Latest Application of Moving Electrode Electrostatic Precipitator (MEEP)

K. Abe1, K. Miyake1, C. Nagata1, T. Kojo1, K. Orita1, D. Fuke1

1
Mitsubishi Hitachi Power Systems Environmental Solutions, Ltd. (MHPS-ES)
1-8, Sakuragi-cho 1-Chome, Naka-ku, Yokohama 231-0062, Japan
Corresponding author: kohichiro_abe@mhps.com

Keywords: Electrostatic Precipitator (ESP), Moving Electrode ESP (MEEP)

1. Introduction reduced accordingly, so that the ESP performance is

In recent years, in developing countries with reduced.
soaring electric power demand, particularly in India When the PM electrical resistivity becomes even
and China, the increase in the PM (Particulate Matter) higher, such as more than １×１０ １ ２ Ω・cm and the
concentration in the atmosphere has been a problem, electric field strength of the dust layer on the
and the maximum allowable limit of PM emitted from collecting electrode exceeds the threshold of the
thermal power plants has been increasingly break-down electric field strength, the entire dust layer
strengthened. Generally, the coal used in thermal is electrically broken and large quantity of negative
power plants in India and partly in China has an ash ions are discharged, and charged particles in the
content of about 30% to 45%, which is very high collecting space are electrically neutralized, so that the
compared with the coal generally used in Japan, ESP performance is significantly reduced. This
Europe and America (which has an ash content of phenomenon is called as “back corona”.
around 10%). Therefore, high PM removal Both cases are caused by the dust layer on the
performance is required. Furthermore, in many cases, collecting electrode, and the countermeasures are
the electrical resistivity of PM from those coals is high, either to reduce the electrical resistivity of PM to the
so that the precipitability of the PM in ESP range for normal operation of ESP, or to keep always
(Electrostatic Precipitator) is comparatively low. At the collecting electrode surface clean without any dust
thermal power plants in India and China, conventional layer.
precipitators for PM removal have already been Table 1 Countermeasures for high
installed, and to cope with the strengthening of electrical resistivity PM
regulations, many customers want to modify and Starting condition of back corona
enhance the performance of the existing precipitators
in their limited site areas. The promising technology Ed = ρd × Id > Edb
for meeting these needs is an ESP equipped with Ed : Electric field strength in dust layer
MEEP®*[1] [2] [3]. The effectiveness of applying this Id : Current density in dust layer
technology for high electrical resistivity PM has been ρd : Electrical resistivity of PM
field-proven in many projects both inside and outside Edb : Break-down electric field strength
Japan, but there was no track record in using them (1) Removing dust
with high ash content coals such as Indian coals, Wet-type ESP
Dust Layer layer
whose PM is not only with high electrical resistivity Moving Electrode ESP
Removal completely
but also with very high concentration at ESP inlet.
This report introduces the general comparison of Increasing gas
Hot Side ESP
MEEP® and other countermeasures for high electrical temperature
resistivity PM and overview of our first application Low-Low Temp. ESP
results of MEEP® in Indian coal-fired thermal power Decreasing gas
(2) (High Efficiency Flue
plant, using high ash content type coals. temperature
Resistivity Gas Treatment System)
Decreasing Gas Injection of water,
2. Countermeasures for high electrical resistivity
conditioning SO3, NH3, etc.
PM
The electric field strength of the dust layer on the Mixed coal Mix firing of coal with
collecting electrode of ESP becomes high when the firing good precipitability
PM electrical resistivity is high, such as more than １ Intermittent
×1011Ω ・ cm, and if electrical break-down occurs Energization
(3)
locally somewhere in the dust layer, that triggers (Milli-second)
Current Energization
“excess sparking” in the space between electrodes of Control in control
ESP. In order to avoid sparks in the collecting space Micro-Second Pulse
Dust Layer
and realize the stable operation of ESP, applied Energization
voltage to ESP must be reduced, and current is also (Micro-second)

