Electrical Characteristics and Electrohydrodynamic Flows in Electrostatic Precipitator of Six Shaped Discharge Electrodes

The electrical characteristics and electrohydrodynamic (EHD) flows in a wire-plate electrostatic precipitator with six shaped discharge electrodes are analyzed by employing the commercial software ANSYS FLUENT with the aid of User Defined Function (UDF). The results show that the corona position of the discharge electrode plays important roles in generating space charge distribution. When the inlet velocity is relatively low, the vortexes induced by the secondary flow exist not only in the downstream of the discharge electrode, but also in the vicinity of the collecting plate. The vortex near the collecting surface in the Knife-shaped system produces the highest recirculation velocity and turbulence intensity, and covers the widest region among the six configurations. For the high inlet velocity, the local recirculation and high turbulence by the secondary flow near the collecting plate in the all six channels disappear but still remain in the downstream of the discharge electrodes, and the airflow in the central region of the six channels would be accelerated. The highest vortex strength and turbulence intensity and the strongest speed-up effect occur in the center of the channel with the Knife-shaped discharge electrode compared with the cases of the other five systems.