Application of Electrostatic Precipitator in Collection of Smoke Aerosol Particles from Wood Combustion

A simple wire-plate electrostatic precipitator (ESP) was constructed in order to test the efficiency of collecting smoke particles from combustion of rubber-wood that is used as a source of biomass energy. The ESP contains a maximum of 15 collection plate electrodes and 20 wire electrodes per row between plates. The maximum input voltage of the Wheatstone bridge circuit using a high-voltage neon transformer was 13.5 kV (DC). The gap between plates and the distance between wires were adjustable. Results from the field test in a furnace indicate that the device could be used for a period of about one hour before cleaning the electrodes was required. The collection efficiency was decreased during the course of wood burning as the dust loading increased. Maximum efficiency was near 80% during the initial period. The distance between the collection plate electrodes had a greater influence on efficiency than the distance between the wire electrodes. The cleaning system used in this experiment was made from a row of PVC pipes to allow water to discharge radially to the plate electrodes on both sides. This system was equipped with the case of maximum collection efficiency that had a 50 mm gap between collection plate electrodes and a 64 mm distance between wire electrodes. Efficiency was increased after 120 minutes and maintained a collection efficiency of about 60%. This ESP is suitable for small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) to alleviate the release of detrimental chemicals such as PAHs into the atmosphere.