designers of ESP's use experimental data and
knowledge from similar installations when estimating these properties for a new plant. The
cohesiveness will affect the choice of rapping system and rapping sequences, size of bus
section, re-entrainment and thus ultimately the emission.

35
36
 6 POWER SUPPLIES AND CONTROLS

6.1 Conventional Transformer Rectifiers.

The ESP performance is directly related to the voltage and current supplied to its collecting
fields (bus sections). Transformer Rectifiers (TR's) operate from mono-phase a.c. mains to
provide the High Voltage Direct Current (HVDC) to the high voltage bus sections.
The TR secondary rating is chosen based on the ESP design and operating conditions. A TR
may be rated to provide e.g. a low 35 kV up to 120 kV d.c. and higher, and the TR current
may be between a low of 100 mA and a high of 4000 mA d.c.

6.1.1 Equipment Evolution.

ESP dust collection efficiency has improved in stages with novel design of TR supplies and
new modes of operation being developed. With more sophisticated ways of energising the
ESP's by use of microprocessor based TR controllers the ESP efficiency was greatly
enhanced. Recently TR units using high frequency switching technology to produce a very
clean and smooth HV d.c. have been developed. The TR's are the single most expensive item
used in an ESP.

6.1.2 HV Rectifier Evolution.

Mechanical Rectifiers. In the early days of ESP technology mechanical rectifiers were the
only option available for converting a.c. to d.c. They are seldom found in operating
installations today. For 50 Hz operation mechanical rectifiers had to switch the electric
current 100 times per second to convert the a.c current into a d.c., and for 60 Hz operation the
switching had to be even faster: 120 times per second. The mechanical rectification was
carried out with large diameter "switching wheels" (up to 0.5 meter diameter or more) that
rotated at mains synchronous speed, and had multiple switches at the perimeter. The
switching had to be made on the high-voltage side of the transformer, and therefore the
mechanical rectifiers produced high amounts of heat, shining arcs and unhealthy ozone (O3).

Mechanical rectifiers were called Whirling Dervishes because of the dramatic display of
sparks that they produced. The maintenance required to keep them working properly was
extreme.

Tube Rectifiers. Vacuum tube rectifiers were a major technical break-through. The tube
rectifier consists of a filament heater element; a cathode and a plate, all encased in a vacuum
vessel. The heated cathode together with high voltage between the cathode and plate permit
electric current to flow in one direction while effectively blocking flow in the opposite
direction.

Solid State Rectifiers. Today's TR's use strings of silicon diodes connected in full-wave
bridge stacks for the high voltage d.c. rectification. Modern rectifier bridges are highly

37
reliable and use avalanche diodes to avoid the use of shunt resistors and capacitors, used with
the earlier types of diodes to force each and every diode to share the load equally.

6.2 Supply Components.

Conventional TR's for ESP's consist of a single-phase high voltage transformer, a high voltage
rectifier bridge, an air core reactor (choke assembly), and a voltage divider see Figure 6.1.
These components are all contained in a tank filled with insulating transformer oil. In series
with the primary winding of the transformer there must also be a current limiting reactor. The
current limiting reactor for USA-made TR units is often housed in a separate enclosure.
Everywhere else in the world the current limiting reactor is usually integrated into the TR oil
tank. The HV d.c. output bushing is shown upwards in the figure below. Other TR designs
commonly use a horizontal HVDC output bushing.

The TR tank is sealed and is suitable for outdoor use (usually IP65). A bus duct (with a
diameter suitable for the high voltage level) must enclose the high voltage bushing. If
installed indoors the HV-duct may be omitted if personnel safety permits. The TR low
voltage junction box contains terminals for mains input, kV and mA feedback signals and
gauges/alarm signals.

Figure 6.1 Exploded view of a TR with one vertical HV bushing.

38
Main Components:

* Main transformer (core assembly): The transformer steps up the incoming primary
mains' voltage to the level required by the ESP. The transformer coils are solidly
braced to withstand the forces created during the variable ESP load changes (sparking,
arcing and intermittent operation).

* Rectifier bridge: A full wave, single-phase high voltage rectifier bridge is connected
across the secondary of the transformer.

* Air Core Reactor (choke assembly): An Air Core Reactor (ACR) or a resistor in series
with the high voltage d.c. protects the rectifier from high frequency surges that the
ESP generates during sparking.

* Voltage divider: Several high ohm resistors connected in series are installed between
the high voltage d.c. output and the high voltage metering terminal. The most
commonly agreed standard kV output signal to the TR control unit is 400 A to
indicate 100 % of rated kV.

* Current shunt: The low potential end of the rectifier bridge is connected to a metering
feedback terminal in the low voltage junction box. A surge suppressor is connected in
parallel with the properly sized resistor to provide a load current signal to monitor.
The most commonly agreed standard mA output signal is 1 V to indicate 100 % of
rated mA.

Standard accessories that are often provided with a TR:

1. Surge Suppressors: Surge suppressors are mounted in the TR junction box. One is
connected between ground and the low potential terminal of the rectifier bridge, and
second is connected between ground and the kV metering terminal of the voltage divider
network.

2. Temperature: A conventional thermostat (sometimes with added dial type temperature

gauge) safeguards the TR in the event of high oil temperature. Usually one temperature
level is set to indicate "warning", and a second is used to trip the TR.

3. Liquid Level Gauge: A TR oil level gauge may be supplied with some TR designs.

4. Pressure Vacuum Gauge: A switch type pressure gauge (sometimes complemented with
dial readout) monitors the TR internal pressure, and may be used to trip the TR.

5. Fluid Drain: A valve with plug is provided for draining and sampling coolant.

6. Ground Boss: A steel threaded boss with thread or grounding pad is provided on the side of
the TR tank for grounding purposes.

7. Current Limiting Reactor (CLR): A CLR must be connected in series with the primary of
the transformer. If a CLR is not supplied as an integral part of the TR a CLR must be
installed separately.

39
6.3 Why High Voltage Switches were used.

Historically, TR's provided on early ESP installations had switches making it possible to
direct, disconnect or ground the HVd.c. output bushing(-s). The reason the switches were
provided was that mechanically these early ESPs were not as sturdy as today's ESP's. Short-
circuits due to mechanical failure were quite frequent events. It was convenient to redirect or
disconnect a TR from different parts of the ESP, in order to keep the functioning parts of the
ESP in operation. This kind of switch arrangement is still used on some installations in the TR
fleet in USA, mainly because a lot of the ESP fleet is more than 30 years old. Today, if a TR
switch is installed when building a new ESP, the only switch type used would be a
Disconnect and Ground switch or a Ground only switch.

The possibility to disconnect and ground a TR HV d.c. bushing can be used as a partial
personnel safety measure to ensure that nobody entering the ESP could get electrocuted.

These switches are designed for off-load switching. The switches must not be used in place of
safety grounding for personnel safety. Switches are usually supplied with interlocks installed,
to insure proper switch function and personnel safety. Interlock systems are compulsory in
some parts of the world, but definitely far from everywhere.

6.4 Selecting and Substituting a Conventional TR.

The correct TR size is a commercial and technical compromise. For a given ESP volume the
highest collection efficiency would be obtained with a large number of TR's energising an
equally high number of bus sections see chapter 5.5. A practical and cost-effective ESP is
divided into limited number of electrical bus sections. For standardisation and cost saving,
usually most of the electrical fields in an ESP are mechanically identical.

As the result of the higher dust load in a first ESP field, it will operate at a higher kV output
and a lower mA output, while later ESP fields where the dust load has been reduced - will
operate at gradually lower kV output and higher mA output. Usually, however, the same TR
size would be used in all fields in order to standardise and reduce the investment cost.

Upgrading to modern TRs and controls may enhance the performance of an old ESP. The
ESP performance can also be greatly enhanced by dividing the ESP into more electrical
sections which requires an addition of more TR's and modern controls.

Correct TR size is required for the ESP load. The originally installed TR may not match
the ESPs needs that will adversely affect ESP performance. A common reason would be that
the ESP supplier selected TR's that has a too low kV or mA rating for the operating
conditions. This can be due to fuel changes, changes in the gas temperature, addition of a
SCR (Selective Catalytic Reaction) unit for NOx control, rebuild to wider collector plate
spacing etc. changes that affect the electrical properties of the ESP.

A too large TR is seldom seen. However if the TR is too large, and additionally the ESP
requires a small current density, e.g. in the first field, this may lead to unstable ESP operation.
The TR controller would have a small percentage of the available TR power to control
within, and the ESP collection efficiency might be reduced.

40
A TR may need to be replaced because of age, or due to failure . When a TR requires
exchanging , it is a good idea to investigate if a more modern or differently sized TR would
improve the ESP performance. When changing to a larger TR or when adding more TR's to
the ESP, it is important to ensure that the mains substation has capacity to handle the load
increase.

During the 1960 - 1970s PCB's (polychlorinated biphenyl's) were often added to the TR oil as
a fire retardant/suppressor. It was unknown that PCB's contain trace amounts of the highly
carcinogen dioxins. If the PCB oil catches fire, high levels of the extremely poisonous dioxins
are produced and will spread over vast areas. PCB filled TR's are still in operation in some
places. Authorities do not allow this substance to be used any longer.

The HV d.c. supplied by a conventional TR is far from being a continuous and smooth d.c.
see Figure 6.2. The current supplied into the ESP actually consists of current pulses one for
each half-wave of the mains. The duration of each such current pulse is usually less than half
the time for a half-wave. Typical pulse duration are < 5 ms for 50 Hz mains, and a little
shorter for 60 Hz mains.

Secondary voltage

kVp
kVav

kVv

Secondarycurrent
Charging pulses

Conduction period
Figure 6.2 Charging pulses from a TR set and the corresponding high voltage in an
ESP.

Each current pulse will charge the ESP capacitance, and therefore during the whole current
pulse the ESP kV increases. Then, in the interval of no current charging, the ESP capacitance
is discharged through the corona current and the kV decreases. The result is that the kV varies
between a low value at the beginning of each current pulse and a high value, which is reached
at the end of each current pulse. The highest kV reading is called the kV peak or kVp, and the
lowest kV value is called the kV valley or kVv. The kV value, read on the kV meter, is an
arithmetic mean value; the kVav. The kV variation is commonly called "ripple", and is usually
expressed in percent of the kVav reading. Typical ripple level could be between 30 45 %,
and varies with ESP power consumption. The sparking level inside the ESP determines the
highest kV value in an ESP.

41
6.5 Switched Mode Power Supplies can Improve ESP Performance.

High-frequency switched TR's is a new class of energisers that are being increasingly used on
ESPs. These energisers are small and typically weigh less than 15 % of a conventional TR
system. Many of the high-frequency switched TR's that have been installed to substitute
conventional TR's have improved the ESPs collection efficiency. The principle is shown in
Figure 6.3. The mains is rectified and then chopped to a frequency of for example 50 kHz.
This high frequency a.c is then rectified to give a smooth secondary voltage to be supplied to
an ESP.

50 kHz

AC AC HV DC
AC
DC DC

CONTROL

Figure 6.3 High frequency power supply for ESP operation.

The high-frequency switched TR produces a very smooth HV.d.c. Actually the HV.d.c is
almost ripple-free compared to a conventional TR. The smooth HV.d.c allows the ESP to
work at higher kV and mA while the spark rate is the same or lower, and hence the emission
reduction.

The high switching frequency used enables this type of energiser to react to conditions within
the ESP within approximately 10 microseconds compared to approximately 10 milliseconds
for a conventional TR. This also improves the ESP collection efficiency.

For high resistivity dusts, a high-frequency switched TR can be operated in an Intermittent

Energization (IE) mode, similar to a conventional TR see chapter 6.9.2. The quotient
between on time and off time is freely selectable with a high-frequency switched TR, and
therefore a better operational optimising can be achieved resulting in a higher ESP
collection efficiency.

Figure 6.4 illustrates a high-frequency unit's advantage over a conventional TR in a

comparative test. In the left diagram the sine-wave shows the 40 kV to 80 kV ripple from a
conventional TR. The horizontal line represents the waveform from a high-frequency
switched energiser. The peak voltages that the two different energisers can supply into the
ESP are both limited by the sparking. The high-frequency energiser gives 80 kV, but the
conventional TR will only give 60 kVav. The curves on the right hand side in Figure 6.4
illustrate the result: More than twice the current is entered with the high-frequency energiser.
The power (kW = kV*mA) that the high-frequency energiser enters into the ESP is
approximately three times higher. [Reference: Kirsten et al. (2001)].

42
 ESP
Voltage
[kV] Peak kV

kV Spark level
SIR
80
60
40
30 Conventional T/R Valley kV
0

Conventional SIR
T/R
Figure 6.4 Improved ESP Power Input with High-Frequency Energiser (SIR, Switched
Integrated Rectifier).

6.6 Controlling the TR

In the days when mechanical rectifiers were used on ESPs the HV.d.c was not really
regulated. Only taps on the TR primary could be changed, this remained for many decades.
Manually operated variacs were introduced, and later the variacs were motorised. The target
was to keep the d.c voltage high to maintain good ESP collection efficiency but not so high
that arcs were created arcs that could destroy the ESP electrodes.

Automatic Voltage Controls (AVC's) were first introduced in the early 1950s. Controller
technology began with motorised variacs, then vacuum tubes were used, and via transistor
technology microprocessor based controllers are commonly used today. Early TR controllers
were analogue and today's systems are digital. Analogue TR controllers are still in limited
use, but since the 1980s digital TR controllers are used throughout, and most old ESP
controllers have been upgraded. Automatic Voltage Control is today no longer an adequate
denomination, and the word "TR controller" is used from now on. All TR controllers are
today current controlled, which means that the regulator set point (floating) is the secondary
current. However, as discussed in chapter 5.3 the I/V curve gives a voltage for a given
current. Modern TR controllers can also include rapping control.

The TR controller technology is still evolving. While TR controllers were originally used to
protect the TRs from overheating, today's units are focussed on automatic and continuous
maximisation of the ESP collection efficiency. Modified ESP energising (e.g. IE, and its trade
names like Semi pulse and Vario pulse) and sophisticated control of the ESP's rapper
operation can improve the collection efficiency of an old ESP that is in good mechanical
condition.

To maximise the ESP performance, the early TR controllers could only operate the ESP near
the spark-over voltage. In those days the TR controller controlled a Saturable Core Reactor
that was installed in series with the TR primary winding. Some saturable core reactors can
still be found in old ESP installations, but most have been upgraded or exchanged. When
thyristor (also called SCR from Silicon Controlled Rectifier) became commercially available

43
(in the late 1970s), they immediately substituted the Saturable Core Reactor in new TR's as
the Thyristor is a far superior control element and they are lower cost.

Today's TR controllers control the HV.d.c output from the TR by varying the ignition angle to
the gates of two anti-parallel SCR's installed in series with the primary of the TR. All modern
TR controllers measure at least secondary mA and use it as a HV.d.c regulator feedback
signal. Most TR controllers use both secondary kV and mA as HV.d.c regulator feedback
signals.

The most advanced TR controllers analyse the waveform of the kV and mA and will
continuously select the best way to energise the ESP to maximise the collection efficiency.
[References: Jacobsson et al. (1996) and Reyes and Lausen (1993)].

Most modern TR controllers measure primary V and A, to check that the operation is within
permissible TR ratings. Some TR controllers can calculate the TR kVA and kW power
consumption. The TR primary readings are not used in the ESP energising control loop an
exception would be that some very old controllers still use a sudden primary current increase
for spark or arc detection. All modern units always detect sparks and arcs on the HV.d.c side.

Figure 6.5 Typical Conventional TR and Control Circuit.

44
6.7 Basic Components

Control Cabinet: This cabinet contains the TR controller and thyristors. Motor groups and
switches required for TR and rapper operation are usually installed in the Control Cabinet.
Note, many modern TR controllers have a [digital] display, which is common for all units of
the ESP. The meters described below are used as visual aids only.

CLR Current Limiting Reactor: The CLR is usually integrated in the TR, but may be
installed in the bottom of the Control Cabinet - or in a separate enclosure. A correctly sized
CLR usually has an inductance, which is approximately half the TR primary inductance.

SCRs (Silicon-Controlled Rectifier): Two anti-parallel SCR's are installed on heat sinks in the
Control Cabinet.

Primary Amp-meter: The primary Amp-meter measures a.c current flow through the low
voltage primary winding of the TR.

Primary Voltmeter: A primary Voltmeter is not always used. When installed, it measures the
voltage drop across the primary winding of the TR. The primary voltage reading varies with
the waveform at different TR operating points.

Secondary mA-meter: The mA- meter measures the average HV.d.c current charging the ESP.
The time average of this current is actually the time average of the corona current that passes
between the electrodes in the ESP. The corona current cannot be measured. The secondary
current waveform can be observed by connecting an oscilloscope across the meter.

Secondary kV-meter: The kV-meter measures the TR output voltage to the ESP by means of a
high- ohm voltage divider, which is usually installed inside the TR tank. Old TR's (e.g. pre
1970) only seldom had a voltage divider installed. If a voltage divider has been installed as an
add-on, it may be installed e.g. in the bus duct. It should be observed that the high-ohm
resistance may, for some designs, are prone to ageing. The kV reading may therefore after a
period of time show high values by as much as 20 %.

Spark meter: On older controls a spark meter attempts to represent the number of sparks per
minute by integrating transient surges by some type of capacitance circuit. New TR
controllers do not have a spark meter, but instead record the sparks and arcs in a digital
memory for output to a remote display.

45
6.8 TR Controllers Basic Functions

6.8.1 Protecting the Equipment

All TR controllers can limit the operating current and voltage, and to trip or stop the feed
power to the bus section if a maximum limit is exceeded. The basic operating limits are
primary and secondary volts and amps which are normally user adjustable.

Over-current Trip: The current trip levels for primary and secondary current are individually
set on each controller. The TR trip level is usually set to a slightly higher current value than
the TR rated current maximum.

Under-voltage Trip: Modern TR controllers have under-voltage trip only on the HV.d.c side.
A suitable trip level might be e.g. 10 kV. The controller software checks the low kV is not
just a temporary one, and will then trip the T/R.

