Abstract
The use of a wet electrostatic precipitator (WESP) is often regarded as a viable option to reduce sulfuric acid mist emitted from the wet flue gas desulfurization (WFGD) tower in coal-fired power plants. In this study, a pilot-scale wet electrostatic precipitator equipped with a wall-cooled collection electrode is investigated for the control of sulfuric acid mist from a simulated WFGD system. The results show that due to partial charging effect, the removal efficiency of sulfuric acid aerosol decreases when the aerosol size decreases to several tens of nanometers. Moreover, due to the plasma-induced effect, a large number of ultrafine sulfuric acid aerosols below 50 nm formed at a voltage higher than 24 kV inside the WESP. The percentages of submicron-sized aerosols significantly increase together with the voltage. To minimize the adverse plasma-induced effect, a WESP should be operated at a high gas velocity with an optimum high voltage. Even at a high flue gas velocity of 2.3 m s−1, the mass concentration and the total number concentration of uncaptured sulfuric acid aerosols at the WESP outlet are as low as ca. 0.6 mg m−3 and ca. 104 1 cm−3 at 28 kV, respectively. The corresponding removal efficiencies were respectively higher than 99.4 and 99.9 % and are very similar to that at 1.1 and 1.6 m s−1. Moreover, the condensation-induced aerosol growth enhances the removal of sulfuric acid mist inside a WESP and enables a low emission concentration of ca. 0.65 mg m−3 with a corresponding removal efficiency superior to 99.4 % even at a low voltage of 21 kV, and of ca. 0.35 mg m−3 with a corresponding removal efficiency superior to 99.6 % at a higher voltage level of 26 kV.
![](http://media.springernature.com/m312/springer-static/image/art%3A10.1007%2Fs11356-016-7151-x/MediaObjects/11356_2016_7151_Fig1_HTML.gif)
![](http://media.springernature.com/m312/springer-static/image/art%3A10.1007%2Fs11356-016-7151-x/MediaObjects/11356_2016_7151_Fig2_HTML.gif)
![](http://media.springernature.com/m312/springer-static/image/art%3A10.1007%2Fs11356-016-7151-x/MediaObjects/11356_2016_7151_Fig3_HTML.gif)
![](http://media.springernature.com/m312/springer-static/image/art%3A10.1007%2Fs11356-016-7151-x/MediaObjects/11356_2016_7151_Fig4_HTML.gif)
![](http://media.springernature.com/m312/springer-static/image/art%3A10.1007%2Fs11356-016-7151-x/MediaObjects/11356_2016_7151_Fig5_HTML.gif)
![](http://media.springernature.com/m312/springer-static/image/art%3A10.1007%2Fs11356-016-7151-x/MediaObjects/11356_2016_7151_Fig6_HTML.gif)
![](http://media.springernature.com/m312/springer-static/image/art%3A10.1007%2Fs11356-016-7151-x/MediaObjects/11356_2016_7151_Fig7_HTML.gif)
![](http://media.springernature.com/m312/springer-static/image/art%3A10.1007%2Fs11356-016-7151-x/MediaObjects/11356_2016_7151_Fig8_HTML.gif)
![](http://media.springernature.com/m312/springer-static/image/art%3A10.1007%2Fs11356-016-7151-x/MediaObjects/11356_2016_7151_Fig9_HTML.gif)
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Anderlohr C, Brachert L, Mertens J, Schaber K (2015) Collection and generation of sulfuric acid aerosols in a wet electrostatic precipitator. Aerosol Sci Tech 49(3):144–151
Brachert L, Kochenburger T, Schaber K (2013) Facing the sulfuric acid aerosol problem in flue gas cleaning: pilot plant experiments and simulation. Aerosol Sci Tech 47(10):1083–1091
Brachert L, Mertens J, Khakharia P, Schaber K (2014) The challenge of measuring sulfuric acid aerosols: Number concentration and size evaluation using a condensation particle counter (CPC) and an electrical low pressure impactor (ELPI+). J Aerosol Sci 67(1):21–27
Cao Y, Zhou HC, Jiang W, Chen CW, Pan WP (2010) Studies of the fate of sulfur trioxide in coal-fired utility boilers based on modified selected condensation methods. Environ Sci Technol 44(9):3429–3434
Chang JC, Dong Y, Wang ZQ, Wang P, Chen P, Ma CY (2011) Removal of sulfuric acid aerosol in a wet electrostatic precipitator with single terylene or polypropylene collection electrodes. J Aerosol Sci 42(8):544–554
Chen TM, Tsai CJ, Yan SY, Li SN (2014) An efficient wet electrostatic precipitator for removing nanoparticles, submicron and micron-sized particles. Sep and Purif Technol 136(136):27–35
