Questions About Electrostatic Air Cleaners?
Electrostatic air cleaners, also called electrostatic precipitators, are used in many industries to help reduce air pollution. These cleaning devices are installed inside smokestacks to remove particles of dust, soot ash, and other polluting materials in smoke so that they don’t reach the air we breathe. The cleaners work by using the forces of electric attraction and repulsion. The charged particles in smoke are attracted to collection plates that have the opposite electric charge. The particles remain on the plates instead of moving out into the air.
The particles that enter the smokestack are electrically neutral. What has to happen to them as they move upward and reach the collection plates? Why?
To collect the greatest number of particles, should the collection plates be spaced closer together or farther apart? Why?
Which of the following materials would you use to make the collection plates: aluminium, glass, plastic, wood, copper, or fibreglass? Why?
And finally, why do you think these devices are not usually used in the chimneys of home fireplaces and stoves that are used for heating and cooking?
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January 9, 2010 @ 5:20 pm
You have a pretty good handle on the operation of electronic precipitators, except you missed one step. The smoke particles will pass by charging wires to change their natural charge to the opposite charge of the plates that are directly after the charging wires. This way the efficiency of the precipitator will usually come out to about 99% down to 0.3 microns.
The collection plates are placed so close together that once they build up with dust and particles that they start to snap or arc from one plate to the next. They are spaced closely to allow the maximum number of plates in the unit. The more plates, the more surface area for capturing particles.
Aluminum is usually used because of its conductivity to electrical charge and resistance to corrosion. It is also much cheaper than copper.
The downfall to electronic precipitators is maintenance. They must be cleaned regularly in order to be effective. As the plates gather dust, they lose surface area for gathering more particles. Most homeowners would not tolerate the constant (weekly) maintenance. As far as restaurants go, many of them use electrostatic precipitators for smoke control. More information on those units can be found at http://www.smoke-eaters-supply.com/comme… Using electronic cells in a grease environment may cause a fire hazard, so you usually won’t find them in cooking hoods. I hope this helps.