6.8.2 Spark / Arc Response.

To keep the operating voltage in the ESP field high, the TR controllers increases the TR
current until a TR limit is reached or a spark occurs. Sparking is a normal and frequent event
in a well-functioning ESP. All TR controllers use algorithms to detect and respond to a spark
when it occurs. Some sparks may be self-extinguishing, but most sparks do need a short TR
power interruption (usually one mains cycle) to extinguish. Sparks that tend to re-ignite
(usually in the same spot) every half-cycle even after a mains cycle interruption would be
defined as arcs, and would require several mains-cycles power interruption to extinguish. The
most modern TR controllers use advanced spark and arc detection settings and will react
differently to varying ESP operating conditions.

kV

Spark

Charging pulses

Figure 6.6 HV waveform and charging current at a spark in an ESP. The spark
normally happens at the peak voltage. Note, the sudden increase in charging current
due to a partly discharged capacitance; the ESP bus section.

46
A spark in the ESP is a fast discharge of the ESP capacitance (kA flow during a few
microseconds through the spark), and can be seen from outside the as a rapid drop in the kV
level [kV/s] see Figure 6.6. Depending on the TR design, a very short current increase will
occur, and this sensed across the shunt resistor this can also be used to detect a spark.

Old TR controllers used a TR primary current increase to define sparks. This type of spark
recognition detects ongoing sparks for several consecutive half-cycles or, as defined by
modern controllers, sparks that have already grown into arcs.

When a spark is detected the TR controller usually switches off the SCRs conduction to
prevent further energy input in order to extinguish the spark. This reaction is called the
quench. Advanced TR controllers have the capability to analyze the spark, and determine
that instead of a quench only a reduction of the energy supplied into the TR is required. This
reduction is called the setback. The algorithms available and the setup of the TR controller
will determine its operation. Arcs will always require a quench, and typically during several
mains cycles.

When the TR controller resumes the operation after a spark, it increases the ESP voltage at a
rate called fast ramp (or pedestal rate or recovery rate) see Figure 6.7. The recovery from
a quench at the fast ramp rate would typically be continued by the TR controller until the
conduction angle reaches a level slightly below the level at which the spark occurred. Modern
TR controllers have several ramps that are all user adjustable. The setback should be the
lowest possible amount that will permit the spark to extinguish, since large amounts of
setback will reduce the average power to the ESP.

Spark

Current limit Setback

TR
Current
Hold Gradual
rise rate

Recovery rate

Quench Time
time
Figure 6.7 TR controller response to spark.

After the setback level is reached the system then holds for a short time and/or starts a slow
rate of power increase that is referred to as slow ramp (or rise rate / ramp rate). The slow
ramp time, which is the time that the system will take to fully recover to the previous spark-
over level, is typically several seconds. The slow ramp time indirectly determines the system
spark rate for systems that have relatively constant operating parameters (i.e. gas flow). A
slow ramp of 10 seconds would therefore result in a spark rate of 6 times per minute, while a
slow ramp time of 5 seconds will result in a spark rate of 12 times per minute. Modern TR
controllers permit the user to enter the desired spark rate. The TR controller can then adjust
the different ramp rates and setbacks to achieve the desired spark rate. The methods and

47
algorithms used to detect and respond to sparks differ between manufacturers. Figure 6.8
shows an oscilloscope reading where the charging is delayed for quenching of an arc.

kV spark

charging pulses

Figure 6.8 Voltages and currents after an extended spark - arc.

A TR controller with good spark detection will detect all sparks and respond to them per the
description in the manufacturers manual. All settings should be adjustable by a
knowledgeable operator. If the parameters are not adjustable or the TR controller misses
sparks after tuning, then the control should be replaced to protect the T/R and the ESP.

If the TR primary A-meter needle makes a small jump each time the TR controller detects a
spark, this indicates insensitive or faulty spark detection (or bad design of TR controller).
Adjust or change to modern TR controllers to safeguard the TR's and the ESP.

6.8.3 Spark Rates.

Historically, the correct spark rate was the control parameter that the ESP end user wished to
have. The reason was that by sensing the spark and controlling the spark rate, the ESP
collection efficiency could be increased while not destroying the ESP by damaging the
equipment electrically with arcs. As the spark is a discharge of a capacitor (the ESP field)
any damage to the internal components would come from the stored energy being released at
one location. Usually sparks are caused by e.g. a dust build-up on the collecting plate, and
such sparks would be randomly distributed in a mechanically well-maintained ESP. This kind
of sparking in the ESP is normal and typically gives minimal or no damage at all. If the sparks
re-strike in the same location, then electric erosion will take a toll in that point.

For ESP processes without back-corona conditions the best collection efficiency will be
obtained with maximum input secondary current. For such processes a relatively high spark
rate may be acceptable but only provided the TR controller detects and acts upon each and
every spark as intended, and the sparks are randomly distributed in the bus section. For ESP
processes with a fluffy and high-resistive dust, a very calm TR operation may result in higher

48
collection efficiency. Then the TR controller may favourably be set to operate at a relatively
low spark rate, or perhaps even without sparks all together.

Modern TR controllers have many user-programmable methods of acting once a spark is

detected to ensure the best collection efficiency from the ESP. The risk of damages to the
ESP [or TR] can be avoided by using an oscilloscope to determine that the TR controller
detects a spark correctly. Experienced ESP engineers are essential for such investigations.

6.9 Advanced Control Functions.

6.9.1 Back Corona Detection
Most TR controller manufacturers have algorithm to detect the presence of back-corona. The
historical way to detect back corona was to plot an I/V curve see Figure 5.9. The I/V curve
was then mathematically analysed and interpreted, and a improved method to operate the TR
unit could be considered . The first ESP optimising attempt in the early 1980s - was to set
the TR's to provide the current that gave the highest kV readings in the ESP. Soon this was
superseded by using intermittent energization (see 6.9.2 below), which gave higher emission
reductions. Both these methods require the I/V curve to be analysed. To automatically collect
the data required for an I/V curve takes about five minutes per TR, during which time the TR
does not energise the ESP properly, and the emission therefore goes up. The analysis of the
I/V curve gives inaccurate TR operating settings.

A much improved ESP analysis can be used instead of the I/V curve analysis is to analyse
the high voltage waveform every half-period of the mains cycle. The waveform contains all of
the operating information about the ESP process, and with an algorithm the optimal TR
energising mode can be found [Ref. Jacobsson et al. (1996)]. This analysis does not disturb
the TR operation, and the waveform analysis can therefore be made continuously. The
collecting efficiency optimal TR parameters can be accurately determined in this way, and
the ESP optimising can automatically and continuously follow all the ESP process variations.

6.9.2 Pulsing and Intermittent Energisation

Pulsed energisation of ESP's were in use in the early 1940s these were predicted by Dr Harry
White. He realised that with this feature the collecting efficiency could be enhanced for high
resistivity applications. At this time the technology was not commercially available to prove
the predictions. However, Dr White recorded improvements when using one TR set for two
bus sections one half way to one bus section and the other half way to the other bus section.
In this way a more pronounced ripple of the high voltage was achieved. The intent with
pulsing is to charge the ESP in such a way that the ripple, or the difference between peak and
valley voltages, was increased. With high voltage a high corona current was developed while
the corona was suppressed between the consequent peaks. Two ways of pulsing became
commercialised during late 1970s and beginning of 1980s. The more elaborate is the
microsecond pulsing and the other one millisecond pulsing, which is also called Intermittent
Energisation (IE or Semipulse, Variopulse etc).

By using a pulsed corona the current distribution can be maintained while still achieving a
low average current density through the dust layer. In this way the formation of back-corona
was reduced and the ESP efficiency was enhanced for a given size of precipitator. The pulsed
corona is beneficial in keeping the ionic wind to low values compare chapter 5.6. Optimum

49
performance of an ESP under severe back-corona conditions is achieved at very low average
currents.

Pulsed corona has the advantage of reducing the power consumption for the TR's. Power
savings greater than 90 % have been achieved for high resistivity conditions when at the same
time reducing the emissions substantially compared to old conventional energisation.
Experience has shown that for many low and medium resistivity applications the power
saving are substantial without offsetting the emissions to any measurable extent.

Microsecond pulsed TR's require a special unit, which is expensive compared to conventional
TR's. The special units provide the ESP field with a "base voltage" near the corona onset
value generate high voltage pulses or pulse trains that were superimposed upon the base level.
The pulse(s) imposed are in the range of 100 microseconds duration and have a repetition
frequency varying from e.g. 5 to 300 Hz. Due to the short duration of the pulse the peak
voltage can be substantially higher than for d.c before a spark develops. This ensures a very
intense and well-distributed corona during a short period of time. Different resonant circuits
using large HV capacitors and inductors are used to create such pulses. Several designs of
pulsed TR's became commercially available in the early 1980s, both in Europe, Asia and
USA. However, they are still rarely seen on installations [Reference: Porle and Funnell
(1988)]. Figure 6.9 illustrates the voltage waveform for microsecond pulses.

kV

Superimposed
secondary voltage

Conventional TR

Time
Figure 6.9 Microsecond pulses compared with conventional charging. Short pulses
reach a higher kV before sparking starts.

The millisecond pulsing uses conventional thyristor controlled TR's to deliver only one half-
wave of HVDC into the ESP, and then wait a few full periods before the next half-wave was
permitted to enter the ESP see Figure 6.10. This operation was easy to introduce, because at
the same time the TR controllers were microprocessor based. To implement it required only
minor software changes.

50
 Illustration
of IE

Figure 6.10 Intermittent Energisation (IE) blocking of charging pulses. The example shows
a charging ratio 1:3, i.e. one out of three half waves are used for charging of the ESP.

The IE concept has been tested in many different modes, e.g. one single pulse before blocking
of half waves or two pulses before the blocking. In studies several parties been verified, that
the best emission reduction effect is obtained with one single half period used, and then
waiting one or several full periods. Whenever one full period (two half-cycles) was attempted
and then waiting for one or several full periods the emissions increased. Today every new
controller can operate in IE. Almost all TR controllers can operate in both these modes, but
only the single half wave operation of IE is really used. Reference: Gustavsson et al. (1995).

It has been observed that microsecond pulsing and conventional TR's with IE operation gave
similar improvements in some installations when the ESP's work with high resistivity dusts.
Direct comparisons are difficult due to differences in equipment and operating conditions.
The choice between the two technologies is site specific and depends on costs, performance
improvements for various designs etc.

51
52
 7 WET ELECTROSTATIC PRECIPITATORS

7.1 Applications and Properties.

The most common use for precipitators is for the separation of dust and ash in a dry form
from the exhaust gases from boilers, cement kilns, ferrous and non-ferrous metallurgical
plants. The exhaust gas temperature is typically between 80 to 450 C. The quantity, chemical
composition and particle size of the dust and ash precipitated from the gas stream varies with
the process and make the design and size specific for each application.

Another version of electrostatic precipitator used on a wide variety of applications is the Wet
Electrostatic Precipitator (WESP). WESPs are used for the removal of liquid contaminants
such as sulphuric acid mist, aerosols and dust particles from a number of sources. The acid
mist and aerosols can be formed in an upstream scrubbing section by condensation of SO3
contained in the gas. WESPs therefore are designed to remove liquids and particulate matter
from water vapour saturated gases and temperatures in the range of 40 65 C normally exist.
Saturation is not a prerequisite for operation and e.g. anode baking has a temperature well
above the water dew point.

The WESP is able to achieve very low outlet emissions. Commonly emissions below 1
mg/Nm have been measured. It is not unusual to give guaranteed emissions in the range of a
few mg/Nm for a number of applications. For paint finishing applications where the cleaned
air is reused, guarantees of below 0.5 mg/Nm are specified and achieved. Some of the most
common uses for WESPs are:

Metallurgy - Blast furnaces

- Lead sinter strand
- SO3-acid mist

Power/Petrochemical - Acid mist

- After collector, particulate

Waste incineration - Acid mist

- Fine particulate

Paint finishing - Liquid aerosols

- Fine particulate

Anode baking - (Aluminium Industries)

Glass Industry - Forming Station

Conventional dry dust ESP's suffer from particle re-entrainment due to either high or low
particle resistivity and to rapping losses. However, WESP operation minimises re-entrainment
since the particles become captured in a film of liquid/water at the collector surface and are

53
drained by gravity into the WESP bottom. Significantly more applications are amenable to
electrostatic collection due to elimination of particle resistivity as a design variable with the
advent of wet mode operation. In addition, wet mode operation cools flue gas temperatures,
allowing more pollutants to condense and thus removed from the gas stream.

In addition to the advantage of not being adversely affected by the particle resistivity, WESPs
are very efficient at charging and collection of sub-micrometer particles. It is common that the
particles, acid mist and aerosols effectively collected in WESPs are as small as 0.1 m in
diameter. The high corona generating discharge electrodes used in WESPs and the liquid film
cleaning operation makes collection of sub- micrometer particulate highly efficient.

The process of precipitation in the WESP is similar to the conventional dry type ESP with the
exception of the method used to clean the precipitated material from the collection surfaces.
High voltage power supplies generate corona that charges the mist and particulate matter with
the collecting electrodes attracting the charged particles. WESPs do not require rapping
mechanisms to remove the collected material from the surfaces. The aerosols and liquid
removed from the gas stream, along with any particles, forms a liquid film that runs down the
vertical collecting electrodes removing solid particles. In the case of higher solids content in the
gas stream, fine spray nozzles introduce additional water into the gas stream to increase the
liquid film on the collecting surfaces. This additional liquid film on the collecting surfaces helps
to reduce the formation of sludge deposits on the collecting surfaces. Figure 7.1 shows the basic
design of a bus section of a horizontal flow WESP .

Figure 7.1 Basic design of horizontal flow WESP with nozzles above and upstream the
collecting plates.

In addition to the fine sprays, flushing spray systems are included in the WESP to intermittently
flush the discharge and collecting electrode systems. In many cases the high voltage power into
the precipitator needs to be reduced or turned off during the cleaning period due to sparking.
The precipitated liquid and flushing water is collected in the bottom of the casing and removed
by piping systems. To maintain the gas tight integrity of the wet ESP system, a water trap or
seal is integrated into the system.

Since WESPs are used to collect liquids including acid mist, only a few applications allow the
equipment to be fabricated using carbon steel. Applications that do not have acids in the gas
stream such as exhaust gases from blast furnaces, CO gas from converters, de-tarrers, glass
forming stations and waste gases from scarfing machines are typically fabricated using mild

54
steel or similar materials. All of the WESP internal components, gas ducts and housings
exposed to gases where acids are present must be fabricated from corrosion resistant materials.
For many years, acid mist ESPs have been fabricated primarily using antimony lead and or
lead covered mild steel. Today many other materials of construction such as plastics, fibreglass
reinforced plastics, PVC, polypropylene and high nickel alloy steels are used to resist chemical
attack. As a result of the materials of construction, WESPs are more expensive per m2 of
collecting area than conventional hot gas dry ESPs. However, since smaller sizes often can be
used for the same emission, the final cost is somewhat site specific.

7.2 Vertical Flow WESP

WESPs are arranged in different configurations depending on the application and the required
removal efficiency. For many industrial applications where the total flue gas to be treated is
small, vertical flow, tubular collecting surface style units are provided. When the total gas
volume to be treated is large and the removal efficiency requirement is high, horizontal flow
WESPs are provided. When the project requirements call for high removal efficiencies,
multiple fields in the direction of gas flow are used to achieve high removal efficiencies. In the
vertical flow, tubular type WESP, this is accomplished by arranging individual WESP modules
in series with interconnecting ductwork in between. A horizontal flow flat plate design can be
arranged with multiple fields in the direction of gas flow in a single casing. Due to the demand
for lower outlet emissions including condensibles from many processes and applications in the
last few years, WESP units with three or more independently energized collecting fields are
required.

Another alternative configuration of WESP is the condensing design. This design is similar to
the conventional vertical flow tube type unit except lower temperature water or air is circulated
around the outside of the collection tubes causing a temperature differential between the surface
of the collection and the gas stream containing moisture. The contact of the warm moist gases
on the surface of the collecting tubes results in the formation of a condensate layer on the inside
of the tubes. This condensate layer helps to keep the inner surfaces of the collection tube clean
thereby reducing the frequency of flushing for cleaning.

For many years, round tube vertical flow WESPs were constructed units with gas entering a
bottom chamber, vertical flow of the flue gas up through the charging and collection zone
with discharge of the cleaned gas out of the top of the vessel. The top and bottom sections of
the units were fabricated with lead covered mild steel. The collection tubes, extruded from
antimony lead, were connected to gas tight tube sheets in the top and bottom housings. This
arrangement of the collecting system within the precipitator insured 100% of the flue gas
entering the bottom chamber of the unit passed up through the collection tubes. Unfortunately
the tubes were exposed to the differential pressure between the process and ambient air. As a
result of the internal suction, tubes would collapse and the entire electrical section would be
rendered useless.

To address the problem of collapsing tubes, design improvements located the collecting tubes
inside of a cylinder with a single tube sheet at the top tube support level only see example in
Figure 7.2. This arrangement eliminated the differential pressure on the collection tubes, but
required a more complicated housing design. All areas of the inside of the WESP casing
exposed to the acid containing flue gas had to be covered or protected in some fashion from
acid attack. These coatings and linings became a maintenance issue that shortened the life of

55
the WESP casing. Newer designs of today use fibreglass reinforced plastic (FRP) housings
and conductive FRP collecting tubes. While this new design requires less maintenance, the
cost of the equipment and the knowledge required to protect the FRP surfaces from
mechanical problems are more than previous designs.

Figure 7.2 Typical Vertical Flow Tubular WESP Arrangement. Left: exposed tube
arrangement; right: enclosed tube arrangement.

7.3 Horizontal Flow WESP

The horizontal flow WESP (HFWESP) is configured in a similar respect to a dry ESP. It can
be designed and arranged for not only large gas volumes but also for high inlet particulate and
fume concentrations and low outlet emissions. It utilises multiple collecting and discharge
electrode fields arranged in series and, if necessary, sections in parallel facilitating
independent and optimised input power. The collecting fields are housed in a single casing
thereby reducing the enclosure cost. This is of particular significance when the process
conditions demand expensive corrosion resistant alloys.

With larger utility-scale gas volumes, it becomes important to distribute the gas evenly over
the full area of the collecting fields. The HFWESP may be arranged similar to a dry ESP with
a single gas inlet nozzle distributing flue gas into multiple cells across the width. If required
the HFWESP may also be arranged with multiple chambers within a single casing, allowing
each chamber to be independently isolated. Reference: Francis et al. (2001).

