LAMINAR FLOW ELECTROSTATIC PRECIPITATION

REGULATIONS GOVERNING THE CONTROL OF PARTICULATE EMISSIONS ARE BECOMING INCREASINGLY STRICT IN TERMS OF THE CONTROL EFFICIENCIES THEY REQUIRE. SEVERAL DRIVING FORCES ARE RESPONSIBLE FOR THIS TREND, FOREMOST OF WHICH IS THE NEED TO CONTROL TOXIC AIR EMISSIONS, SUCH AS TRACE METALS AND HEAVY ORGANIC COMPOUNDS. OTHER DRIVING FORCES INCLUDE THE AMBIENT AIR QUALITY REGULATIONS AND STATE AND LOCAL REGULATIONS FOR STACK OPACITY. IN EACH CASE, EFFECTIVE CONTROL TRANSLATES TO THE HIGH-EFFICIENCY REMOVAL OF SUB-MICRON PARTICLES. UNFORTUNATELY ALL PARTICULATE CONTROL DEVICES ARE LEAST EFFICIENT IN THE SUB-MICRON REGION. HIGH-EFFICIENCY CONTROL OF PARTICLES IN THIS REGION TRULY STRESSES THE ECONOMIC AND RELIABILITY LIMITS OF CONVENTIONAL CONTROL EQUIPMENT, AND BEACUSE 100% COLLECTION EFFICIENCY CANNOT BE REACHED IN CONVENTIONAL EQUIPMENT, THE COST OF PARTICULATE REMOVAL INCREASES RAPIDLY AS REGULATIONS FORCE THAT LEVEL TO BE APPROACHED. WHAT IS NEEDED IS A DEVICE WHICH IS CAPABLE OF 100% CONTROL, AND LAMINAR-FLOW ELECTROSTATIC PRECIPITATION IS KNOWN TO HAVE THAT CAPABILITY. ALTHOUGH DEMONSTRATED IN SMALL-SCALE EQUIPMENT, A PRACTICAL DESIGN IS NEEDED WHICH WILL ALLOW LAMINAR FLOW TO BE SUSTAINED ON AN INDUSTRIAL SCALE. PHASE I WILL EVALUATE THREE OPTIONS FOR EXPLOITING LAMINAR FLOW ELECTROSTATIC PRECIPITATION AS AN ULTRA-HIGH PARTICULATE COLLECTOR IN A PRACTICAL AND ECONOMIC WAY.