Optimization of a Cost-Effective “Wire-Plate”-Type ESP for Installation in a Medical Waste Incinerator

Although research on electrostatic precipitators (ESPs) has studied and analyzed all the technical aspects of this device, their cost is, nowadays, the major constraint for manufacturers and users. Therefore, medical waste incinerators of hospitals in Algeria, as well as municipal waste incinerators, operate, in most cases, without flue gas filtration system due to the high costs that requires the installation of a cleaning system. This constraint is reflected in the Maghreb and African countries. The objective of this paper is to show that it is possible to build up a cost-efficient ESP, including a high-voltage power supply made up of a static converter and a step-up ferrite transformer. A home-made “wire-plate”-type half-scale prototype ESP was designed and served to optimize the filtration efficiency according to the interelectrode distance and to determine the optimum voltage to be applied without risk of breakdown.