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Electrostatic Precipitator Upgrade, Rebuild and Performance Enhancement

Many of the precipitators in operation today were sized and designed to meet performance requirements that are far below current requirements. Time has also taken its toll on the robust machines built many years ago. Most units can be upgraded, repaired or rebuilt to extend their life and improve their performance. Hamon Research-Cottrell has the design and construction experience to insure that modifications meet the objectives of today's precipitator operators. Hundreds of precipitators have been modified to meet more stringent performance requirements. Units built in the 1960s and 70s can often be modified to provide 15% to 20% more collecting surface without increasing the footprint of the unit. The size of European design precipitators can be increased 30% and more.

Other performance improvement strategies include:

Increasing the width of the gas passages and replacing wires and weights with rigid discharge electrodes will improve the reliability of the unit, as there will be no wires to break. The precipitator performance will also be improved. Hamon Research-Cottrell has developed and installed pipe and spike electrodes designed to provide the corona generating characteristics needed for improved performance with out the replacement of the existing transformer-rectifier sets. Increasing the number of electrical bus sections will further improve the collection efficiency of the precipitator. Decreasing the amount of collecting surface that is served by each rapper. Precipitator Collection efficiency: Ep = 1-e-RB  R = Performance constant  B = Bus sections

Gas Flow Reduction A significant improvement in the performance of a precipitator installed on coal fired utility steam generators by reducing the gas flow to the unit. Many Ljungstrom style air preheaters in service today experience leakage rates of from 15% to 30%. Hamon Research-Cottrell, in partnership with its sister company Hamon Rothemuhle-Cottrell, can provide a patented automatic sealing system that can reduce the leakage to less than 10% and in some cases as low as 3.5%. The reduction in gas flow to the precipitator can result in a significant reduction in outlet emissions.

Have a problem? Need a service? Looking for unit improvement?
Call Hamon Research-Cottrell's service experts at 1-800-722-3046 or (908)-333-2040
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