Numerical models in simulating wire-plate electrostatic precipitators: A review

This paper attempts to review the most important works on numerical simulation of processes in electrostatic precipitators published so far. Only the wire-plate configuration is considered, although the discharge electrode may have different geometries: smooth cylinder, barbed wire of different shape or helical electrode. Different mathematical models and numerical algorithms for gas flow, electric field, corona discharge and particle transport have been compared. The discussion is focused on coupling between different phenomena. A continuous progress has been shown from early works published about 30 years ago, which dealt with much idealized models of the problem, to recent publications, where the numerical predictions show close agreement with the experimental data.