In the HFWESP the collecting curtains are of the plate-type and top suspended as in a dry
ESP, but have a specially designed profile to facilitate wet operation. The spacing of the gas
passages is typically 300 mm, but may be selected as required for process conditions.

56
The high voltage discharge electrode system is designed and arranged similar to the system
used in conventional dry ESP's see Figure 7.1. The capability of HFWESP to have multiple
fields gives the opportunity to install fields of varying lengths in one unit. Short fields can be
installed in the front to efficiently address corona current suppression while longer fields in
the back end will be more efficient. Since the particulate loading progressively decreases as
the gas passes through the precipitator, the multiple fields can operate with their own differing
and optimum electrical conditions. The HFWESP can also vary the spacing of the gas
passages from one field to the next. It is well known that for space charge suppression
conditions, closer spacing of the collecting plates helps to achieve more efficient charging of
the particles. An example of a HFWESP with three fields in length and four bus sections in
width is shown in Figure 7.3.

It should be noted there are limitations for the WESP and are different from those faced by
dry ESP's. Collecting plates are limited in height and may be of a different profile to ensure a
uniform water film over the entire collecting plate area. It is imperative the design of
collecting plates and discharge electrodes are complimentary. The entire system, including the
water system, must be integrated and tuned.

GA
FLO S
W

GA
FLO S
W

GAS
FLOW

Figure 7.3 Horizontal Flow WESP for Large Volume Application. Approximate measures of
the casing: 14 m in length (in gas direction), 11 m in height and 30 m in width.

7.4 Design Considerations

In some applications, where corrosion is high, special nozzles spaying very fine droplets as a
mist can be used in various parts of the WESP to ensure that all surfaces, including the
underside of the roof and all of the casing walls, are kept wet continuously. The corrosion
rate can then be kept low.

57
The support insulators in all WESPs are exposed to moist flue gas on the inside. To avoid
condensation and current leakage over the insulators, which may lead to irreparable damage,
heated flushing air is passed through the insulators.

The polluted water from the discharge of all WESPs, which has been used for cleaning, must
be treated after discharge from the WESP. In most cases for the power applications there is a
scrubber for SOx removal and the necessary bleed-off from the WESP can be passed to this.
Otherwise a separate water cleaning system must be installed, which is a major disadvantage
with the WESP compared to a dry ESP or a fabric filter.

There is a risk that spraying of water may result in carry-over of water droplets to the outlet of
the WESP. Proper design and spraying sequences can minimise this. Of special importance is
that any droplets do not reduce the WESP collecting efficiency, as the droplets are not 100%
pure water. Mist eliminators at the outlet will deter large droplets from being carried away.
The water circulation system should be arranged so that new fresh water is used in the
downstream sections while any polluted re-circulated water is used in the upstream sections.

7.5 Combined Wet and Dry ESPs

A special design capability of HFWESP is the combination of a dry and wet ESP a hybrid
form of ESP. In some cases the original dry ESP may have been undersized, with present
emission standards being more stringent or over time the operating conditions of the process
have changed (higher dust resistivity) such that the original equipment is not able to meet the
required emission standards. The last field in a dry ESP can be converted to a type of WESP,
where the cleaning is by water and rappers are no longer needed. The last field operating at
conditions above saturation is an efficient method to improve performance for many
applications. With this arrangement dust resistivity problems disappear and dust re-
entrainment can be avoided.

The wet section of a hybrid filter must be designed with knowledge from
uncontaminated WESP's. Corrosion, water spraying system and minimised droplet carry-over
considerations have to be implemented for successful operation. A special challenge is the
transition area from dry to wet conditions. Expensive high-grade material has to be used in
these areas to prolong the life of the equipment

58
 8 PRACTICAL ASPECTS OF ESP DESIGN

8.1 Ductwork and general layout

Figure 8.1 illustrates a typical ESP installation process gases and suspended particulates are
conveyed to the precipitator through the ductwork system. The ductwork design must take
into consideration the gas characteristics, the particulate particle size, density and
abrasiveness. Additionally the choice of gas velocity must take into account whether the
process is base loaded or varying capacity in order to avoid excessive dust fall out. High
velocities cause erosion and excessive pressure drop. Special care must be taken e.g. if cross-
ducts, "dead ends", are installed but not used. Dust fall out can cause accidents. Dust build-
ups in duct or inlet transition pieces can also change the gas distribution and subsequently
reduce the precipitator collection efficiency.

The inlet duct in Figure 8.1 is split into two ducts and inlet transition pieces. This is a
common solution in reducing the total weight and cost, when the width of the casing exceeds
a certain dimension. The ESP has also two outlet ducts leading to an induced draft fan. The
illustrated ESP has four bus sections in series and two in parallel. Transformer Rectifiers and
insulator chambers are placed on the roof. Pyramidal hoppers are placed under each bus
section.

Figure 8.1 Typical layout of an ESP with horizontal inlet arrangement after a coal fired
boiler. Overall dimensions of the casing excluding the hoppers are: width 25 m, length 22 m
and height 18 m. Transformer rectifiers are placed on the roof and pyramidal hopper.

Some processes such as recovery boilers produce low-density sub-micrometer sticky dust, salt
cake, and require all ductwork to be steeply inclined to ensure that salt cake fall out and build

59
up is minimised. Steeply inclined ductwork, > 60, is used for example for cement
applications, where heavy dust load and coarse dust are present.

8.2 Precipitator Inlet Transition

The inlet transition, nozzle or funnel, is required to reduce the duct gas velocity that may be 9
- 15 m/s to the precipitator treatment velocity of 0.75 to 1.5 m/s while minimising any
particulate fall out and build up in the nozzle that may result from the deceleration of the gas.
Depending on the gas duct arrangement the precipitator nozzle may be of a top, horizontal,
bottom or side inlet design. Perforated distribution screens or other devices are installed in the
nozzle to produce reasonably even gas distribution over the cross section of the precipitator
see Figure 8.2. The screens need to be rapped for many processes to avoid clogging and hence
misdistribution of the gas. For some processes with heavy dust load a built-in pre-collector,
e.g. a louver collector, is used.

Gas flow

Figure 8.2 Perforated screens at the ESP inlet nozzle for distribution of the gas. On the
screens various types of deflectors can be used to direct the flow evenly across the ESP.

8.3 Casing

The precipitator casing is of an all welded gas tight construction consisting of prefabricated
panels for sidewalls, end walls and roof - see example in Figure 8.3. The sidewalls are of a
self-supporting design. Roof loads are distributed via roof beams to side and corner columns
down to the support structure and foundations. Large precipitators also have internal columns
located in aisle ways that carry roof loads directly to the supporting structure. Casing designs
are normally based on limited deflection under load conditions rather than fully utilizing the
allowable stress of the steel structures. This design basis provides a rigid structure that ensures
that internal components, collector and discharge electrode systems, remain in alignment
under all specified operating conditions.

60
Figure 8.3 Example of casing design. The illustrated casing is identical with the precipitator
shown in Figure 8.1.
Sometimes the casings are constructed of concrete. This is seen for example after soda
recovery boilers the reason being to reduce the risk of steel corrosion.

ESP's have been constructed for temperatures > 550 C and are made of special steel. Also
circular casings have been used when high overpressures exist. A special ESP application
concern is the treatment of explosive gases in such cases special explosion doors (or even
"explosion funnels") have been designed to reduce damage.

8.4 Support Bearings

Most precipitators operate on gases at elevated temperatures in the 100 - 400 C -range.
Allowance must be made for the thermal expansion of the precipitator casing to eliminate
abnormal forces in the casing and support structure. To achieve this efficient flat plate or
spherical bearings are installed between the casings columns and the supporting structure
providing freedom for expansion as illustrated in Figure 8.4.

61
Figure 8.4 Spherical bearings between casing columns and supporting structure.

8.5 Precipitator Hoppers and Bottoms

The ash or dust collected in the precipitators is liberated by rapping and falls under gravity to
the precipitator bottom. There it is collected in pyramidal or trough type hoppers or a flat
bottom with internal scrapers.

Precipitators collecting fly ash from fossil fired combustion processes normally have
pyramidal hoppers while precipitators operating on cement processes are likely to have trough
type hoppers and precipitators collecting recovery boiler salt cake will have flat bottoms. The
dust or ash properties dictate the valley angle for hoppers. For fly ash the valley angle is
normally 30 - 35o from the vertical line. In order to minimise condensation and corrosion in
the lower part of the hoppers and to ensure ash/dust flow to the evacuation system heaters are
normally installed to the lower 2 - 3 meters of the hopper external surfaces. The hoppers may
be heated with electrical rod, cable or modular panels or steam. The main purpose of the
heating is to compensate for heat losses and not to warm the hopper area to temperatures
above the gas temperature.

Baffles are always installed in hoppers and bottoms see Figure 8.5 - to eliminate gas
sneakage below the electrical fields and minimise boil up of ash that falls into the hoppers.

62
 Figure 8.5 Example of baffling arrangement in pyramidal hoppers.

8.6 Discharge Electrode System

The discharge electrode system is a very important part, and the discharge electrode can be
considered as the heart of the precipitator. The purpose of the discharge electrodes are to act
as the source for the corona generation required to charge the particles in the gas stream. To
fulfil this purpose properly the electrodes must remain in place symmetrically in the electrical
field under temperature gradients and avoid sparking and short circuits. The type of discharge
electrode varies from supplier to supplier and each one has advantages and disadvantage.
Some examples are shown in Figure 8.6.

Figure 8.6 Various types of discharge electrodes.

63
Discharge electrode systems are normally of the rigid frame type or the single member rigid
discharge electrode design that is used particularly in the USA. The weighted wire discharge
system was exclusively used in the USA for many decades but is now abandoned because of
its physical unreliability and inability to be cleaned when used with tall collector plates.

The rigid frame design an example is seen in Figure 8.7 - has the distinct advantage that
different electrode types, depending on the process, can be integrated into the rigid frame and
can be supports as required at various heights. These intermediate supports reduce the
unsupported length of the electrode ensuring its ability to remain in alignment under all
operating conditions.

Figure 8.7 Rigid Discharge Frame with 4-point suspension for different electrode
types.

8.6.1 Discharge Electrode Support and Insulators

The main functions of the discharge electrode supports are to provide the necessary high
voltage electrical isolation at elevated temperatures and to give mechanical support to the
discharge electrode frame. Typically hanger rods that are supported directly from bushing
insulators suspend the discharge electrode assembly. The insulators are normally constructed
of alumina or pyroceram that provide a high level of electrical resistance, mechanical strength
and resistance to thermal shock. The support insulators are housed in thermally insulated
compartments, tunnels or a penthouse. A typical arrangement is illustrated in Figure 8.8.

64
 Figure 8.8 Typical design of Discharge Electrode Support with Hanger Rods,
Insulators and Insulator Compartments.

Current emission limitations require precipitators to be operated at or shortly after the start of
the process and are required for some processes to operate with the flue gases at or near the
dew point. Any resulting condensation on parts of the insulators will cause localized arcing.
When this occurs, a low resistance path can be formed which allows a partial short circuit in
the applied power. Also heat generated by the acing can fracture the insulator. In most
applications the insulators are equipped locally with electrical heaters or purged with heated
air.

8.7 Collecting Electrodes

The main considerations for the design of collecting electrodes are to provide stiffness to the
long electrode plates and shielding of the collected ash or dust layer. Additionally the edge of
the collecting plates must be free of sharp edges that generate local high field areas that can
result in sparking at low voltage. A further requirement of the collection plate is that it
transmits the rapping impact to all parts of the plate as uniformly as possible to facilitate
uniform dust removal. The plate and impact areas must be strong enough to prevent damage
and fatigue resulting from rapping.

Various manufacturers have their own collector plate design. Some of the most common
designs comprise roll formed panels with stiffening and edge protecting profiles, The panels
are usually made of 1.2 or 1.5 mm sheet steel, formed to widths of 500 mm to 1000 mm and
heights of 16 meters and higher. It is often cost efficient to go to higher plates for a given
collecting area. However, maximum height is not only determined from manufacturing,
shipping and erection limitations but also from a performance aspect; e.g. maintaining
minimum rapping acceleration, a minimum aspect ratio and the risk of plate oscillation at
relatively high gas velocities. Figure 8.9 shows a set of collecting plates forming a curtain.
The overall arrangement of collecting plates and discharge frames is also seen in Figure 8.8.

65
Figure 8.9 Roll formed collecting plates with suspension beam and shock bar arrangement in
the bottom for the rapping.

8.8 Rappers

Dust accumulates on both the collection and discharge electrodes and must be periodically
removed for proper efficient operation of the precipitator. Too thick a layer of dust will result
in sparks or even misalignment. Depending on the dust type, even thin layers of dust can
affect the performance. The challenge is to clean the electrodes in a way that the dust is
transported to the hopper with little or no re-entrainment. The agglomeration properties of the
dust are therefore of great importance. Ideally a dust layer on the collecting plate should be
released as a cake and slide down into the hopper.
For most dry precipitators mechanical rapping is used to remove the accumulated dust.

In the United States electromagnetic solenoid rappers have been used extensively for
precipitators. However in Europe and other parts of the world heavy duty mechanical tumble
hammer rappers are almost exclusively the rapper type of choice.
A mechanical rapping system employs "tumbling hammers" which are mounted on a
horizontal shaft in a staggered fashion with one hammer for each shock bar anvil. An
intermittently operated geared motor rotates the shaft. As a shaft rotates slowly, each of the
hammers in turn overbalances and tumbles, directly hitting its associated anvil see Figure
8.10. The anvil transmits the blow simultaneously to all of the collecting plates in a row.

66
 Figure 8.10 Tumbling Hammer Rapping System Applied to Collecting Plates

The electrodes can be rapped either in the bottom region of the ESP bottom rapping or in
the upper region top rapping. Different details of the design will result in different cleaning
efficiencies [Reference: Nichols (2001)]. For difficult high resistivity dusts, however, the
dominating design is bottom rapping. This gives higher acceleration values in the regions,
where the dust load is the highest, i.e. in the bottom part of the ESP. Accelerations, in g
(ground acceleration), are often in the 50 - 1000 g range. For certain difficult applications g-
values exceeding 100 g on all areas of the collecting plate are required. Examples of
laboratory measurements on clean plates are seen in Figure 8.11. Top rapping can be used for
easier ashes and when the mass to be hit by a hammer is moderate. Top rapping can use
tumbling hammers, or electromagnetic solenoid rappers, which lift and drop a steel rod slug
down on an anvil.
4,5 m

145
170 155
195
260
385

15 m
150

395

260
285
320 "g"-accelerations
420
610

990

Figure 8.11 Typical accelerations, g, in collecting plates with bottom rapping.

67
As the dust load is much higher in the front of an ESP the time between rapping is short
compared to the last field. The interval may differ from 5 minutes to several hours. The
sequences for rapping should be optimised for each individual ESP and depend on actual
operating conditions at the plant.
A challenge is the emission caused by the rapping, often referred to as rapping puffs or peaks.
Every time a plate is rapped some particulate is re-entrained and, particularly for the last field,
may show up in the stack. The puffs can be visible and may therefore not be acceptable.
Intelligent rapper control systems can minimise the problem by ensuring that only one
hammer impact occurs at a time see also chapter 5.8.

Rapping systems, collecting plates, discharge electrodes and frames must be carefully
designed to avoid fatigue failures. Most vendors have facilities for long term testing and a
standard is that any design change should be checked and approved before taken into
operation.

8.8.1 Gas Distribution

In order to utilize the active volume in an optimal way, the gas should be well distributed both
between precipitator casings and inside each casing. Theory has called for as even distribution
across the precipitator sections as possible, i.e. the same local gas velocity in all gas passages
and over the full height. Practically this is not possible to achieve due to short distances for
expanding the high velocity flow from a duct to the active area and to other obstacles such as
beams, deflector plates etc. Furthermore it is important to avoid sneakage gas going outside
the electrical fields and therefore the gas velocity profile should be tapered off in the top and
bottom of the collecting plates. In principle, it is impossible to achieve efficiencies higher
than e.g. 99.5% if 0.5% of the gas is bypassing the electrical fields.

ICAC, The Institute of Clean Air Companies, in US has given out recommendations as to
acceptable gas distribution and this is followed to a great extent by vendors, users and
consultants, [Ref. ICAC (1997)]. Vendors might have additional requirements that they apply
in order to optimise the performance. The norms calls for a maximum C.V. - value
(Coefficient of Variation or rms) at the inlet. This might be difficult to follow in all details as
the gas velocity is purposely set to zero at top and bottom of collecting plates and as beams
and other restrictions make measurement difficult. Of interest is the distribution inside the
passages but measurements are often taken upstream or downstream of the field for practical
reasons. Measurements and if necessary corrections of the gas distribution should always be
taken whenever possible when new ESP's are taken into operation. A report showing baffling
etc. should be kept with the customer for maintenance purpose. Figure 8.12 shows an example
of a gas distribution in a large ESP after the first bus section. The C.V. value is in this case 15
%, which is normally accepted. The distance between the measuring points is 1 m. There are
numerous reports showing that emissions will increase if the gas distribution has deteriorated.

68
Figure 8.12 Example of gas distribution across a 24 m wide and a 15 m high ESP. Figures
are taken after the front field and are in percentage of the average gas velocity.

A common practice is to run three dimensional model test when special configurations of the
ductwork, inlet nozzles etc. must be applied. Models in scale 1:10 or sometimes even in 1:16
are used. Tests conducted by experienced laboratories show good agreement with the full-
scale plant measurements. Model test must consider the following factors

distribution of the gas between and inside the casings

minimise the pressure drop over the plant
identify areas and reduce the risk of excessive dust deposits

CFD calculations are used as models for the gas distribution. However, it is very
difficult to model all internal factors in an ESP hence it is recommended to check the final
distribution on site.