As measures of improving collecting efficiency
against high resistivity PM, various countermeasures
have been devised and realized depending on the
mechanism of the onset of back corona as shown in
Fig.1. MHPS-ES is one of the pioneer of research and
development of countermeasures for high resistivity
PM. MHPS-ES recognized the countermeasures for
high electrical resistivity PM to be the most important
issue for ESP, and comprehensively examined the
initial cost, running cost, installation space,
maintainability, etc., of those countermeasures. As the
result, the technologies like moving electrode
electrostatic precipitator (MEEP®) which completely
removes the dust layer, energization control system
such as intermittent energization and micro-second
pulse energization to suppress back corona, etc. have
been developed and put to practical use.
3. Moving Electrode ESP (MEEP®)
3.1 PM collection performance of MEEP®
The PM collection efficiency  is expressed as the
ratio of the reduced PM concentration at the
precipitator outlet to the PM concentration at the inlet,
and is calculated by Matts’ formula:
A is the PM collection area, Q is the inflow gas
amount, and k is the particle migration velocity,
which is the velocity of PM moving toward the
collecting electrode in the discharge space. k is an
index of how easily PM can be collected, namely the
PM collecting performance of a precipitator, which
closely depends on resistivity. Fig. 1 shows the
relation between PM electrical resistivity (dust
resistivity) ρd and migration velocity k.
Figure 1 Relation between PM electrical
resistivity (dust resistivity) and particle
migration velocity
3.2 Feature of MEEP®
In a conventional ESP, which is comprised of only
general fixed electrodes, fine PM is entrained in the
flue gas and re-emitted during hammering for the
detachment and collection of PM accumulated at the
collecting electrode, resulting in an increase of the
concentration of PM emitted from the stack. In
addition, PM with high electrical resistivity has a
strong adhesion force to the collecting electrode and a
strong cohesive force between particles, and it is
difficult to detach by the impact of hammering,
resulting in degradation of the performance of the
electrode due to contamination over time.
In our ESP, as shown in Figure 2, the general fixed
electrodes are installed at the front stage to roughly
remove PM of several tens of thousands mg/m3N
floating in flue gas to a certain degree, and our
proprietary MEEP® technology is installed at the rear
stage to remove the remaining fine PM and high
electrical resistivity PM. As a result, the concentration
of PM at the ESP outlet can be reduced to several tens
of mg/m3N. Figure 3 shows the structure of MEEP®.
While the collecting electrode element is rotated by
the driving chain, the electrostatically-collected PM on
the element surface is scraped off using a brush
installed in the hopper in which no flue gas flows.
Therefore, MEEP® exerts a superior particulate
collection performance for high electrical resistivity
PM at the general fixed electrode which is difficult to
detach by hammering or for fine PM which is
entrained in the gas flow and re-emitted by
hammering. Accordingly, when MEEP® is applied to
a retrofit project for the purpose of enhancing the
capability of the existing ESP, the performance can be
improved without increasing the ESP installation area,
and the use of MEEP® is a very effective measure to
cope with the recent strengthening of flue gas
regulations in various countries around the world.
Figure 2 Structure of our ESP (one example)
One example of the structure of our ESP equipped
with MEEP®
Figure 3 Structure of MEEP® Figure 4 Flow of the equipment at an Indian
By scraping adhered ash with a brush when the Thermal Power Station
collecting electrode is driven, high PM collection Flow chart of ESP equipment for which we received
performance is maintained. the order

