Specifying Precipitators for High Reliability

Abstract

Precipitators for utility applications must function reliably at high efficiency. However, often the conditions under which they are to function are poorly known. Some of these poorly defined conditions include relationship of plume opacity and quantitative emissions for the particular fuel, inadequately known temperature level and temperature variations due to air preheater operations, unknown gas velocity distribution, and especially absence of fuel characteristics data. Various approaches, including statistical ones, are used to improve the reliability of the sizing under conditions of minimal information. In contrast, the ideal situation of having available extensive fuel data is also presented. The optimum selection of redundancy is also discussed.