69
70
 9 CONDITIONING

9.1 General.

In order to efficiently operate an ESP, i.e. achieving low emissions with moderate sizes and
low power consumption, conditioning of the flue gas or the dust may be an attractive solution.
The most common approach is to use an additive in order to change the properties of the dust.
Conditioning of the dust may be to reduce the resistivity or to increase the cohesiveness. In
special cases the primary interest is to add moisture to the flue gas in order to get a stable
corona without too much sparking. This might be applicable when ESP's are used for e.g. dry
ventilation gases. The following alternatives are frequently used and will be described in
some more details in next chapters:

moisture conditioning
SO3 injection
NH3 or a combination of NH3 and SO3
other additives

9.2 Moisture Conditioning

For a number of applications injection of water upstream the ESP is commonly used. The
purpose is twofold; to reduce the gas temperature and to increase the flue gas humidity. Both
of these reduce the resistivity in almost all temperature ranges. In some cases the resistivity as
measured in the laboratory is not reduced but it can still be observed that back-corona
disappears. As described earlier, the start of back-corona depends on the electrical properties
of the gas. More humidity results in a higher electrical field strength being applied. Water
can be sprayed from nozzles inserted in the flue gas. Fine atomisation of the water is
imperative in order to obtain a fast and complete evaporation. Droplets with sizes less than a
few hundred m can be achieved from high-pressure nozzles or dual fluid nozzles using a
pressurised media, such as air, for the atomisation. A general difficulty is to keep the nozzles
clean and to avoid erosion. Maintenance can be a demanding requirement. Another challenge
is to avoid water being sprayed on the walls. If this occurs the risk of mud formation
increases. In order to apply a safe spraying, a separate conditioning tower can be installed, see
Figure 9.1.

71
 Figure 9.1 A conditioning tower installed upstream an ESP after a cement kiln. The
height of the tower is approximately 30 m (to the top of the wide cylindrical vessel)
and the ESP is 15 m long and 20 m wide

Conditioning towers are commonly used for cement applications and in the metallurgical
industry. It is important to ensure complete evaporation in the tower to avoid mud in the outlet
and to ensure dry conditions into the ESP. Towers can be built with upward or downward
flow of the gas. For large gas flows downward flow is more common. The tower is in
principle an empty chamber. Care must be taken to achieve controlled gas distribution so that
the water injected is in proportion to the gas flow. It may be necessary to install gas
distribution devices at the tower inlet. As an example a tower after a cement kiln cooling the
flue gas from 350 to 150 C might need an evaporation time in the range of 10 - 15 s to
achieve complete evaporation depending on nozzle type and gas/water distribution.

Attempts to spray water in gas ducts; horizontal, inclined and vertical have been made. Most
trials have been unsuccessful. It is difficult to get the necessary evaporation time in ducts with
high gas velocities. Bends, walls and internal braces will easily pick up water and mud is
formed. The larger droplets may fall to the bottom in horizontal ducts and on their way impact
particles, which will eventually fall out and stay in the duct. Sprays have also been installed in
the inlet sections of the ESP's where the gas velocities are lower. However, due to gravity
forces there is a risk of temperature stratification lower temperature in the bottom area with
risk of corrosion and dust build-up - into the ESP. In order to succeed extremely small water
droplets must be used to avoid mud formation. The power consumption for such atomisation
must be taken into consideration and the maintenance of such systems may be considerable.

A few other alternatives for humidification can be considered: Rotating discs for the water
atomisation can be installed in a chamber and a short evaporation time due to efficient
atomisation is achieved. When increased moisture content is essential without a temperature
reduction, steam can be used. This alternative is normally expensive due to the water
treatment costs but it is used for example in some industrial applications, where steam is
almost free.

72
9.3 SO3 Conditioning

The Injection of SO3 into the flue gas reduces the resistivity of the dust is now standard
practice for certain applications. There are some 600 - 700 plants firing coals that generate fly
ash having a too high resistivity or low cohesiveness for old ESPs for which this concept has
been adopted. So far it used for upgrading existing plants but recently has been applied for
new installations. The need for an ESP upgrade, to lower emissions, may be due to new
legislation demanding lower emissions or change from a high S coal to a lower S coal to
avoid a SO2 abatement system. Low S coals often generate high resistivity ashes. For a new
coal firing plant requiring a large ESP, the installation cost can be substantially reduced by
sizing the plant based on SO3 conditioning. The ESP size can sometimes be halved compared
to a non-conditioned plant [Ref. Porle et al. (1996)]. The user however must appreciate the
cost of the conditioning equipment and its maintenance.

The standard solution is having equipment that generates SO3 outside the flue gas system
see Figure 9.2. The SO3 is injected in the flue gas upstream the ESP and requires to be well
distributed in the gas flow. It is rapidly absorbing moisture and sulphuric acid is formed. Part
of the acid forms into droplets, depending on the temperature. These droplets may combine
with the ash particles before the ESP; otherwise they are efficiently precipitated in the ESP.
The acid penetrates the dust layer and absorbs further moisture resulting in a more conductive
dust layer.

Figure 9.2 SO3 injection system upstream an ESP.

Elementary sulphur is sent to a burner, which generates SO2. This gas is then converted to
SO3 by passing over a vanadium pentoxide catalyst. This is an exothermal reaction, which
occurs around 400 C. This gas is then mixed with air for designed distribution into the flue
gas duct. A high temperature of the mixed air and sulphuric acid must be maintained to avoid
condensation and corrosion in pipes. The injection location should be some distance upstream
the ESP to ensure a good mixing. Injection locations upstream or downstream of the air
preheater have been used. Some plants have a more simple generation of the SO3. Instead of a
sulphur burner it is possible to buy liquid SO2 in tanks. The installation cost for this is lower
however; the operating cost is substantially higher due to the cost for the liquid SO2. This
concept is therefore used for small plants or for pilot testing. Two alternatives for the
elementary sulphur exist. One is to use molten sulphur, which has to be stored in heated
casings. The liquid sulphur is pumped to the burner. The other method is to use granular

73
sulphur, which can be stored in silos. The granular sulphur is transported to the burner with
air, which is used for the combustion.

In a typical installation the inherent SO3 in the flue gas may be distributed unevenly. A reason
being that some of it is caught in the area of the air preheater, where cold surfaces are exposed
to the flue gas. The resistivity of the dust may differ substantially at the inlet of the ESP. If the
distribution of SO3 in the flue gas is uneven at the ESP inlet, the injection of additional SO3
may be required and properly distributed ensuring a more optimal and safer use of the
system. There is risk that SO3 can be overdosed and this may result in corrosion and generate
a sticky dust, which is difficult to remove. There are systems available for optimising the
injection rate so that adequate SO3 is provided for good ESP operation without overdosing. A
typical installation of an injection system is seen in Figure 9.3.

In Boiler Flue Gas

SO3 Injectors
Process
Air Heater

Duct
PD Process
Air Blower

Converter

Air
Blower
SO2 Cooler

In Boiler Flue Gas

SO3 Injectors

Duct
Vent Molten
Sulfur Supply
Cooling Air

Sulfur
Burner

Sample
Port

Figure 9.3 Example of injection system for SO3 conditioning.

Conditioning with SO3 can be considered as being environmentally unfriendly as. Sulphur
may have to be removed from the flue gas. However, in most cases the required amount is
less than 15 ppmv (parts per million by volume). As soon as the sulphuric acid is in droplet
form it is precipitated to almost 100 %. A problem might arise when the gas temperature is
excessive forming gaseous acid during the passage through the ESP. A slip of SO3 to the stack
will remain and this may later on form a visible mist. Extreme examples of injection rates of
100 ppmv, where half of this quantity reaching the stack has been recorded. In such cases the
temperature in the ESP after coal-fired boilers has exceeded 170 C and the ash consists of
high amounts of Si and Al. The injection rate required is furthermore dependent on the ash
content of the coal a high ash content requires more SO3 for the required reduction of the
resistivity. Figure 9.4 shows in principle how the demand for sulphur varies with the flue gas
temperature to obtain a certain resistivity. Note, there is an inflection point, above which the
injection rate increases dramatically. The inflection point occurs at different temperatures
depending on the ash composition. Low values are mostly related to acid fly ash (high content
of Si and Al) and can be as low as 150 C. The surplus of SO3 leaves the stack in a gaseous
form for the higher temperatures. SO3 conditioning is not a practical concept when high

74
injection rates are used. Equipment and operation becomes expensive and overdosing might
easily occur.

SO3 [ppm]

Coal A

Coal B

, [C]
150 180

Figure 9.4 Injection rate of SO3 as a function of gas temperature in order to avoid
back-corona conditions. The amount of SO3 varies with the type of coal.

Recently a new concept for SO3 conditioning has been introduced in USA. A catalytic
converter generating SO3 from SO2 takes a slipstream of the flue gas at around 400 C
(upstream the air preheater) and re-injects this gas upstream the ESP. It uses the same
principle as an SCR (Selective Catalytic Reactor) for NOx abatement. In this case no NH3 is
injected, as the only task is to oxidise the SO2. The advantage being that the SO2 generated
from the inherent sulphur in the coal is used - the disadvantage is that some of the flue gas is
not available for heat recovery in the air preheater.

Adding SO3 into the flue gas is used occasionally in other applications but the reason may be
to achieve a chemical reaction in combination with conditioning. One example is from sinter
bands where KCl can be converted to K2SO4. The effect is still that the particulate emission is
reduced.

9.4 NH3 or Dual Conditioning

Injection of NH3 as a gas has shown to improve the performance of an ESP in a number of
cases for high resistivity ashes. The effect on an ESP for fly ash from coal firing is normally
that less improvement is achieved from NH3 compared to SO3 conditioning. What happens,
when improvements are made from ammonia injection, is that the dust properties change
significantly. The dust becomes more compact and agglomerates and it can be easier to
dislodge it. Laboratory measurements do not necessarily indicate a lower resistivity but ESP's
have been observed to have less or no back-corona. The amount of ammonia to ensure
enhancement can be lower than 10 ppm. Good injection distribution helps to keep the amount
low.

The physical phenomenon for the improvement is unclear. However, it is likely that some SO3
combines with gaseous ammonia and generates ammonium sulphate or ammonium
bisulphate. These particles are precipitated and penetrate the dust layer. They help the
particles to agglomerate, leading to a more compact dust cake. The distances between the

75
particles become smaller and the electrical field strength may not be sufficiently strong to
start a back-corona. The bisulphate can cause corrosion as well as dust build-up. However
with normal fly ashes the amount is small and does not present any problems. Fly ash with
added ammonia or ammonium (bi-) sulphate may smell and it is not a useful as a by-product.
However, there are examples when all fly ash has been shipped to cement plants over years of
NH3 usage (intermittently used when needed).

Ammonia can be supplied in a liquid or gaseous form in pressurised tanks. After evaporation
of NH3 it is mixed with air and injected into the flue gas in a similar way as the SO3. The
equipment is easy to use and in contrast to SO3 it can be switched on and off frequently
because there is no extra heating or acid dew points to take care of. In power stations where
different coal import is used - some of which may require conditioning automatic devices
for on/off control can be installed. Aqueous ammonia may also be used in combination with
pumps and nozzles.

Dual conditioning or the combination of SO3 and NH3 is used sometimes after coal-fired
boilers. For difficult fly ashes consisting of high amounts of Si and Al this concept can be
more efficient. The two components are injected separately in the gas duct where they
combine to ammonium (bi-) sulphates. Experience has shown that small ppm's can be used
compared to only SO3 conditioning. Figure 9.5 shows a typical dual conditioning layout.

Figure 9.5 Dual conditioning system.

Another use of SO3 or NH3 or the combination, dual conditioning, is to purposely make the
dust stickier and not to reduce the resistivity. For example some coals may generate a low
resistivity dust making the particles prone to re-entrain. This is aggravated when gas
velocities, e.g. above 1.7 - 1.8 m/s, are used. The re-entrainment may also increase when there
are a lot of unburned particles. The conditioning agent can change the properties of the dust in
a way that high gas velocities can be maintained, re-entrainment reduced and emission limits
achieved.

The injection of NH3 has been used at some plants to reduce the acid dew point and to avoid
an opacity problem after the stack due to SO3-mist. This concept has been used after oil and
Orimulsion fired boilers. On these occasions a major constituent of the dust load to the ESP is
ammonium (bi-) sulphates.

76
9.5 Other Additives

There are a number of proprietary additives, which are used to enhance ESP performances.
Some of them are limited to fairly low temperatures, < ~170 C, while others are useful
above 300 C. The effect is either to reduce the resistivity or to improve the agglomeration. In
some cases special additives have been mixed with liquids to absorb certain gaseous
compounds.

A special additive is activated carbon. It can be used to enhance the collection of Hg

but has so far has had limited use with ESP's. However, it is commercially used in
combination with fabric filters for Hg collection.

77
78
 10 TYPICAL APPLICATIONS OF ESPs

10.1 Overview
ESP's are very efficient devices for collection of particles from ultra fine sizes (< 0.5 m) to
any large sizes (100 m and greater), providing the particles have the ability to agglomerate.
It is often advocated, that charging mechanisms are inefficient, and that migration velocities
are too low, for the efficient precipitation of the particles 1 m and less compare chapter 5.2
and Figure 5.4. However, for example, after soda recovery boilers, where inlet particulate
loading of 15-20 g/Nm3 with sizes < 1 - 2 m prevailing, high collection efficiencies, > 99.5
%, are obtained with moderate ESP sizes. For the same size of ESP a fly ash application may
see only 90 % for particles around 0.5 m see Figure 10.1. [Reference: Porle et al. (1994)].

Penetration [%]

100,00

DMPS Plant A, SA
10,00
BLPI + A Plant A, SA
Plant A, CO
1,00
Plant A, CO

0,10
Plant B, SA
Plant B, SA
0,01

0,00
0,01 0,1 1 10 100
Dp [m]

Figure 10.1 Typical penetration (= 1collecting efficiency) for an ESP after PC boilers
burning low S coals. Overall efficiency is 99.8 % (emission = 20 mg/Nm3). Two different
coals, one from South Africa and one from Colombia, were fired.

The large difference between the two examples can be claimed to be due to substantial
variations in cohesiveness and resistivity of the dust. The dust from the soda recovery boiler is
sticky while the fly ash is dry and easily re-entrained and may suffer from back-corona. It
should be noted that Figure 10.1 is from measurements at inlet and outlet of the ESP and it
may not give correct information regarding efficiencies for different particle sizes. Some of
the 0.5 m particles at the outlet may be re-entrained agglomerates and may have existed as
smaller particles at the inlet of the ESP.

Except for possible effects on collection efficiency, ESP's are relatively insensitive to
disturbances in the process, particularly over temperatures. Thus, short temperature

79
excursions of 100 C to 150 C will not necessarily damage the ESP and as soon as the
process is back to normal conditions, the ESP will generally return to its earlier performance
level. Low intensity fires started in the hopper area from glowing unburned particles will not
influence its performance. Also a light glowing of the collecting plates can sometimes exist
without any hazards. Occasional heavy dust build-up due to upset conditions can be removed
manually and the ESP is ready for normal operation. These properties of an ESP making it
robust and flexible make it often the first choice for the customer. In most cases ESP's can
meet current emission level requirements. However, there are applications, where an ESP is
unsuited and where a Fabric Filter (FF) is the best choice.

FF's have many advantages. Correctly designed and maintained they can provide low
guaranteed emissions and in principle are insensitive to the dust composition. In contrast to
the ESP a FF is not sized for a given emission the emissions are normally substantially
lower than requested. The prerequisite for the design is to ensure a full understanding of the
filter fabrics, cleaning cycles, filtration velocity etc and to ensure the product has a low
pressure drop and a bag (fabric) life as long as possible. A FF is sensitive to temperature
excursions but by selecting exclusive material the limit can be increased. The disadvantages
compared to ESP's are a higher-pressure drop and exchange of bags after some years.

FF's have the additional advantage over ESP's in that they are able to collect gaseous
emissions to a certain degree. By injection of additives this collection can be substantial.
Examples of gaseous compounds, which can be taken in a FF are, SO2, SO3 and Hg. The main
reason for this collection is that the flue gas must penetrate the dust layer on the bags and this
layer can absorb gases.

The final choice between a FF and an ESP is often site specific. First cost versus operational
cost are evaluated and weighted differently from plant to plant. Often the first cost is lower for
a FF while the operational cost is significantly lower for the ESP.

Figure 10.2 illustrates guaranteed and achieved emissions after ESP's through the years. The
curve represents an average emission trend for various processes and for developed countries.

Authorities through the years have reduced the permissible emissions based on results from
existing plants. Today's emission guarantees are sometimes < 10 mg/Nm3 depending on the
application. Germany has this level as a yearly average for new plants with special restrictions
on the values during each individual half-hour. An example of such a restriction is that no
half-hour average can exceed 200 % of the yearly average. In other cases there may be limits
of this order of magnitude set up by a country or a local authority or for a special process
where toxic compounds prevail.

A recent installation in an urban area in Japan specified a maximum stack emission of 2

mg/Nm3 after oil and vacuum oil firing. At that plant a dry ESP, for the collection of
particulate, is placed upstream of a Wet Flue Gas Desulphurisation (WFGD). A Wet ESP
(WESP) is installed after the WFGD plant for final polishing of remaining particulate and
potential SO3-mist. There are also examples when these very low emissions are requested due
to downstream equipment. An example of this is the so-called SNOX process, which recovers
sulphur from the flue gas, where any significant presence of dust will make the catalyst
inefficient.

80
 Emission
mg/m3 NTP
300

250

200

150
Guaranteed
100
Measured
50

0
1960 1965 1970 1975 1980 1985 1990 1995 2000

Figure 10.2 Average guaranteed and measured particle emissions from ESP's.

One concern today is the fine particulate. It is often referred to as for example PM 2.5, which
means Particulate Matter below 2.5 m. These particles are inhaleable and may be toxic and
they will stay in the lungs. Discussions are ongoing to set limits on PM 2.5 emissions (or e.g.
PM 1.0 or PM 10). So far the legislation refers to ambient air and not to stack emissions. In US
it is common to have limitations on opacity, e.g. 10 % opacity, in combination with mass
emission limits. It is difficult to get a reliable correlation between opacity and mass
concentration for various reasons. The opacity is not only depending on the mass but also
shape and size of the particles and on optical properties of the dust. Any NOx present may
affect the opacity.

Biomass plants are normally an easy applications for ESP's. In some cases, however, it is
experienced that chlorides and hydrocarbons can increase the resistivity to levels where the
performance becomes substantially degraded.

Other main industries using ESP's are pulp and paper, cement, iron and steel and non-ferrous.
There are numerous other industrial applications for an ESP such as glass, chemical and rock
industries. Experimental data from plants in operation or from pilot tests for new unknown
applications is the foundation for the design and sizing of these ESP's. The design can differ
considerably between applications. For example for dust storage and discharge a hopper
design for fly ash may be adequate, but it must be replaced with a scraper on a flat bottom in
ESP's after soda recover boilers. Some dusts can easily ignite due to a spark and in such cases
the rapping may have to be much more frequent and may have to be connected to an alarm.

