Effect of electrode shape on discharge current and performance with barrier discharge type electrostatic precipitator

In general corona discharge is used as precharger in electrostatic precipitator (ESP). The corona discharge type electrostatic precipitator can remove diesel exhaust particles (DEP) at high efficiency but at low efficiency for NOx. We propose here a barrier discharge type ESP which gives a high removal efficiency for both NOx and DEP. To study the influence of electrode shape of precharger on the collection efficiency, we carried out experiments using metallic electrodes with/without punched holes as a barrier discharge electrode. As results, discharge current was higher for the electrode with punched holes than for plane electrode. The collection efficiency obtained with punched electrode was higher than that with at plane electrode. In the next step, additionally change of metallic electrode shape, and then discharge current and performance are evaluated. (C) 2002 Published by Elsevier Science B.V.