4. Application example of MEEP® to high

concentration PM case
4.1 Overview of the retrofit project of the existing
ESP in India
As an application example of MEEP®, the recent
retrofit project of the existing ESP in India is
introduced here. In this project, the internal
components of four ESPs installed in each of two
500MW boiler units shown in Figure 4 were upgraded.
The six-section type fixed electrodes had been in use
for 25 years after the delivery. As shown in Figure 5,
the front four sections were modified into fixed
electrodes with our specifications, and the rear two
sections were modified into MEEP®. The ESP
Figure 5 Renewal of the inside of ESP
planning conditions before and after the modification
The front four sections were modified into fixed
are shown in Table 2. Since the ash content of the
electrodes with our specifications, and the rear two
Indian coal used was about 40%, the PM
sections were modified into MEEP®.
concentration at the ESP inlet was high. In addition, as
a result of a prior study, it was estimated that the PM
Table 2 Flue gas conditions before and after
emitted from this coal had a very high electrical
modification of ESP
resistivity, and if the PM continued accumulating on The flue gas conditions of the ESP before modification
the collecting electrode, the performance would be (customer's presented values) and after modification
significantly reduced. It was estimated that if only (planned values)
fixed electrodes were used to meet the customer's Before
strict performance requirement (outlet PM modification After modification
concentration of 50mg/m3N or less), about twice the (Customer's (Planned values)
collecting area would be needed and a large-scale presented value)
modification including the replacement of ducts would Inlet gas
be necessary. On the other hand, MEEP® allows the volume 1,050 1,050
[m3/s]
collecting electrode to keep clean and exerts high PM
collection performance for Indian coal that emits a Inlet gas
high electrical resistivity PM, enabling the ESP to be temperature 160 160
made compact. Therefore, in this project, MEEP® was [°C]
applied to the rear two sections, and using only the Inlet PM
existing space for modification, the customer's desired concentration 44,000 56,000
value could be satisfied. [mg/m3N]
Outlet PM
concentration 500-600 ≦50
[mg/m3N]
4.2 MEEP® application results
The performance test was completed in March 2017,
and the modified system is in operation. It was found
during the test operation that PM collected by
MEEP® was finer and had a higher electrical
resistivity than estimated in the plan, and the operating
conditions of MEEP® were reviewed.
Table 3 shows an example of dust ash properties at
MEEP hopper.
The moving electrode has a function of adjusting
the rotation speed corresponding to the variation of the
dust electrical resistivity. Also, as the dust particle
diameter is finer, the adhesion force to the electrode
plate becomes stronger, so the brush angle is also
adjustable to achieve the most effective scraping. As
the result of those adjustments of rotation speed and
scraping brush angle, much better electrical charging
condition could have been obtained for the Indian coal.
Figure 6 shows the charging characteristics of fixed Figure 6 Relationship between Electric Field
and moving sections. The fixed part of the 1st to 4th Strength [kV/cm] and Current Density
sections shows a back corona ionization tendency. The [mA/m2]
moving part of the 5th and 6th sections maintains the This graph shows that the fixed section shows the
normal charging condition. back corona ionization tendency, but the MEEP
After the test operation, performance test was section maintains the normal charging condition.
executed, and both units achieved the PM
concentration at the ESP outlet of 50mg/m3N or less
that was required by the customer, and the PM
emissions were significantly reduced compared with
the value before modification (outlet PM
concentration: 500 to 600mg/m3N). Figure 7 shows
the states of flue gas from the stack before and after
modification. It is obvious that the performance was
improved through modification with MEEP®, and it
was demonstrated that the superiority of MEEP®
could be exerted even at coal-fired power plants in
India, which require the treatment of high
concentration, high electrical resistivity and fine PM.

Table 3 Example of Ash properties Figure 7 States of gas exhausted from the stack
at MEEP hopper Photos of the flue gas from the stack before and after
Contents Measurement Value modification of the ESP, by which we can observe
that the PM concentration exhausted from the stack
SiO2 51.9 was obviously reduced.
Ash composition[wt%]

Al2O3 32.6
CaO 0.9 5. Overseas Operations
MEEP®, which is the unique technology of MHPS-
Fe2O3 6.2 ES, is noticed not only in Japan but also in overseas
MgO 0.57 countries. In China, Taiwan, Korea, and Turkey, full-
scale ESPs with MEEP® have been already delivered.
K2O 0.94
Especially for the upgrading project with improving
Na2O 0.07 performance of existing ESP due to the enforcement
Dust electrical 2×1013 of environmental regulation, replacing the last field
resistivity [Ω・cm] (H2O 8%, 160℃) (or last two fields) of existing ESP to MEEP® is very
effective. Such upgrading projects have already
Median diameter 1.8 proceeded in India as described above (already
[μm]
operating), and Taiwan (commissioning stage), to
contribute to their environmental improvement, under
the global trend of enforcing environmental
regulations.
 Photo 1 Outside View of MEEP® installed at
Coal-fired Thermal Power Station in India

Photo 2 Outside View of MEEP® installed at

Coal-fired Thermal Power Station in Taiwan

6. Conclusion
Among various countermeasures of enhancing ESP
performance for high electrical resistivity PM, the
technology of MEEP® to remove the dust layer
completely on the collecting electrode is quite unique,
and it has already had many references of full-scale
installation.
Recently, the first MEEP® has been installed in a
thermal power plant in India, where high ash-content
Indian coals are used, and it has been proved that
MEEP® can be effectively applied for coals whose
PM is not only with high electrical resistivity but also
with very high concentration of PM at inlet flue gas.

*Note: MEEP is a registered trademark of MHPS-ES

in Japan, India, China & Taiwan.

References
[1] Ando, H., Shiromaru, N., Mochizuki, Y., IJPEST
Vol. 5, No. 2 (2011), pp. 130-134.
[2] Nagata, C., Kojo, T., Okamoto, N.,
ICESP 2016, Wroclaw, Poland, S5.4
[3] Omine, N., Nagayasu, T., Ishizaka, H., Miyake, K.,
Orita, K., Kagawa, S., Mitsubishi Heavy Industries
Technical Review, Vol. 54, No. 3, 2017