The WESP has long been used for applications in the metallurgy field, glass furnaces and for
automotive painting. It collects dry particulate as well as liquid aerosols. It is now used for
collection of remaining impurities after WFGD scrubbers, which are not capable of collecting
the very fine particulate or sulphuric acid mist that condenses during the passage through the
scrubber. Emissions in the range of one mg/Nm3 can be guaranteed with a WESP.

81
Special consideration must to be given to the choice of the materials in a WESP. There are
WESP's built from plastic materials and there are other built in various grades of stainless
steel. Each application has to be carefully investigated to ensure the right solution in terms of
availability and life.

82
10.2 Power Industry.
10.2.1 General.

The largest use of ESP's has been and still is the removal of fly ash generated from the
combustion of fossil fuels in the power industry. Historically power plants were equipped with
ESP's to remove the particulate from the flue gas. Then the stack became gradually visibly
cleaner as the emission legislation became more stringent. Today a modern "green field" plant
are similar to Figure 10.3 when SOx and NOx removal systems is a must.
H2SO4-
mist
Boiler SCR ESP Fan WFGD WESP
SO2 (SO3)

H2SO4-aerosol
NH3
(NH4)2SO4-aerosol
NOx N2+H2O
ME
(SO2+ 21 O2 SO3)

VGas ~1 m/s SO2

VGas ~3 m/s
SO3 ME
Hi S
coal
oil Air
Air

CaCO3
NH3
[NaOH]

Dewatering WWT

Effluent

Gypsum
[(NH4)2SO4]

Figure 10.3 Example of a "green field" power plant. After the boiler a SCR is installed to
remove NOx. An ESP is then collecting the ash before the gas enters a WFGD absorber.
Downstream of this is a mist eliminator (ME) to remove water droplets from the absorber.

Precipitators are installed on power boilers of all sizes ranging from small local power boilers <
10 MWe to the largest 1400 MWe boilers. They range in size from as small as 20 SCA (m2 of
collecting area per m3 of gas per second) to the largest in the world, supplied for Talcher II, India
that has an SCA of 315 m2 of collecting area per m3 of gas per second. The physical size of
Talcher II ESP (casings without hoppers) is about 55 m long, 70 m wide and 18 m high for a
500 MWe boiler. ESP's can be designed to achieve removal efficiencies of greater than 99.9
% and can satisfy the most stringent legislative regulations. Emission levels of less than 10
mg/Nm have been measured and can be guaranteed in many cases. [Reference: Porle and
Lillieblad (1995)]. An example of a typical installation is seen in Figure 10.4.

83
Figure 10.4 ESP installation after a coal fired boiler. The ESP comprises five fields (total
length 22 m), two casings (each one 20 m wide). Each casing has two cells. Altogether the
ESP comprises 20 bus sections and 20 TR sets.

The ESP is used for the collection of particulate from flue gases resulting from the firing of
most fuel types used in power boilers. The most common being the firing of various coal
types, but also pet coke, oil, oil residues, peat, Orimulsion, numerous kinds of biomass and
waste tyres. Combinations of fuels are frequently seen especially in the smaller boilers.

The flue gas conditions, ash nature and compositions vary significantly depending on the fuel
but in all cases there is the common requirement that the ESP operate above the dew point of
the flue gas to ensure that the ash can be evacuated from the hoppers. For power boilers the
type of boiler, ash composition, loading, particle size, resistivity, and temperature, together
with the humidity, SO2 and SO3 content of the gas are examples of parameters that are of
prime importance when designing an ESP.

The properties of the coal and the fly ash from coal firing vary over a very wide range
from lignite to anthracite from low ash content of a few percent to ash content of 50 % -
from high sulphur coal (> 5 %) to low sulphur coal (< 0.2 %) from 60 % moisture to 1 %
moisture etc. With the large variation in coal ash contents and other fuels it is essential to
consider the ash inlet loads and to discuss emissions in mg/Nm3 rather than collection
efficiencies. This is further appreciated when considering the low inlet loads from oil that
may have only 0.2 % ash and other low ash fuels. Some of the fuels generate ashes having
very high resistivity and these are difficult to precipitate due to the formation of back-
corona. The traditional method to overcome this problem is to build very large ESP, or a
smaller ESP with flue gas conditioning or a FF.

The properties of coal fly ash also depend on the type of boiler. The higher the flame
temperature in the burning zone, the more fine particles are generated due to evaporation and
subsequent condensation. As an example a fluidised bed boiler, having lower combustion
temperatures, generates larger size particles than a pulverised coal fired boiler for the same
type of coal.

84
Over the last twenty years flue gas conditioning has gained acceptance in reducing the
resistivity of ashes. Conditioning was originally used for upgrading the performance of old
small ESP's, that could not comply with required particulate emission levels when for
example switching to low sulphur higher resistivity coals. In recent years flue gas
conditioning has become accepted by users for new installations in order to reduce the plant
cost by installing a smaller ESP while still maintaining the flexibility to purchase and fire a
wide range of coals. Sulphur trioxide, SO3, has proven to be the most reliable and economic
choice for flue gas conditioning. A small amount normally < 20 ppm is injected into the
flue gas upstream of the ESP forming sulphuric acid, which is efficiently absorbed onto the
particles and thereby reducing the ash surface resistivity. In the cases of certain ashes where
excessive amounts of SO3 are required a combination of SO3 and NH3 also in small ppm
amounts have shown to both reduce the resistivity and improve the adhesive properties of
the ash.

For the application of ESP's for pulverised coal fired boilers, the knowledge has advanced
substantially since the early 1970s. At that time the sizing of a new plant was a difficult task
and users of larger power plants preferred to run pilot tests on a specific coal to investigate the
properties of the fly ash and its precipitability. Today, however, there are sophisticated tools
available to size an ESP. Most of these tools have been developed by the experienced
suppliers of ESP's and are considered as proprietary information. Ashes that have low content
of Fe, Na and high content of Si, Al in combination with low sulphur in the coal result in high
resistivities and eventually large ESP's for a given emission unless gas conditioning is
employed. A typical resistivity curve of a fly ash is shown in Figure 5.17. The absolute level
of resistivity can vary over several orders of magnitude but the peak resistivity is almost
always found in the 140 180 C range.

Todays ESPs as applied to coal fired boilers usually operate down stream of the air
preheater at temperatures well below 200 C. In the 1970s there was a trend especially in US
to build hot side ESP's placed upstream the air preheater. Flue gas temperatures are around
350 C. The intention was to overcome the resistivity problem as measurements indicate a
reasonable resistivity around these temperatures regardless of ash composition. For numerous
reasons most of these ESP's failed to work at their expected performance level for any length
of time and frequent washing of the precipitator collecting electrodes was required. Most of
these hot side ESP's have now, at significant expense, been converted to cold side ESP's
by reworking the ductwork systems so that they operated downstream of the air preheater.

For several years there are ESP's operating at temperatures < 100 C. The size of such an ESP
is substantially smaller compared to what is common for "cold side ESP's". The prerequisite is
that the sulphur content in the coal is low, maximum 1 %; hence low flue gas acid dew point
prevails. Figure 10.5 shows result from pilot tests that were run in Australia in the 1960s by
the Electricity Commission of New South Wales.

85
 99,95
Collection
efficiency 99,9
[%]
99,8
99,7
99,6
99,5
99,3 Bayswater coal
99,0
Newcom coal
98,5
98,0
97,0
96,0
95,0
93,0
90,0

80,0
65 93 121 149 177 204 232 260 288 315 343

Mean gas temperature [C]

Figure 10.5 Collecting efficiency as a function of flue gas temperature in a pilot ESP.
Two different Australian low S coals were tested.

The curves in the figure are almost the inverse of a resistivity curve. The lowest efficiency
occurs at the point of highest resistivity. At temperatures below the range of 90 100 C the
resistivity problem has disappeared. The ash efficiently absorbs any remaining acid in the flue
gas and no corrosion or clogging occurred. The low temperature can be achieved in different
ways e.g. through a gas/gas heater in the duct after the air preheater or an extension of the air
preheater.

The boiler operation and load may vary over wide ranges. Some stations are base load stations
and gas flow and dust load is reasonably constant with time. Other stations vary the load with
the time of the day or with the season. In such cases the variations to the ESP can be
substantial. Electrical and rapping settings may require changing depending on gas flow and
dust load in order to achieve optimum performance at each instant in time. For low load
conditions or for low heating values of the coal support oil or gas may be used in the boiler to
ensure stable combustion. This additional fuel can act as a conditioning agent for the ESP.

86
10.3 World Coal.
Coals are used for the electrical power industry or to produce process steam or hot water
for small scale space heating and district heating plants. In many cases the coal burning
plant is located close to the coalmine. In other cases shipping inland on railways, roads or
on water ways to the boiler becomes the economical choice. The local coals may shift in
quality tremendously. A coal with a high ash content and low heating value cannot be
shipped economically over long distances. For example in India the typical domestic coal
can have 40 - 50 % ash but is still used to a great extent locally for economical reasons.

It will be appreciate that as many of the worlds coalfields are coming to an end, the
quality of the coal is decreasing. Any changes in the chemical composition of the coal
supplied to any plant must be reported to the person in charge of the cleaning plant by the
site fuel technologist. In the developed world power stations use low sulphur coals because
due to legislation there is no need to install a flue gas desulphurisation (FGD) system.
However, with the increasing concern about the environment it is today not unusual to see
FGD systems even when firing low sulphur coals. The FGD system may impose new
demands on the particulate collecting efficiency. An example is when gypsum is produced
from a limestone scrubber. In order to get a saleable product the particulate emissions
must be below a certain value. The desulphurisation process can adversely influence if the
emissions are excessive.

With many power plants built on coasts or ocean accessed waterways the importation of
coal has become a major consideration in the search for low cost coal. Numerous countries
are now major exporters of coal around the world. The internationally traded coals are
exported mainly from Australia, South Africa, Colombia, Indonesia, Canada, the United
States and Poland. China, with its vast coal reserves, is now also becoming a significant
coal exporter.

Export coals typically have high calorific value, and low ash and usually low sulphur
content. Many export coals are today treated (benefication) before shipment. For example
washing methods are used to reduce ash and sulphur content. The ash content may in this
way be reduced from some 25 % to 10 % and exportation becomes attractive. Coals are
divided into certain categories that characterise them in terms of grinding and firing
properties. A coal-fired boiler is usually designed with respect to the type of coal. By using
other types of coal unstable conditions may apply and for example support fuel might be
needed for the firing.

Coal is classed by its RANK which classifies its nature. A high rank coal such as anthracite
has the highest calorific value and produces the lowest pollution. While a low rank coal
such as brown coal has the lowest calorific value and produces the most pollution. With
regard to age anthracite is the oldest while brown coal is the youngest.

87
Ranking of coals are as following:
anthracite
bituminous
sub-bituminous
lignite
brown coal

Another young fuel close to brown coal is peat. The important properties for ESPs for these
coals are briefly described in the following chapters.

10.3.1 Anthracite Coals.

Anthracite coals are generally difficult to grind and fire successfully and have a low
volatile and moisture content. Due to these properties they generate very fine ash particles
that can be difficult to precipitate. A high carbon carryover with the fly ash, of up to 10 %,
is common. Severe carbon re-entrainment that impacts on the overall emission from the
precipitator can result. The percentage of carbon content in the stack can be substantially
increased causing a visible emission without there being a high dust mass emission.

The effect of this carbon re-entrainment can be reduced as discussed in previous

chapters by considering e.g.

(1) Size the ESP to have a low gas velocity 1.5 m/s or even lower for plants requiring
low emission guarantees.
(2) Provide sufficient power to keep the dust cake on to the collecting plates. A
conflict might arise if the rest of the fly ash has a high resistivity.
(3) Reduce the gas velocity in the bottom region of the precipitator to get the carbon
material more efficiently into the hoppers.
(4) Use ammonia conditioning to increase the cohesiveness of the ash. If no SO3 is
available due to a low sulphur coal it may even be necessary to add SO3 (= dual
conditioning) according to experience in US.

Improvement in the grinding of the coal improve combustions and reduces carbon
carryover.

The above discussion on the collection of carbon particles is applicable for other coals. It
should be noted, however, that the same problem might arise from some low-NOx burners.
Air staging and lower flame temperatures may result in high carbon carryover.

10.3.2 Bituminous Coals

Bituminous coal is the major fuel used in pulverized coal fired boilers. These coals typically
have good grinding properties, high heating value with a volatile content 18 - 34 %. The ash
content can have a wide range from a few percentages to above 50 % as found in some locally
used coals.

10.3.3 Medium Sulphur Bituminous Coals

These coals that have sulphur content of 1.5 - 2.5 % normally produces conditioned fly ash
with acceptable resistivity values. With such coals the precipitator size is moderate and the
design would be basically standard. The flue gas temperature should not be too low in

88
order to avoid condensation and corrosion. The migration velocity and ESP size is
dominated by the sulphur in the coal with appropriate adjustments for required efficiency,
emission, gas temperature, ash loading, collector plate spacing and precipitator
configuration factors see chapter 5.2.

10.3.4 High Sulphur Bituminous Coals

Coals with sulphur contents in excess of say 2.5 %, such as those from some Illinois,
Indiana and Kentucky mines in the eastern United States, produce sulphur trioxide that is
more than sufficient to fully condition the fly ash particulate. An excess of sulphur trioxide
can result in extremely sticky ash creating precipitator and corrosion problems if not fully
considered during the design stage and also results in stack visual acid mist emissions.

High sulphur in the coal will produce potentially high acid dew points. Acid particles will
be precipitated along with the fly ash and could produce very sticky deposits that require
very effective rapping to ensure adequate cleaning to prevent deterioration of the
precipitator electrical operating conditions. Typical ESP temperatures are 150 C or above.
In the early days these types of coal were common and it became obvious that these
temperatures were necessary to maintain both for the air preheater and the ESP. As a
consequence there has been some hesitation among users to design ESPs for lower
temperatures when switching to low sulphur coals - compare chapter 10.2.1 (low
temperatures for low sulphur coals).
Four additional areas also requiring special attention are:
Hopper valley angles should be made steeper and heating should be increased to
improve ash evacuation from the hoppers. Vibrators, poke holes etc may be required.
Insulator heating and hot air purge systems should be increased to reduce the
potential for electrical tracking on the insulators and failure. Insulator systems
should be pre heated before a start-up.
The design and installation of the thermal insulation requires additional attention to
ensure all joints and seams are lapped and that chimney stops are installed. Double
insulation may be warranted over and around access doors.
If possible the whole ESP casing should be held at a temperature above the dew
point before the high voltage is turned on. Sometimes the start-up is done with help
of oil and during such conditions it may not be necessary to have the ESP in
operation.

10.3.5 Low Sulphur Bituminous Coals.

These coals are the most common for export and are widely specified today for new power
plants. Coals with lower sulphur produce low levels of sulphur trioxide and the ash readily
absorbs this small amount. It is hardly possible to measure any acid dew point in the flue
gas. As a result for a given flue gas temperature and moisture content the resistivity of the
fly ash will increase. Other constituents than sulphur in the coal and the firing conditions
start to dominate the resistivity level. An increase in resistivity generally indicates that an
increased ESP size will be required to achieve a given emission efficiency. Except for the
difficulty to precipitate the fly ash special design features are not normally required. When
the resistivity of the fly ash is high it is likely that back corona will occur in sections of the
precipitator. As mentioned above for high resistivity fly ash conditions sulphur trioxide can

89
be injected into the flue gas to condition the fly ash particles reducing the resistivity and
hence improving the precipitability.

For some Australian and other low sulphur fuels, which have ash exceeding 90 % silica plus
alumina content and low sodium, dual conditioning with both sulphur trioxide and ammonia
are injected. This combination both increases the cohesion properties of the fly ash and
reduces the resistivity. In a number of plants ammonia injection has been used successfully.
The ash properties on the collecting plates change dramatically and re-entrainment is
reduced. Ammonia has proven useful for e.g. Australian and Indian coals. It has also been
documented that the use of too much ammonia prohibits the use of ash for cement.

Table 10.1 shows examples of low sulphur coals with varying compositions that influence
the ESP design.

Table 10.1 S, Ash and coal ash analysis for typical low S coals from different countries.
Country South Poland India USA China Australia
Africa (PRB)
S in coal 0,56 0,9 0,4 0,35 0,88 0,7
%
Ash % 14,0 13,5 34,3 7,6 26,0 18,0
Coal ash
analysis
SiO2 44,9 48,0 62,0 34,0 40,7 67,0
Al2O3 31,0 26,0 26,0 17,6 40,2 26,0
Fe2O3 3,7 7,5 6,4 5,2 3,0 0,75
CaO 7,6 5,5 0,47 21,8 5,4 0,3
MgO 1,8 3,5 1,0 4,0 0,5 0,2
Na2O 0,30 0,80 0,50 1,56 0,13 0,12

K2 O 1,1 2,5 1,0 0,37 0,24 2,5

The coals in Table 10.1 are substantially different when it comes to ESP properties. Various
suppliers have different views on the necessary ESP size. It is generally believed that ESP
sizes between the most difficult ones (Australia and India) will be at least doubled those of a
more easy one (Poland). In the literature it is reported about difficulties for some coals having
high Al content [Reference: Wang (2001)].

Some precipitator suppliers and operators considered that the problem of back corona would
disappear if the collecting plates could be kept free of dust. This lead to the development of
high 'g' rapping specifications, which although improving conditions in some instances, did
not completely solve the problem. Since, with the general low cohesiveness of these fly ashes,
the collecting electrodes were already relatively clean and the higher rapping simply increased
the amount of re-entrainment. In addition the high 'g' rapping could result in fatigue failures
for the rapping systems if not properly designed and tested. A special design for collector
plate cleaning has been developed where mechanical brushes are used for ash removal. The
collecting plate is moving up and down in a loop and the brushes are positioned close to the
hopper area where there is no high voltage. [Ref. Misaka et al. (1998)].

