EHD turbulent flow and Monte-Carlo simulation for particle charging and tracing in a wire-plate electrostatic precipitator

The behavior of charged particles in turbulent gas flow in electrostatic precipitators (ESPs) is a crucial information to optimize precipitator operation. In this paper, a three-dimensional numerical simulation was performed to predict complex physical phenomena in a wire-plate electrostatic precipitator. The numerical simulation included the Eulerian approach for electrostatic fields and EHD turbulent flow fields, and the Lagrangian approach for in situ particle charging and tracing in which the effect of turbulence was also considered. The numerical result shows that the flow distortion in an ESP is caused by the circulatory cells near the grounded plate, and the turbulence intensity in an ESP without inlet velocity is much higher than that with inlet velocity. Moreover, the flow turbulence causes the particles to have different electric charges when their diameter lies in the range of 0.5-5 mu m. Finally, the Basset history and gravitational forces play an important role at the initial stage of the particle's movement in the ESP. (c) 2007 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.