Fletcher NH (1958) Size effects in heterogeneous nucleation. J Chem Phys 29(3):572–576
Held A, Zerrath A, McKeon U, Fehrenbach T, Niessner R, Plass-Dülmer C, Kaminski U, Berresheim H, Pöschl U (2008) Aerosol size distributions measured in urban, rural and high-alpine air with an electrical low pressure impactor (ELPI). Atmos Environ 42(36):8502–8512
Huang CH, Tsai CJ, Wang YM (2007) Control efficiency of submicron particles by an efficient venture scrubber system. J Environ Eng 133:454–461
Huang SH, Chen CC (2002) Ultrafine aerosol penetration through electrostatic precipitators. Environ Sci Technol 36(21):4625–4632
Ivleva NP, McKeon U, Niessner R, Pöschl U (2007) Raman microspectroscopic analysis of size-resolved atmospheric aerosol particle samples collected with an ELPI: soot, humic-like substances, and inorganic compounds. Aerosol Sci Tech 41(7):655–671
Jeong SH, Shim SH, Song DK, Hong WS, Hong JH, Lee SS (2013) Performance of a pilot-scale wet electrostatic precipitator for the control of sulfuric acid mist and fine particulates. Pol J of Environ Stud 22(2):409–415
Khakharia P, Brachert L, Mertens J, Huizinga A, Schallert B, Schaber K, Vlugt TJH, Goetheer E (2013) Investigation of aerosol based emission of MEA due to sulphuric acid aerosol and soot in a post combustion CO2 capture process. Int J Greenh Gas Con 19(21):138–144
Linda SB, Bo L, Claes T, Morten B (2011) Particle emissions from pellets stoves and modern and old-type wood stoves. Biomass Bioenergy 35(8):3648–3655
Lin GY, Chen TM, Tsai CJ (2012) A Modified Deutsch-Anderson Equation for Predicting the Nanoparticle Collection Efficiency of Electrostatic Precipitators. Aerosol Air Qual Res 12:697–706
Lin GY, Tsai CJ (2010) Numerical Modeling of Nanoparticle Collection Efficiency of Single-Stage Wire-in-Plate Electrostatic Precipitators. Aerosol Sci Tech 44(12):1122–1130
Mertens J, Lepaumier H, Desagher D, Thielens ML (2013) Understanding ethanolamine (MEA) and ammonia emissions from amine based post combustion carbon capture: lessons learned from field tests. Int J Greenh Gas Con 13(13):72–77
Mertens J, Anderlohr C, Rogiers P, Brachert L, Khakharia P, Goetheer E, Schaber K (2014a) A wet electrostatic precipitator (WESP) as countermeasure to mist formation in amine based carbon capture. Int J Greenh Gas Con 31:175–181
Mertens J, Brachert L, Desagher D, Thielens ML, Khakharia P, Goetheer E, Schaber K (2014b) ELPI+ measurements of aerosol growth in an amine absorption column. Int J Greenh Gas Con 23(4):44–50
Moser P, Schmidt S, Stahl K, Vorberg G, Lozano GA, Stoffregen T, Rösler F (2014) Demonstrating emission reduction-results from the post-combustion capture pilot plant at Niederaussem. Energy Procedia 63:902–910
Moser P, Schmidt S, Stahl K, Vorberg G, Lozano GA, Stoffregen T, Richter T (2015) The wet electrostatic precipitator as a cause of mist formation-results from the amine-based post-combustion capture pilot plant at Niederaussem. Int J Greenh Gas Con 41:229–238
Srivastava RK, Miller CA, Erickson C, Jambhekar R (2004) Emissions of sulfur trioxide from coal-fired power plants. J Air Waste Manage Assoc 54(6):750–762
Yang L, Bao J, Yan J, Liu J, Song S, Fan F (2010) Removal of fine particles in wet flue gas desulfurization system by heterogeneous condensation. Chem Eng J 156(1):25–32
Acknowledgments
This study was supported by the National High-tech R&D Program of China (863 Program) (No. 2013AA065001) and China Postdoctoral Science Foundation (No. 2015M571088) and the strategic priority research program of the Chinese Academy of Sciences (No. XDB05050100).
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding authors
Additional information
Responsible editor: Angeles Blanco
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Huang, J., Wang, H., Shi, Y. et al. Performance of a pilot-scale wet electrostatic precipitator for the control of sulfuric acid mist. Environ Sci Pollut Res 23, 19219–19228 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11356-016-7151-x
Received:
Accepted:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11356-016-7151-x