Electrostatic precipitator upgrade for stricter emission regulation

Electrostatic precipitator (ESP) is still one of the best dust collecting equipment used in many industries. However, in this modern world, many countries, through their government authorities, make the emission rule stricter in order to achieve healthier and cleaner environment. Original design of the ESP may not comply with the stricter rule resulting in complaints from the neighborhood and fines from the government. Through research and development, the original equipment manufacturer (OEM) of ESP is finding a way to upgrade the ESP without building a new one. Replacing the mechanical parts of the ESP is one of the ways, especially changing the design to a better one, such as rigid discharge electrode (RDE). The performance of the upstream fields will be improved thus bring better performance to the following fields as well. The other way is by replacing the electrical part which is the transformer/rectifier (T/R) set. With the recent technology and development, the new T/R set, which is a switch mode power supply (SMPS) become more sensitive responding to spark or arc and working on high frequency (25000Hz) resulting on better power output of the field and better performance to the whole ESP. This paper will further discuss several case studies which adapt the upgrade options with almost has 50% emission reduction.