Mitsubishi Heavy Industries Power Environmental Solutions Develops New Wind Type Electrode ESP

Mitsubishi Heavy Industries Power Environmental Solutions, Ltd., a part of Mitsubishi Heavy Industries (MHI) Group, has developed a revolutionary new type of electrostatic precipitator (ESP), the Ionic Wind Type Electrode ESP utilizing an entirely new dust collection principle and electrode configuration. ESPs are one of the company's mainstay products, and are widely used in many types of industries. Compared to a conventional ESP, this new model is expected to provide considerably improved performance, while also allowing for space savings, cost reductions, and shorter construction work periods.

In conventional ESPs, including competing products, when the ionic wind that flows from the discharge electrodes to the collecting electrodes strikes the collecting electrode plate, a backflow occurs that hinders the dust collection efficiency. The performance of an ESP is evaluated, and its size determined in consideration of the re-entrainment of the collected dust resulting from this "backflow of ionic wind." This new model of ESP developed by Mitsubishi Heavy Industries Power Environmental Solutions uses a combination of a novel non-plate type collecting electrode with openings and optimal discharge electrode that inhibits the occurrence of backflow of ionic wind, resulting in a significant improvement in dust collection efficiency. Development of this new system began seven years ago, with its performance and durability verified by two years of demonstrated operation in an actual plant environment.

The significant improvement in dust collection efficiency allows this new model of ESP to be smaller than conventional systems, providing space savings and allowing it to be installed within confined spaces where installation of conventional units is difficult. The casings of existing conventional ESPs can also be used as is, allowing for renovation of some or all of the internal electrodes with Ionic Wind Type Electrodes to improve performance (reduction in outlet dust concentration) for existing conventional ESPs. In cases where improvement in ESP performance is unnecessary, replacement of only a portion of degraded conventional electrodes with Ionic Wind Type Electrodes will reduce the amount of material for the renewed portion while maintaining the same level of performance, providing lower costs and shorter construction work periods.

Mitsubishi Heavy Industries Power Environmental Solutions is a wholly owned subsidiary of MHI, offering a broad range of dust collecting equipment for thermal power generation and all types of industrial plants. With the anticipated increase in demand for renovation and replacement of aging environmental systems, the launch of this new model of ESP will allow Mitsubishi Heavy Industries Power Environmental Solutions to offer optimal proposals that more precisely meet customer needs, while contributing to reduced environmental loads and lower costs.