Dust Flow Separator Type Electrostatic Precipitator for a Particulate Matter Emission Control from Natural Gas Combution

Control of Particulate matter (PM) emission is a key pollution issue affecting the environment and human health, especially sizes that range below 10 μm. The objective of this work is to develop a dust flow separator type electrostatic precipitator (DFS-ESP) for the effective control of fine particulate matter emission from natural gas combustion. An experiment was conducted for natural gas combustion exhaust flow rates from 2.5 Nm3/h to 9 Nm3/h ESP applied voltage from 0 to 30 kV, and combustion gas temperature from 80 °C to 160 °C. Particle measurements were conducted at upstream, downstream and middle of the DFS-ESP system. The experimental results show that particle size emitted from the natural gas combustion ranges in 17 nm −300 nm in diameter, volume density ranges approximately from 5×108 #pt/m3 to 5×109 #pt/m3 depending on the combustion conditions. The dust flow separator can concentrate 90% of fine particles in 1%−3% of the gas flow and divert it to the ESP section from the main flow channel allowing a higher efficiency for particle removal. In terms of ocrerall particle collection efficiency, the DFS-ESP system can remove up to 95% particles based on the number density.