Outotec Wet ElectroStatic Precipitators (WESP) are used in metallurgical and chemical processes for the final removal of fine dust and for mist elimination from gases saturated with water vapor. Outotec has decades of experience with wet electrostatic precipitators and currently provides customers with cutting-edge wet electrostatic precipitators for a wide range of applications (e.g. Acid aerosols, potash dust, dioxin)

Process

Typically, wet electrostatic precipitators are designed using tubular-collecting electrodes in either stainless steel alloys or plastic materials. A corona discharge electrode made of high-alloy stainless steel is found in the tube’s center and is fed with high-voltage direct current. 


When the process gas enters the precipitator, it is exposed to an intense electrical field induced between the high-voltage discharge electrodes and the surfaces of the collecting tubes. The particles suspended in the gas become charged and migrate – under the influence of electrostatic forces – towards the grounded surface of the collecting tubes. The precipitated particles are finally removed from the precipitator by gravity as they slowly slide down the collecting tube walls together with the condensate as a liquid waste to a discharge drain.

Efficiencies of 90-95% are reached in one pass.  In case of higher requirements two passes are installed.