The Effect of Hydrophilic Collecting Plate in an Electrostatic Precipitator on the Removal of White Smoke under High Flow Velocity Condition

Visible white smoke emitted from industrial stacks often contain not only water vapor but also untreated fine particulate matter (PM), posing environmental and regulatory challenges. Wet-type electrostatic precipitators (WESPs) offer a promising solution for simultaneous removal of moisture and fine particles; however, their application is limited under high gas velocity conditions (typically 5 m/s) due to unstable water film formation and frequent spark generation. In this study, a modified WESP system was developed using hydrophilic collection plates, a patterned discharge electrode, and a nozzle-based spray system to stabilize water film and suppress electrical discharges. The system was experimentally tested under white smoke velocities ranging from 7 to 11 m/s. Results showed that the rayon-based hydrophilic collector achieved over 90% particle removal efficiency at 11 m/s with minimal spark activity (6 events min<sup xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">−1</sup>), outperforming the hydrophilic metal counterpart. Sufficient nozzle flow (3 L min<sup xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">−1</sup>) was found to be critical in maintaining film stability and reducing corona instabilities. These findings demonstrate that integrating fibrous hydrophilic materials with active water film control enables WESPs to operate reliably at high velocities. The proposed configuration extends the applicability of WESP technology for white smoke abatement in high-flow industrial environments.