90
As discussed earlier there are alternative methods for improving the performance of a
precipitator firing low sulphur coal. They are related to current distribution and to changing
the method by which the precipitator is energized. In chapter 5.6 it is described that a good
electrode design results in a higher tolerance for higher resistivities and less back-corona is
generated. The use of intermittent energization or sometimes some form of pulse charging
have successfully been implemented during the last two decades and are commonly used.
These systems reduce the back corona, by controlling the quantity of current arriving: at the
collecting electrodes in a given time period.

10.3.6 Sub Bituminous Coals.

These coals are normally low in sulphur content, high in moisture, as much as 15 to 30 %
and have a typical volatile content of 41 to 43 %; those from the Wyoming, US Powder
River Basin (PRB) also have significant quantities, 20 % or more, of lime in the ash. The
gas flow is larger than from bituminous coals.

The firing of these coals became popular in the USA in the late 1960s. Precipitators supplied
by US suppliers were unable to remove the fly ash to the levels close to the expected
performance due to the severe back corona and re-entrainment difficulties. At the same time
the legislation became stricter. As a result ESP pilot precipitator investigations by European
suppliers revealed that this fly ash could be collected efficiently. Large power plants are now
fitted with ESPs with improved designs and operate very successfully on the these fuels in
US and other areas of the world firing similar sub bituminous coals.

No special requirements are required for precipitators collecting fly ash from these types of
coals. Gas temperatures are in the 130 C range.

Accommodating the larger precipitator layout, particularly on retrofitted plant, is difficult,

especially where limited boiler centres prevent a conventional 'in line' arrangement. With the
larger units, in order to avoid expensive double decking the configuration take the form of a
'chevron' , see Figure 10.6 where the precipitators are angled to the boiler centre line, or
'back to back' arrangements, where the flow is at 90 degrees to the boiler centre line.
Difficulties in ensuring uniform ash distribution and preventing ash fall out were common
with the 'chevron' configuration; so many suppliers favour the latter 'back to back' approach.

91
 Stack

South North

Figure 10.6 Typical chevron layout of an ESP with two casings, each one comprising
four cells.

10.3.7 Lignite.
Lignite is found universally in Germany, Greece, North America, India and Australia is possibly
the largest of the known reserves. Lignites are softer than sub-bituminous coals, having medium
to high ash content and a high volatile content and are easy to fire. Conventional grinding
technology is normally used. The fuel as mined has a moisture content up to 50 %. Occasionally
the lime content of the ash may be as high as 80 - 90 % (as CaO). In such cases the mine
comprises layers of limestone and during the mining these layers are not separated from the
lignite before ignition. As a consequence a high lime content of the "ash" can absorb almost
all SO2 and SO3 in the flue gas. Even with high moisture levels resistivities above 1013
ohmcm have been measured. Flue gas temperatures often approach 200 C. In such cases
the resistivity problem can be solved with reduced gas temperature.

The gas flow from a lignite-fired boiler is greater than that from a bituminous-fired boiler of
the same output. Some brown coals have a high salt (chloride) level and the salt can evaporate
in the boiler and sublimate before entering the ESP. Submicron particles may generate severe
corona suppression due to the space charge effect. Installation of discharge electrodes
providing a high corona current at a low voltage in the front fields reduces the effect of the
submicron particles. Again, this may be in conflict with preferred design for high resistivity
conditions. Another choice of discharge electrode in the back of the ESP may be applicable.

10.3.8 Brown Coals.

These are relatively soft and the major reserves are in Australia and Europe. They have a
low ash content, a high moisture content and low calorific value, the power plants firing
brown coal are normally located close to the mines. With a high water content, in excess of

92
60 % water, the coals are sometimes dried using flue gas. Special ESP's have been applied
after the dryers.

By virtue of their nature brown coals cannot be ground in conventional coal mills but are
shredded, commonly by breaker bars fitted to the internal walls of a fan casing or in pin mills. The
flue gas from firing brown coals has moisture levels exceeding 20 %, gas temperatures of around
200 C. Consequently the actual gas flow rate through the ESP per MWe can be double that of a
bituminous coal-fired unit.

Generally the conditions are suitable for an ESP. The cohesiveness of the ash is high and many
plants operate with a relatively high gas velocity and aspect ratios, (total field length to collector
height) of less than one. The problems of pulverising certain brown coals means that combustion
is far from complete and a high amount of carryover of char (de-volatilised carbon) is transported
to the ESP. This char has a large surface area but a low mass and may be difficult to collect see
previous discussion about carbon re-entrainment. Rapping sequencing and frequencies are critical
and need to be optimised. Because of the size and colour of the char rapping spikes are very
visible. Some installations close to urban areas have been force to use so-called "off-flow"
rapping in order to comply with local legislation.

For many brown coals the silica to alumina ratio of the ash is low. Alumina can be over 40%
instead of maybe 20 % for many other coals. The alumina can create large particles with a fluffy
structure that makes them readily re-entrained. This kind of coal with high alumina and a high
char content is common in Victoria, Australia. After extensive investigations with pilot tests,
ESP's operating with a low gas velocity has been successfully built on large power stations for
such lignites.

10.4 Other fuels

10.4.1 Peat
Peat is a fuel with a very high moisture content and a low calorific value. It is found in surface
bogs and used primarily in Russia, Scandinavia and Ireland. It should not be characterized as
a biomass as its formation has taken a long time. It is common to collect it during the summer
period and dry it before being fired. The ESP application is in principle easy and standard
design ESP's can be used. However, if some of the flue gases are used for drying the peat,
hydrocarbons can be evaporated and condensed leading to high resistivity conditions
downstream of the ESP if the drying gases are mixed with the boiler flue gases. Many of the
plants that fire peat also have a multitude of other fuels that can be mixed or fired as stand
alone fuels.

10.4.2 Fuel Oils.

A wide variety of fuel oils are used for heat and electricity production. The oils range from
light-oil (No 2) containing 0.5 % sulphur to heavy-oil (No 6) containing a minimum of 3 %
sulphur. The ash content is very low, typically < 0.2 %, so particulate pollution from the ash
has not been a concern in many countries. However, the carryover of carbon and the
production of SO3 during combustion nowadays call for flue gas cleaning. For large oil fired
power stations it is today a common practice to install both ESPs and FGD plants.

Light fuel oil has a lower viscosity, resulting in easy atomisation and good combustion
the dust load is often acceptable without flue gas cleaning. Heavy fuel oil must be heated

93
to a temperature of 170 C for pumping to the atomiser of the burner system. Some large
droplets may still be produced and they fail to burn out completely. Particles with a
voided structure, (cenospheres), are generated and fall in the same category as described
above, i.e. readily re-entrained particles that need some special design considerations for
the ESP.

The firing of high sulphur oil with the required excess air generates large amounts of
SO3. As the acid dew point becomes high the gas temperature in the ESP is often around
160 C.

For modern plants the emission specification is often set to 20 mg/Nm. With the low dust
loadings, normally < 500 mg/Nm, but containing up to 80 % carbon, the precipitator design
gas velocity needs to be moderate for these low emissions. The aspect ratio (length to height
ratio) has increased to approximately 1.0 whereas values as low as 0.6 applied in earlier
installations. Old plants can still be found where velocities up to 2 m/s are used
successfully. Even for today's low emissions a three field ESP is often adequate. Cross
section volume gas flow may be up to 1000 m3/s for large power plants.

If the gas temperature approaches dew point, the rapping requires being effective, although
at a fairly low impact frequency since the inlet load is low. Also strong effective rapping is
particularly important for installations that employ either magnesia or ammonia to control
the free S03 levels in the flue gases since the dust can become sticky. The injection rate of
ammonia is critical to prevent the formation of cohesive ammonium bisulphate/bisulphite.
With correct control of the injection rate, excess ammonia, and ammonium sulphate will be
formed. This compound is much easier to handle than the more acid bisulphate/bisulphite.
The acid dew point is lowered substantially and corrosion potential is reduced. This
technique reduces the quantity of acid adhering to the ash and carbon particles, making
rapping and hopper ash evacuation easier. For these applications it is important that the
design of the insulator/ support system has adequate and effective heating and heated air
purging to prevent electrical tracking damages and unplanned stoppages. It is important to
eliminate air ingress particularly into the hoppers where large quantities of hot carbon dust
are collected. The elimination of air inleakage minimises the risk of spontaneous
combustion. When bringing the ESP off-line the internals should be thoroughly rapped and
dust should be removed from hoppers.

Some fuel oils have high asphaltene content and the risk for formation of cenospheres
increases dramatically. Providing the burners are well maintained good atomisation can still
be maintained and the effect on ESP performance is minimal.

It should be noted that oil may be used as a start-up fuel and for low load conditions for coal
fired boilers. It is imperative that the oil burners are functioning correctly so that oil
particles do not enter the ESP. As mentioned earlier small amount of hydrocarbon particles
can surround the fly ash particles and change the properties to high resistivity conditions.
The oily dust may adhere on the collecting plates may take days to disappear in a normal
way. During this time low resistivity fly ash from coal only firing can show back-corona
signs and as a consequence the emission might be significantly higher than acceptable
levels.

94
10.4.3 Orimulsion.
Orimulsion is a fuel originating from the Orinoco Basin (Venezuela). Bitumen from that
area with fairly high sulphur content is mixed in water in the ratio of 70/30 so that the fuel
can be handled very much like oil. The Orimulsion is transported by ocean tankers the
power plants are normally close to the docks in the country of use. The particle size of the
bitumen is around 15 m in the emulsion. The heating value is 7200 kcal/kg (approximately
30,15 MJ/kg) significantly lower than for oil. The ash load is still low at around
250 mg/Nm but contains high vanadium (320 ppm), nickel (75 ppm) and magnesium
(7 ppm) additive components.

Orimulsion has high sulphur content, around 2.8 % as fired and produces a high level of
SO3. The amount of excess air affects the formation of SO3. Plants firing Orimulsion are
normally base load stations and it is therefore possible to adjust the oxygen content to low
figures. The amount of carbon monoxide in the stack is rather the limiting factor and
values higher than 250 ppm is not normally allowed. This implies that SO3 must be taken
care of in some way. . The amount of SO3 in the gases produces two distinct ash forms, a
light buff ash and vanadyl sulphate that is green in colour. Effective heating and purging
of the insulator systems is essential to avoid electrical tracking, cracking damage and
failure. Experience has shown that high resistivity can be present e.g. when high Mg, low
SO3 and low oxygen conditions prevail. The Mg alone is generally not sufficient to
capture the SO3. In order to reduce the SO3 emissions to an acceptable level there are two
alternatives: the injection of ammonia or to use a WESP after a FGD plant.
Orimulsion generates essentially sub micrometer ash that can be finer than the ash from oil
firing. Discharge corona electrodes that produce high currents are required in the first field
of an ESP to avoid or minimise corona suppression effects. The gas velocity should be no
higher than 1.5 m/s especially if the dust becomes dry due to the upstream reduction of
SO3. Normally the precipitator would have a minimum of three separately energised series
precipitation fields for an emission lower than 25 - 30 mg/Nm. It has been demonstrated
that ESP's can give particulate emissions < 5 mg/Nm in the stack.
The power supplies should be designed for a high current density; particularly for the outlet
field of the precipitator where essentially clean gas conditions exist. For low emissions,
which are required due to the toxicity of the ash it recommended to operate with discharge
electrodes producing a low or moderate ionic wind see chapter 5.6. Although EU
legislation requires an emission of 50 mg/Nm dry at 6 % 02, the fine size of the particulate
requires an emission of around 25 mg/Nm to achieve visually acceptable stack emissions.

There can be problems with hopper ash removal, particularly when the boiler oxygen levels
are such that deliquescent vanadyl sulphate is produced. Atmospheric moisture can be
rapidly absorbed, if any air infiltration occurs, producing a gelatinous material that is
difficult to handle. The dust is classed as a hazardous material and requires "safe disposal".
Recovery of the vanadium and nickel from the dust is achieved by the use of special plant.

10.4.4 Other by-product fuels

Until recently other by-products like petroleum coke were considered of little value and
discarded. However with increasing concern about the environment for energy saving
purposes a number of new fuels have been introduced.

95
Petroleum coke, is solid at atmospheric temperature, can be readily ground and fed into the
combustion zone as a pulverised fuel. Petroleum coke comprises little ash, < 0.2 - 3 %, has a
low volatile content but can be high in sulphur, > 5%. Combustion is acceptable but the
high sulphur content can lead to high acid dew-point temperatures. ESP's are used but must
be designed and operated for these conditions. Petroleum coke is often used together with
other fuels that have lower sulphur content. There are also fluidised beds that fire only
petroleum coke and they operate successfully. However, with the high sulphur content,
FGD installations must be used.

Other residues can have a high viscosity but can be made to slowly flow at elevated
temperatures. ESP's can normally be used but design and size vary depending on fuel and
firing conditions.

10.4.5 Biomass fired plants

Biomass firing is receiving more attention as it is considered to be an environmentally
friendly fuel that does not contribute to any global heating. For many years it has been
used in small production facilities for district heating, industrial steam production etc but
also more recently to generate electricity compare also chapter 10.7.1.

ESP's are efficient devices for this kind of flue gases with some exceptions. The robustness
and ability to manage short temperature peaks and small fires (rather occasionally glowing
dust) makes ESP's the natural choice for many users. In many countries in Europe it is now
necessary to have a collector for fine particles after small units even with a capacity of a
few MW. Emission levels of 30 - 40 mg/Nm are often required. Standard ESP's
manufactured in a workshop can be supplied to site reducing the cost and installation time.
These ESP's have often a precollector upstream and inlet load can then be < 500 mg/Nm. A
one or two field ESP will then easily reduce the emission down to 10 - 20 mg/Nm level. In
the Nordic and Central European countries and in certain areas in North America it is
common to fire straw, wood waste and bark. These are from tree residues, wood industries
and timber treatment. In other southern countries including South America and Asia residues
from sugar canes, sunflower husk and nutshells are also fired. Duel fuel firing is under
development in firing biomass fuel together with another fuel such as coal. The amount of
biomass only comprises a small percentage of the total heating value.

Two problems may develop in an ESP's.

One, if the fuel has a high content of potassium and chlorine. These two elements
can combine and the resulting potassium chloride can sometimes appear as a high
resistivity substance with subsequent back-corona.
The other problem may be that some fuels have fibres that do not burn out completely.
These "needles" have a tendency to be placed along the electrical field lines, i.e. the
peak of needlepoints towards the discharge electrode. The result is then early sparking
due to a reduced electrical clearance.

Wet ESP's can be a valid alternative for many biomass plants. The advantage is that there are
no re-entrainment or back-corona problems and there is no risk of fires.

96
10.4.6 ESPs after Dry Flue Gas Desulphurisation
For certain plants it is a cost-effective means to install a Dry, or sometimes called a semi-dry,
Flue Gas Desulphurisation (DFGD) system. Water and lime, sometimes in the form of slurry,
are injected upstream a particulate collector. Alternatively collected dust can be recirculated,
and wetted before reinjection. For such systems the inlet load to the collector is high. Full
evaporation must take place and in order to ensure this various system arrangements have
been designed. The addition of the water reduces the flue gas temperature to typically 70 C.
At this temperature SO2 is efficiently absorbed by the lime and by inherent Ca-compounds in
the fly ash. The particulate collector, either a FF or an ESP, readily collects the ash and the
lime or lime compounds.

FF's are more commonly used than ESP's as the dust layer on the fabrics collects more SO2
compared to that captured in an ESP. Depending on the type of DFGD the inlet dust load to
the collector can vary within wide ranges. For some systems the collected dust is recirculated
for a better utilisation of the lime and also as a means for spreading the water for fast
evaporation. Dust load up to and above 1000 g/Nm can be used. An ESP designed for these
conditions can readily reduce the emissions to < 10 mg/Nm. the size of such an ESP is still
moderate because the average particle size is large and cohesiveness and resistivity is
excellent for this device. Should the chlorine content in the coal be high, a risk of corrosion
exists at these low temperatures.

10.5 Cement
The cement processing industry has been one of the pioneers in the use of dry ESP's. The
first application was the wet process kiln. This was an easy application for ESPs. There are a
large variety of different applications a development from wet kilns to long dry kilns and
further on to multistage dry preheater kiln has occurred based on energy savings concepts. In
addition to being applied to cement kilns, the use of ESPs on the exhaust gas from alkali by-
pass and clinker cooler applications are common. In recent years FF's have become a viable
solution for many of these installations.

There are also a number of closely related processes that are not covered in this book. Among
these can be mentioned gypsum crushing and drying, limestone crushing and grinding, lime
kilns, clay drying, blast furnace slag drying and manufacturing of LECA (light weight
aggregate used in construction industry for its heat insulation properties). ESP's have been
successfully applied to all of these production systems.

10.5.1 Wet Process

The feed material, known as "raw meal" and consisting of limestone, clay and additives is
finely ground and fed into the kiln as slurry containing about 40 % water. The slurry is dried,
calcined, sintered and finally clinkered in the kiln. The flue gas has around 25 % water by
volume, a temperature of 200 C and a dust loading of typically 25 g/Nm. The precipitated
dust is returned back to the kiln.

The dust resistivity at these conditions is around 1010 ohmcm. In a few instances the
resistivity has become high as a result of the low heating value of a fuel that produced
hydrocarbons that are collected as particulate in the ESP. Another problem that can occur is if
the raw material contains fairly high concentrations of chlorides, which volatilise in the kiln.
When the dust is recirculated the build-up of chlorides in the process becomes high and large

97
agglomerates of these sub-micron particles can escape to the stack. The solution is a bleed-
off of the outlet hopper dust in lieu of returning it back to the kiln.

10.5.2 Semi-wet Process

The semi-wet/semi-dry process, such, as through a Lepol kiln, is more energy efficient than
the wet process. The slurry is partially dried with help of some form of pressure filter to give a
cake having a moisture level of around 20 % and by the hot gas from the kiln. The cake is
crushed to granulate, fed on to a moving grate; precalcined before entering the kiln. Final
calcination is then done in a short rotating kiln to produce the clinker.

The flue gas to the ESP leaves the kiln at a temperature of around 110 C, having a moisture
content of around 15 % and a dust burden of typically 6 - 8 g/Nm.

Precipitation of the dust exiting the kiln is easy at normal temperatures. At lower gas
temperatures severe corrosion of ordinary carbon steel components can rapidly develop. In
some cases other materials, e.g. aluminium/stainless steel alloys have been used to prolong
the life of the plant. The chloride content in the gas must be monitored and minimised to
guard against corrosion of the materials used.

