Discharge electrode geometry and energy efficiency in a one-stage wire-tube electrostatic precipitator operating at high concentrations of submicron liquid aerosol.

In order to help answering the question 'Which electrode design is the best?', the precipitation performance of a tubular electrostatic precipitator was determined for different electrode designs with special attention to specific energy consumption. Experiments were conducted in a wire-tube arrangement with a high loading of liquid submicron particles causing strong space charge effects, also known as corona quenching. The experiments are supplemented by numerical simulation results showing the effect of residence time and power consumption on separation efficiency.