Development of New Electrostatic Precipitator for Electric Capture of Airborne Particles

Abstract

Bioaerosols are commonly defined as aerosolized particles with a biological origin. The examples of bioaerosols include fungal and bacterial spores/cells, fungal hyphae, pollen, viruses and amoebae, and aggregates of these particles. Because airborne viruses such as swine influenza, avian influenza, and foot-and-mouth disease (FMD) easily spread out through air transmission and the infection through the respiratory system is rapidly done, the rapid detection of viral particles is critical. An electrostatic precipitator(ESP) is one of the methods to collect airborne viruses. In this work, we designed new electrostatic precipitators to increase the collection efficiency as well as to concentrate the captured particles on a small area for further tests by using CFD-ACE+. The outlets of the precipitator are located on the top next to the inlet instead of the bottom, as is commonly used. In order to verify the authenticity of the simulations, the electrostatic precipitator previously developed by Dixkens & Fissan was simulated by the same computing software, and the numerical data were compared with experimental data (Dixkens & Fissan, 1999, Aerosol Sci. Technol., pp.438-453). Various simulations on the electrostatic precipitator were done. The collection efficiency of the new ESP was higher than that of previous ESP developed by Dixkens & Fissan(1999, Aerosol Sci. Technol., pp.438-453).