10.5.3 Dry Process

Dry processes are now preferred methods of cement production. In the 1950s long dry kilns
were introduced. Raw meal is introduced in a dry form instead of slurry resulting in energy
savings. Conditions into the ESP changed and typical values are: Gas temperature 350 C,
moisture contents 5 - 15 % depending on the type of fuel and inlet burden of 100 g/Nm. The
properties for ESP operation are in general easy, especially when the moisture content is in
the higher range.

Today's modern cement kilns have a preheater/precalcining cyclone tower where the raw
material passes before it enters a relatively short rotary kiln. Before entering the cyclone
tower the raw material is mixed, dried and ground in a raw mill by using the process gas. A
typical layout of a plant is seen in Figure 10.7. Most kilns have 4 stages of cyclones, earlier
ones had less but during recent years kilns with 6 stages have been introduced. There is also a
special precalciner a fast circulating fluidised bed in between the cyclones and the rotary
kiln.

98
 Conditioning
tower

Water

Cyclones ESP

ESP Precalciner

Kiln

Raw mill

Clinker cooler
Air

Figure 10.7 Modern cement plant with a 4-stage preheater rotary kiln.

The ESP is de-dusting gases coming from the raw mill and from the kiln. Depending on the
conditions at a plant there may be a mixture of gases or it may be gases from only one of the
cases. The conditions are quite different. When all the gases pass the raw mill, the dust load
to the ESP can be up to 1000 g/Nm depending on the type of mill and have gas temperatures
from 90 to 130 C with a relatively high moisture level. The precipitator is of standard design
in spite of the high inlet loads. However, there is sometimes a mechanical pre-collector
upstream the ESP. The ESP can be designed for these inlet conditions and a special
mechanical collector is not necessarily required. A high under pressure normally prevails in
the ESP. The dust resistivity is sensitive to moisture content and gas temperature so the ESP
might be designed for back-corona conditions should the conditions be unfavourable.

When the raw mill is out of service for routine maintenance or there is enough raw meal
available, the ESP has to collect the dust from the kiln/cyclone tower, often called direct
operation. The gas exits the cyclones at a temperature of around 350 C and a dust loading of
some 60 to 150 g/Nm. In 1960s and 1970s the gases entered the ESP at these temperatures.
Some of the installations performed satisfactorily with help of advanced pulsing technology.
However, in many plants, an increased dust resistivity led to high emissions that were not
acceptable. Also the transient period going from direct operation to raw mill or vice versa
meant that the dust entering the ESP should pass the peak resistivity and this led to high
emissions as well. Figure 10.8 illustrates the typical dust resistivity from the preheater
cyclone. Resistivities for a wet kiln and for a long dry kiln are shown for comparison for more
cyclones in the preheater stage the resistivity becomes higher. The reason for this is that
almost all dust from the kiln, has a moderate resistivity, and is collected in the cyclones while
most of the emitted dust from the cyclones is fine dust from the raw mill.

99
 m
14
10

13
10

12
10
4-stage pre-
heater kiln
11
10
1-stage pre-
10
10 heater kiln

9 Long dry
10
kiln
8
10
Wet kiln

7
10
100 200 300 400 C

Figure 10.8 Typical resistivity curves for cement applications.

Modern plants now have conditioning towers see chapter 9 - to reduce the gas temperature
to 150 C. The increased water content reduces the dust resistivity and strengthens the
electrical properties of the flue gas so that back-corona conditions can be avoided. For some
plants a higher temperature can be used without back-corona. However these conditions are
difficult to predict and it is therefore advised that the tower should be designed for an outlet
temperature of 150 C. The power supplies should be fitted with intermittent energisation
feature to reduce any back-corona conditions and to optimise power consumption. It should
be emphasised again that the maintenance of a conditioning tower must not be overlooked
because heavy dust build-up on walls and in the bottom area may negatively affect the ESP
operation in many ways.

Some raw material can contain a relatively high chloride content. The chloride often appears
as fine sub micron alkalichloride and can cause corona suppression in the front fields. In such
cases discharge electrodes producing a high corona current for a low voltage should be
considered. However, as previously pointed out, for future low emissions, < 10 - 20 mg/Nm3,
a discharge electrode giving less corona wind is recommended in order to reduce the size of
the ESP.

With the high under pressure during raw mill operation and with low emissions the design and
sizing of both the hopper and dust removal systems is critical. The dust is of an abrasive
nature and will cause wear on the mechanical equipment leading to in leakage of false air that
can jeopardise high collection efficiency.

10.5.4 Alkali By-pass

Alkali compounds (Na and K salts) must sometimes be taken out of the cement process to
comply with cement product specifications. This application is also sometimes referred to as
chloride by-pass. Raw material can have a lot of these compounds particularly when it has
come from a source near the sea. A slipstream of the flue gas is bled off from the kiln and

100
cooled down to about 500 600 C by mixing with ambient air. Further cooling is then done
in a conditioning tower to typically 150 180 C.

The ESP is of a standard design. However, corona suppression may take place, the same inlet
burden can be in the 150 g/Nm range and the dust can be more difficult to dispose of due to
stickiness.

10.5.5 Clinker cooler

The clinker produced in the kiln is fed into the clinker cooler at temperatures exceeding 1000
C. It falls onto a moving-grate or reciprocating-grate forming a bed of uniform thickness.
Ambient air is blown up through the grate cooling the clinker. Some of the air is used for
combustion in the kiln and the rest goes to the clinker cooler ESP. Some coolers are fitted
with water sprays for further cooling and this will help to improve the ESP performance.

Another type of clinker cooler, not so common in new plants, is the planetary cooler that
consists of large diameter tubes fitted around discharge end of the kiln. In this case all cooling
air is fed into the kiln and a separate ESP is not needed.

The clinker cooler ESP is a rather new application. In the beginning it was believed that due
to high resistivities, often > 1011 ohmcm, and very low moisture content, < 2% by volume,
that an ESP would not work correctly. After pilot testing, the first full-scale plants were taken
into operation in the 1960s and showed good performances without any appreciable amount
of back-corona. Particles are coarse, and have a high specific density and are easily dislodged
from the plates down to the hopper area. Intermittent energization is commonly used for both
preventing back-corona and to reduce the power consumption of the ESP.

Dust load to the ESP can vary within wide ranges depending on the design. Average loads
from a few g/Nm to tenths of g/Nm can be seen. The conditions within a plant can also vary
significantly. Occasional upset conditions from the kiln or in the cooler can change the dust
load rapidly and to higher values than mentioned above. The temperature may rise from
typically 120 150 C to as high as 350 400 C. Under such conditions the resistivity
increases but with help from intermittent energization and sometimes water sprays the
emissions can be kept at reasonable levels. Resistivities in the order of 1013 ohmcm have been
measured without excessive back-corona.

101
10.5.6 Cement mill

The main ingredients for cement are clinker and gypsum. The mixture is fed to a cement mill
in a dry form. Two types of mills are used for grinding; either a traditional ball mill or a
vertical spindle mill. Grinding generates heat so the mill must be cooled with either air or
water. If the mill is air-cooled a FF is usually installed. A water-cooled mill typically has an
ESP, which works very efficiently under the prevailing conditions. The temperature is
normally around 100 C and a high moisture content of 15 25 % by volume is common for
these ESP's. However, some problems may occur during start-up of the mill. The high dust
concentration enters the ESP before the water is added and higher emissions can be expected.
Special procedures are often implemented to reduce emissions under these circumstances. A
standard design ESP can be used for this application inlet configuration may be modified,
see below. In case of air-dried mill the resistivity might be high and back-corona conditions
can be expected.

The dust load from the mill can be extremely high, > 1000 g/Nm. Therefore the installations
are often equipped with a pre-collector, e.g. a cyclone or a simplified mechanical collector
ahead of the ESP. The dust is relatively coarse and ESP's with inlet loads up to 2000 g/Nm3
are successfully in operation. The dust discharge system has to be designed accordingly.

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10.6 Non-ferrous applications
ESP's have been applied to this application for many years. The main reason being that metal
recovery paid off the added equipment cost very quickly. In fact, the first commercial
applications for ESP's are related to non-ferrous processes. The most common applications
are in the copper and nickel industry but there are numerous examples also in e.g. lead, zinc,
magnesium and aluminium. This chapter will discuss some frequent processes for copper, Cu,
and nickel, Ni, with respect to the use of ESP's.

The ores used for production of non-ferrous metals are comprised of small concentrations of
Cu and Ni compared with iron, Fe. Cu and Ni compounds in the ore are rich in sulphur. At the
mine processes are used to send a concentrate of the ore to the smelter units for further
treatment. These concentrates contain most of the elements in the periodic system and in
advanced smelter plants several of these, e.g. selenium, arsenic, silver, gold and sulphur in
various forms, are also refined to saleable products. This implies that many of the applications
are site specific and require special attention and investigations before being built.

In common for the various processes is that in order to design an ESP it is important to obtain
information regarding gas flow, dust concentration and composition, gas composition with
respect to humidity, oxygen, sulphur and dew points.

10.6.1 Driers
The first step in the production chain is drying of the concentrate. The process is continuously
running implying constant conditions. It is an easy application for an ESP in spite of inlet
concentrations up to several hundred g/Nm with mostly coarse particles. The dust collected
in the ESP is used for further treatment and recovery. Some of the concentrates may generate
dust, which can ignite (sulphides become sulphates under heat production) if enough oxygen
is present in the flue gas. Experience has shown that there is very little if any benefit of having
a pre-collector in order to reduce the dust load. The coarse dust helps to keep the collecting
plates clean and also reduces the risk for fires, as it is more inert than the fine materials.

10.6.2 Roasters
The dried concentrate is treated in a multi-heart bed or in a fluidised bed and is continuously
in operation. The flue gas comprises a high SO2 content and risk for fires prevail due to
sulphides in the dust. The gas temperature is often around 350 C in the ESP. Rapping
effectiveness and prevention of in leakage of air minimises the fire risk.

The multi-heart bed has a long treatment time (hours) for the concentrate while the fluidised
bed has a short time (seconds). The difference in treatment time affects the dust composition
and it is important to know the gas and dust conditions. Impurities such as arsenic, (As), must
be carefully controlled and safely removed from the end product. This can be illustrated in the
following example. Arsenic does not have the length of time to evaporate in a fast-fluidised
bed and that metal is still mainly in a particle form. With a multi-heart bed most of the As
evaporated and must be treated differently in other processes. Ref. [Porle and Lindquist
(1979)] describes an example how a selective collection of dust was achieved after a multi-
heart furnace. At the high temperature, 350 C the common metals were precipitated before
the flue gas was rapidly cooled in a conditioning tower. Particulate As2O3 was formed and

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efficiently collected in a downstream ESP at around 120 C. Most of the As from the
concentrate was safely removed for further treatment.

10.6.3 Smelters
The roasted material is treated in a smelter producing a concentrate of. 40 % Cu, which will
then be treated in Converters. The smelting is a continuous process and can be done in a few
different ways. There are electrical smelting furnaces; however modern technology uses flash
furnaces. A large quantity of sulphur is discharged from the furnace in the flue gases at a
temperature in the ESP around 350 C ensuring operations above the acid dew point.

The composition of the dust can differ substantially and will have a direct impact on the size
of the ESP. Thus, a Zn rich concentrate may need a larger ESP than otherwise. High dust
concentrations prevail. Zn and Pb compounds are more prone to generate sticky dust requiring
powerful and reliable rapping. The dust will be stickier and softer the higher the flue gas
temperature is. Manual cleaning is sometimes required. It is imperative to have good control
of the gas temperature in the process. Due to the stickiness of the dust collector plate spacing
as wide as 600 mm have been used. The intention is then to allow dust build-up before
cleaning. Some plants are equipped with parallel casings in order to allow occasional shut
down of one casing for manual cleaning.

10.6.4 Converters
This is a batch process, which requires special considerations for the ESP plant. A cycle,
when the product from the smelter is refined to 95 - 98 % Cu, comprises various blows of
which the last one, the Cu-blow, is special. Most of the impurities are in the form of dust, at
the time they left the converter and are now mainly S, which is leaving. The first blows, the
matte blows, may have large quantities of dust, up to 50 g/Nm, while the last one can be
below 1g/Nm. The acid dew point varies accordingly and the resistivity might be high in the
beginning.

Another problem is that complex gas duct systems are built because there may be several
converters in parallel. In between the blows the converter is down and no flue gas is
produced. This may cause cooling in the gas duct unless dampers close to prevent air in
leakage. Meanwhile, parallel converters may operate implying various gas flows, various
temperatures and mixing conditions. The gas temperature just after the hood above the
converter should be controlled to 600 C in order to reduce formation of SO3. A waste heat
boiler lowers the temperature to normally 350 C before the ESP. It is important to always
keep the temperature in the ESP above the acid dew point in order to avoid corrosion and mud
formation. In some plants a conditioning tower is used instead. The tower may lower the
temperature down to about 120-130 C when the flue gas are at 350 C contain gaseous As
and when the dew point is controlled to low values. At the lower temperature the As has
condensed and can be precipitated.

10.6.5 Enriched Zinc and Lead slag furnaces

The slag produced during the various process steps comprises of valuable metals such as Zn
and Pb. In some smelter plants this slag is further treated, in a Slag Fuming plant, to recover
these metals. The Zn and Pb rich dust is evaporated in the furnace and when cooled down to
around 120 C where it is easily be captured in an ESP. However, the dust becomes of a high

104
resistivity nature for higher temperatures and cooling, with help of a conditioning tower, is
critical. The dust is sticky and may form hard crusts, which are difficult to remove.

10.6.6 Wet ESP's for SO3 collection

The flue gases leaving the various processes, when producing e.g. Cu and Ni, have a high
concentration of SO2. There is also an appreciable amount of SO3 in the flue gas leaving the
ESP's. It is a common practice today to utilise this rich flue gas for production of liquid SO2 or
SO3 production. However, in order to take care of the SO2, the flue gas must be cleaned from
any SO3 present. The flue gases from the different processes are cooled to saturation and this
implies that all SO3 is converted to sulphuric acid mist. This mist is then precipitated in wet
ESP's before the gas enters the production lines. These acid mist eliminators in the early days
were constructed primarily of lead, but due to its toxic nature the development of new
materials other choices are now used - see chapter 5.4 for additional information.

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10.7 Pulp and Paper Industries
There are a number of processes related to Pulp and Paper (P&P) production where ESP's
have been used for many years. Biomass firing, soda recovery boilers and lime sludge kilns
are common applications for this type of particulate collector. Some P&P plants use a wide
range of fuels, even coal and oil, for steam production but in this section we only cover
typical P&P production. The timber, used for paper production can differ a lot. Hard wood
and softwood have completely different properties, as does eucalyptus wood when compared
to trees in the Northern Hemisphere. The different properties of the wood used in paper
production have a direct effect on the air pollution control equipment.

10.7.1 Bark Fired Boilers

The bark from the timber is a valuable fuel and is commonly used for the generation of steam
and heat. It is burnt in various types of combustors such as moving grates and fluidised beds.
The inlet dust concentration to the ESP will vary accordingly. The application of an ESP is in
principle easy, however, a few precautions must be considered.

Firstly, some of the dust in the flue gas can be unburned particles and as such may easily
ignite or even burn when entering the ESP. In order to avoid fires in the ESP it is common to
use a mechanical pre-collector as an efficient remover of such particles. This pre-collector is
typically a louver collector or a cyclone. The louver collector gives a lower pressure drop and
is often satisfactory for this purpose. The risk of fires and damage of the ESP is reduced or
completely eliminated. The unburned particles may also have a low resistivity and they are at
such conditions prone to re-entrainment as has been discussed in previous chapters. Another
aspect of the potential for fires in these ESPs is the oxygen content in the gas. An ESP with
the fan located after the unit is subject to in leakage of oxygen that is required to support
combustion in the ESP. To reduce this contributing factor the fan is sometimes placed after
the pre-collector ahead of the ESP.

Secondly, there are some dust compositions that may contribute to difficult ESP operation. A
salty bark timbers having been shipped in the sea can generate high resistivity conditions
(back-corona) of the dust in the ESP. It can be difficult to measure any increased resistivity in
the laboratory because the dust properties may change by time. The source for this back-
corona is sodium chloride, NaCl, picked up from sea transport, and potassium chloride, KCl,
from the wood. If the concentration becomes too high, the ESP must be sized and designed
for high resistivity conditions. Another difficulty has been observed burning bark from
eucalyptus tree. Long fibres can be carried into the ESP and these needles tend to "shorten"
the electrical clearances and sparking may develop before any appreciable amount of corona
current has been generated.

Wet ESP's can be used in lieu of dry ESP's to avoid the fires and to avoid the effects high
resistivities.

10.7.2 Soda Recovery Boilers

Soda Recovery Boilers are also known as Kraft Recovery Boilers. The liquor, (black liquor),
used for the digestion of wood contains organic residuals as well as spent cooking chemicals,
which require to be recovered. This is done in the recovery cycle in which the recovery boiler
is the "heart". The chemicals are separated from organic matter during the combustion process

106
and they form a smelt bed at the bottom of the boiler due to a high boiler temperature. Some
of the chemicals evaporate from the smelt bed surface and leave the boiler with the flue gas.
After sublimation and subsequent condensation the dust is mainly composed of
sodiumsulphate, Na2SO4. The concentration in the flue gas exiting the boiler is high, normally
15 - 25 g/Nm. The size distribution of the single virgin particles (formed during the
combustion) depends primarily on the conditions in the boiler. These particles are small, equal
to or less than 1 m. Agglomerates will be formed from collisions of particles before entering
the ESP [Reference: Samuelsson (2000)]. The size of these agglomerates depends on the
treatment time in the boiler and in the gas duct between boiler and ESP the longer the time
is the more collisions occur and the average size of remaining particles and the agglomerates
becomes slightly larger. With this mass load and the sub micrometre virgin particles there is
normally more than 107 108 particles per cm3, which is an upper practical limit before
frequent collisions occur. At the entrance of the ESP the average size might be 1-2 m in the
flue gas. The particle size after the ESP can be substantially higher because re-entrainment is
likely to come from larger agglomerates formed on the collecting area. Substantial space
charge leading to corona suppression is often seen in the first electrical fields of the ESP. As a
consequence a spacing of 250 or 300 mm is frequently used.

