Experimental study of a full-scale hexagonal wet electrostatic precipitator for collection of black carbon and particulate matter generated by a marine diesel engine

ABSTRACT

Wet electrostatic precipitators have demonstrated a robust capability for removal of particulate matter by minimizing back corona and particle re-entrainment of fine particles. The absence of studies investigating the removal of black carbon particles using a wet electrostatic precipitator requires additional development/investigations. Among the operational parameters of wet electrostatic precipitators, particle residence times (<1 s) and the amount of electrostatic energy transferred to the exhaust gas are important to determine the removal efficiencies of wet electrostatic precipitators. This article reports the removal efficiency of black carbon, total particulate matter, and various particle sizes using different operating conditions in a full-scale hexagonal wet electrostatic precipitator column with sequential cleaning. The exhaust gas cleaned during the experiments was produced by a 2 MW marine engine operated on heavy fuel oil. Three key parameters, voltage-current characteristics, transferred electrostatic energy to the exhaust gas, and particle residence times were varied to evaluate their effects on removal efficiencies. The wet electrostatic precipitator was able to remove from 42.7% to 97.2% of the particulate matter and 44.8% to 95.9% of black carbon particles by varying the electrical energy input to the gas stream (5–262 J/m3) and the particle residence time (0.3–1.8 s). A change in particle residence time (0.3 to 0.95 s) showed an overall removal increase of 31.7% and revealed removal efficiency gaps of up to 24.1% between particle sizes. By investigating the removal efficiencies of different particle sizes and black carbon content, it was found that the best fit was achieved for sizes between 0.02 and 0.77 μm, indicating a black carbon size range in this order. The study indicates that a similar removal efficiency between black carbon and particulate matter could be achieved and that the main focus for improvement of black carbon removal should be found in the particle range between 0.02 and 0.77 μm.

Implications: The manuscript describes a small efficient system for the removal of particle matter and black carbon particles from the exhaust gas generated by a ship engine. This manuscript is especially interesting for the International Maritime Organization (IMO) and its sub-committee on Pollution Prevention and Response (PPR). The IMO is the law-maker/the United Nations specialized agency with responsibility for atmospheric pollution by ships in international waters. The IMO agreed in 2011 on an investigation plan to gather information and to find possible black carbon control measures for future regulations, which to some extent can be delivered through this article.

Acknowledgement

The authors would like to thank Christian Andersson for his contribution in the fabrication of the experimental setup.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Data availability statement

Raw data were generated at Alfa Lavals test center, Aalborg. Derived data supporting the findings of this study are available from the corresponding author NHH on request.

Additional information

Funding

This work is financially supported by the Danish Innovation Foundation under grant no. 8053-00172B.

Notes on contributors

Nick Høy Hansen

Nick Høy Hansen is a Ph.D. candidate at the department of Energy, Aalborg University, with a research focus on wet electrostatic precipitation.

Henrik Sørensen

Henrik Sørensen is Associate Professor and Head of section for Thermal Engineering at the Department of Energy, Aalborg University, Denmark.

Jakob Hærvig

Jakob Hærvig is an associate professor at AAU Energy, Aalborg University.