The flue gas can contain varying amounts of SO2 depending on the liquor sulphur content ,
the liquor dry solid content and the boiler load. The humidity is around 20 % by volume and
normally no resistivity problems exist. The dust can however be very sticky and is difficult to
remove from the precipitator internals. The maximum collecting surface that is rapped from
one hammer is therefore relatively small compared to many other applications. Flat,
horizontal surfaces should be avoided inside the ESP. As a result of the stickiness, scrapers on
a flat bottom for the dust removal from the bottom of the ESP are used as standard. Scrapers
can be designed to move along the length of the filter or perpendicular to the gas flow. An
alternative to dry bottom drag scrapers is a "wet" bottom design where black liquor is used for
the removal of the collected dust. This concept is not commonly used in new plants. It should
be pointed out that it is more difficult to achieve a satisfactory prevention of gas stratums
under the bus sections when scrapers are used. Sneakage can easily jeopardise low emissions.

Two different locations of the ESP have been used. The ESP can be either downstream of an
economiser resulting in operating temperatures around 150 - 200 C or upstream of the
economiser with temperatures > 300 C. The latter has the advantage that the economiser
operates under much cleaner conditions but this concept is not used in new plants. An ESP
operating at temperatures > 300 C needs to be larger because the actual gas flow is higher
and the electrical properties of the gas are weaker resulting in lower voltages and migration
velocities. Furthermore, an ESP built for a high temperature, 350 C, is more expensive per
m2 of collecting area and it takes longer to cool down a casing for inspections and
maintenance. Therefore the arrangement with the ESP upstream of the economiser is not used
in the majority of the plants.

The flue gas from a chemical recovery boiler is normally divided into two or more casings,
each casing having dampers to isolate it for inspections and maintenance. Thus, a casing may
operate with different gas flow and with different percentages of the gas flow. The layout of a
multi-casing ESP plant with dampers is an important issue with respect to the gas distribution.
The pressure drop over the individual inlet and outlet ducts and the casing needs to be equal to
ensure similar gas flows in each operating casing.

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The sizing of the ESP plant must be carefully evaluated. Customers may have different sizing
criteria. It could be one emission guarantee with all casings in operation and another one with
one casing out of operation. The latter emission guarantee may be given under the assumption
of a reduced boiler load. The boiler load and the treatment time before the casings together
with the gas velocity in the ESP's determine the chosen migration velocity. This application is
typical for a case when the k-value in the modified migration velocity see chapter 5.2.2 -
deviates from 0.5. Factors from 0.8 to 1.0 are commonly used and the reason for this is the
uniformity in particle sizes. With a properly sized and arranged ESP, emissions below 10
mg/Nm3 are possible to achieve.

The recovery process is continuously being developed. The trend is to use a higher dry solid
content in the liquor and sulphur and impurities tend to increase due to a more closed loop
operation. As a result of this the dust transported to the ESP can have more carbonate. Also
sodium chloride and potassium salts are seen in a larger extent than fuels with lower solids
content. With these modifications there are examples of moderate back-corona generation in
some plants.

Corrosion is a potential problem with these plants. The temperature must therefore be
maintained all the time in all parts. One alternative commonly used is to build the casing from
lined reinforced concrete rather than in mild steel [Reference: Samuelsson and Francis
(2001)].

The kraft process is the most commonly used pulp production method. There are a number of
other pulping processes using different cooking chemicals; for example the magnesium based
sulphite process. The liquor comprises magnesium compounds and oxides and sulphates of
these are formed in the combustion process and have to be collected in an ESP.

10.7.3 Lime Sludge Kilns

The chemicals in the smelt from the recovery boiler are further treated before they can be
used in the cooking process to digest the wood. Lime, CaO, is added and as a by-product, mud
of calciumcarbonate, CaCO3, is generated. From this by-product CaO is recovered in a
rotating kiln to reduce the raw material that is being used. CaCO3 and some CaO are brought
with the flue gas from the kiln and the particles are collected in an ESP. A high collection
efficiency can be achieved with moderate size because the humidity in the flue gas is high, >
25%. Recently process modifications have been observed where signs of back-corona in the
ESP exist. Further investigations are needed to fully understand this trend

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10.8 Iron &Steel.
10.8.1 General
Steel still is the dominating engineering material used in construction due to its wide variety
of qualities and properties. Recyclebility and environmentally friendly production
technologies make it a high-tech material.

Steel production is predicted to increase only a few percent (2 - 3 %) per year for many years
to come. New melting capacities will mainly be installed in developing markets. Each
production unit tends to be smaller in size than the former big integrated plants. Prices and
energy consumption support the increased use of scrap as an input material. This is further
emphasised by low production growth during recent years. For high quality flat steel products
impurities such as Cu cannot be tolerated. They cannot be removed during steel making and
therefore clean iron sources from direct and/or smelting reduction are needed.

The Blast Furnace (BF) process at integrated steel mills is based on "virgin iron", but it is not
the optimum solution for new smaller production facilities. The environmental pressure is not
on the BF itself but on the upstream sinter and coke-oven plants.

10.8.2 Iron Manufacturer

The most recent trend in iron making is to eliminate steps like coke-oven and sinter processes
and to use cheaper input materials such as non-coking coal and fine ore. The product can be
either hot metal or direct reduced iron (DRI) an/or hot briquettes of iron. The BF is charged
by coke and sinter in the classical process.

The sinter is produced in sinter plants. Raw material - iron ore, coke and flux is fed on to a
moving grate. The bed is moving through a drying and combustion zone before it is
discharged into a breaker and screening system. During the passage on the sinter strand the
iron ore is reduced and sponge iron is produced. An ESP is normally placed after the hot bed
and collects dust at temperatures around 100 150 C. With today's emission standards a
three field ESP is normally needed even if the inlet load may be limited to a few g.Nm -3. A
substantial under pressure of 10 kPa or higher prevails in the ESP so special care has to be
given to dust discharge systems to avoid in leakage of air. Different types of compounds leave
the strand at various sections due to varying temperature. Mainly two types of particles are
brought to the ESP. One large fraction of iron oxide is easily collected to a great extent in the
first field of an ESP. Another fraction with sub micrometre dust, which has first evaporated
and later on condensed, needs all the fields for proper collection. The sub micrometre dust is
mainly composed of alkali salts. Potassium chloride may be the dominating one and forms,
after some time, a very high resistivity dust layer, which is difficult to dislodge through
rapping. Resistivities significantly above 1013 ohmcm have been measured in the laboratory.
In some plants the moving electrode concept with brushes for cleaning of the collecting plates
has been used in the ESP [Reference: Misaka (1998)].

The process has changed through the years. 20 - 30 years ago the target was to guarantee
emissions around 100 mg/Nm3 as a general rule. This was easily accomplished. The sinter
strand is now often used for dust generated in other processes and for mill scales, which may
be oily in some cases. The material collected in the ESP is now often returned to the strand in
order to utilise the collected iron. When the fine alkali salts are returned, there is a risk of

109
building up chlorine in the system until it is finally discharged from the stack. If the chlorine
content in the raw material is high, a bleed-off of the collected dust has to be arranged in case
emissions in the range of 30 50 mg/Nm3 should be achieved. If the oil in the raw material is
not burnt but evaporated, it may later on at relatively low temperatures condense. These
aerosols are easily collected in the ESP dust and may create high resistivities and back-corona
conditions. Pulse technology has been applied in order to combat this problem see also
chapter 6. Another way of reducing the back-corona condition is to inject SO3. The SO3 is in
the first step converting the KCl into K2SO4, which results in a reduced resistivity. However
the Cl appears in the stack as HCl and this might be another emission problem that is not
accepted.

The second step of the sinter band process is the de-dusting at various treatment locations
after the strand. Air-type coolers are used for reduction of the sinter temperature. The "gas"
leaving the cooler and entering a dust collector is normally above 300 C. ESP's are
commonly used for this application without any special problems. The dust may have a
relatively high resistivity and the humidity is low. However, particles are large and easily
collected in the ESP.

The dust emanating (stockhouse ventilation) from the feeding process of the BF is typically
cleaned in a FF even if ESP's have been used in the past.

The dust laden gases from the BF itself are today, at modern furnaces, received at a pressure
of 1.5 - 2.5 bar, and with a CO-content of 25 - 30 %. The gas is cleaned to 25 - 50 mg/Nm by
means of venturi-type scrubbers utilising the gas pressure. This flue gas is often further
cleaned in a WESP close to 1 mg/Nm.

The fume collected from the BF tapping operation (casthouse ventilation) is typically cleaned
in a fabric filter.

10.8.3 Steel Making

The steel production is either based on the integrated route with hot iron charged into a
converter (BOF) or the scrap based route with electric arc furnace.

The BOF process is of batch nature and oxygen is injected into the converter to reduce the
carbon in the iron. During this carbon reduction the CO-content in the flue gas will be in the
range of 60 - 80 % and the gas temperature in the range of 1000 C. The gas duct system at
the converter is built to utilise/recover the heat in the flue gas as well as minimising the in
leakage of combustion air. The flue gas from the converter is cleaned in a venturi-type
scrubber (outlet concentration about 25 - 50 mg/Nm) while the secondary fume from the
charging and tapping operation is normally cleaned in a FF.

The scrap melting process at an Electric Arc Furnace (EAF) generates both primary and
secondary fume. The fume from the smelting process is normally exhausted from the furnace.
It is CO-rich and is combusted direct after the exhaust. After cooling the flue gas is cleaned in
a FF. The gas cooling can be made in a separate cooler or by means of dilution with
secondary gases before cleaning at a temperature normally below 150 C in the fabric filter.

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10.9 Glass industry
Glass is manufactured by melting sand, lime, clay, chalk and gypsum together. Other
additives may be required depending on the type of product. The fuel used in the melting
process is normally oil or natural gas. There are basically two types of applications for ESP's.
Dry ESPs, which are used after the melting furnaces and wet ESP's after the forming stations
producing mineral wool and or fibreglass. Gas flows are relatively small.

The gas leaving the furnace passes through a air preheater taking the temperature to between
400 450 C. Downstream of the air preheater it is common to install a conditioning tower
reducing the temperature to 200 250 C. Alternatives with dilution air have been built. For
such cases the flue gas through the ESP is less humid and the flow is higher resulting in a
larger ESP. Dust concentrations are low, in the range of 1 2 g/Nm3. Particle sizes are small
and can generate corona suppression in the front field. The dust can be very sticky, especially
when the boron content is high in the charged material. When a high S content in the fuel is
used, there are plants injecting NaOH together with the water in the tower in order to reduce
the stickiness of the dust in the ESP. Due to the sticky dust efficient rapping is a necessity for
proper operation. There are also plants where a dry scrubber has been installed in front of an
ESP to capture SO2 gases. The conditions will then change in the ESP, e.g. the temperature
may be < 100 C and the dust concentration can be > 10 g/Nm due to the addition of
Ca(OH)2 to the scrubber.

The ESP after the forming station can be a conventional horizontal wet gas flow type. Inlet
concentrations are low but often three fields are used. These ESP's can be constructed from
mild steel, as there is little to no sulphur in the flue gas. If the dust contains glass fibres these
can cause early sparking as they tend to both shorten the distance and create sharp "needles"
between discharge electrodes and collecting plates. Efficient continuous water cleaning of
both electrode systems is imperative. Outlet emissions from wet ESPs applied to this process
are typically around 10 mg/Nm3 or lower.

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112
 11 FUTURE DEVELOPMENT OF ESPs

There are a number of challenges motivating the present development of ESP technology.

The ever-decreasing emission standards must be met.

ESP's must be built in a cost-efficient way.
Reliability and the life cycle must be acceptable.
It can be argued that ESP's are challenged by other technologies, such as FF's.

Another important issue is the upgrading of old plant where available space for extensions is
often limited. Innovative concepts are under development to meet these challenges.

New ideas must be tested in the laboratory environment or in the field under realistic
conditions before they can be implemented. Depending on the type of innovation it may take
a long time to complete investigations. Operational experience is often a base for the
commercialisation of a new idea. The laboratory can be quite helpful in the evaluation of new
ideas or changes e.g. acceleration measurements of different rapping concepts, fatigue testing
and current distribution tests with various types of electrode designs.

One serious difficulty, when investigating a new concept, is that realistic dust and gas
conditions may not be achievable in a laboratory. The main obstacle is that flue gas with
virgin dust and sub-micron particles are almost impossible to create in this environment and it
is known from experience that particle properties and the precipitation process differ
substantially between various applications. The number of sub-micron particles per m3 of gas
is one important factor for efficient collection. When fine particles are artificially generated
the mass load of these is mostly negligible. Thus, a space charge effect is difficult to achieve
in laboratory ESP's. Laboratory test in bench-scale models can, be useful to determine trends
etc. Field-testing is an important complement to laboratory tests and pilot ESP's have been
used extensively to gain data on operating plants.

The size of the pilot scheme must be considered based on the purpose of the test. In most
cases the pilot should have the same design of electrodes, spacing etc as in a full-scale unit in
order to produce reliable data. Boundary effects may however be considerable and may skew
the performance of a large ESP's. When a pilot is used for full scale sizing purposes it is
necessary to be able to use at least 2 - 3 m3/s of gas. The scaling-up factor from pilot result to
full-scale performance still requires an input based on experience from earlier successful
installations. A pilot ESP should be operated with realistic gas velocities, current densities etc
and sufficient running time to ensure that long-time effects are covered in the test program.
[Reference: Matts (1982)].

A new concept for an ESP requires investigations in the field to be fully validated. Preferably
it should be tested under varying conditions and therefore the active participation of a
customer (user) is of utmost importance. The customer may also add valuable practical issues
as seen from his requirements and this may lead to a go or no go decision for further
development of the new idea.

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There are several Universities and Institutes conducting basic research on ESP technologies.
Among other studies efforts are being made, with help of today's powerful computers, to
refine the complex ESP theory. Its understanding involves mechanics, chemistry, fluid
dynamics, particle physics and electrostatics, and simplifications have to be made to describe
what happens in the precipitation process. [Reference: Arrondel et al. (2001)]. Researchers
are often in close co-operation with vendors to review and to commercialise new concepts.

What are the areas undergoing research and development today? Some of these are briefly
covered in the next paragraphs.

Hybrid FF-ESP. Many attempts to combine FF's and ESP's have taken place in the past and
some commercial plants are now in operation. The basic concept is that a FF filter can operate
with a higher velocity through the bags, if the dust is charged in an upstream ESP. The effect
is that a more fluffy cake is generated on the bags resulting in a lower pressure drop for
constant velocity and easier cake release properties when cleaning the filter bags. The old
pressure drop is then obtained at a higher velocity allowing a smaller FF to be used. The ESP,
which can have a conventional design, is also used as a pre-collector in order to reduce the
dust load to the FF. The ESP and the FF can have separate casings or can have one common
casing. One concept is the COHPAC developed by EPRI (Electric Power Research Institute)
in US. It is called COHPAC 1 when two separate casings are used and COHPAC 2 when one
casing is used. [Reference: Bustard et al. (2001)]. Hybrid FF-ESP's have so far been applied
for coal firing and for cement. Another alternative is the Advanced Hybrid Particulate
Collector (AHPC), which is under demonstration testing. The ESP is here somewhat modified
compared to conventional dry ESP's. [Reference: Miller et al. (2001)].

Hybrid dry ESP- wet ESP. The aim is to replace the last field in an existing dry ESP with a
water cleaned field . By doing this re-entrainment and resistivity problems are eliminated in
this collector field. A marginally sized dry ESP with say difficult back-corona conditions
should get substantially enhanced collecting efficiency and resulting lower emissions. A few
of these plants have been built. Difficulties with this method are to find materials, which can
with stand these humid conditions at the back end, and to reduce water carry-over from
nozzles and the field to downstream equipment or to the stack.

Moving electrode. The ideal condition for the ESP particulate collector is to have completely
clean collecting plates to eliminate the back-corona. Commercial plants exist where the
collecting plates form an endless band. One part of the plate moves in the upward direction to
the roof area and comprises one "conventional" plate. After turning the other part of the band
moves downward towards the hopper area and comprises the adjacent "conventional" plate.
The part of the plate in the hopper region is brushed mechanically. Substantially smaller
ESP's for difficult applications can be built with this concept. [Reference: Misaka (1998)].

Rapping and re-entrainment reduction. To guarantee low emissions and to avoid heavy
rapping puffs, development work is being undertaken using different concepts. One of them is
the so-called "Skewed Gas Distribution". Reports on substantial reduction of the gas flow in
the bottom area of the ESP outlet and reduced emissions have been published. [References:
Hein et al. (2001) and Schmitz et al. (2001)]. It is, however, not shown that all applications
can benefit from this technology. Another potential emission reduction might come from the
recirculation of some flue gas, from the ESP outlet bottom areas, with higher dust load than
the average emission.

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Controls and power supplies. Further refinements regarding energization and rapping are
continuously carried out with help of dedicated microprocessors. This is especially important
for plants with varying conditions, e.g. frequent starts and stops, changing boiler load or
changing fuels. The power supplies are developed to cater for higher mA and kV values.
Reliable TR sets with higher voltages, up to 150 kV peak, were a prerequisite for the
successful implementation of wider collector plate spacing. The new-switched power supply
with a pure DC-voltage will also bring new control algorithms for the efficient usage of the
ESP, both from efficiency and from a power saving point of view. [Reference: Kirsten et al.
(2001)].

Dust agglomeration. Several methods have been tried to increase the particle diameter before
final precipitation in the ESP. Acoustic and electrical agglomeration can bring particles
together. A pre-agglomeration of particles must be cost-efficient. Items to consider in this
respect are installation cost, treatment time required for agglomeration and power
consumption. It is also important that the generated agglomerate can maintain the new larger
size all the way through the dust discharge system to avoid re-entrainment. One attempt to
built-in agglomerator in an ESP has been done [Reference: Feldman and Mills (1997)]. One
bus section is modified by having collecting plates without any external ridges and with a
high voltage frame without corona electrodes. In this arrangement the spacing is narrower and
the gas velocity higher than normal. Laminar flow is created and this is a prerequisite for this
concept. Particles already charged from an upstream bus section migrate to the plate where
the agglomeration occurs. The agglomerates become loose after it has grown to a certain size.
Due to a higher velocity the agglomerate will re-entrain, and later be collected in a standard
ESP field.

With time new and improved methods of operation will be developed The ESP will in future
continue to be an important filter for capture of particles from industrial flue gases.

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116
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