Graphical Methodology to Study the Corona Onset Voltage for Electrostatic Precipitation of Nanoparticles

The corona onset voltage is an important operating parameter in the electrostatic precipitation of nanoparticulate, however, its experimental determination depends on the accuracy of the measuring equipment. In this study, a theoretical approach based on the Townsend law was developed to determine the onset voltages and to further investigate the characteristics of an electrostatic precipitator (ESP). The experiments to obtain preliminary data were performed at low air velocities (1.03–4.08 cm/s), varying the number of discharge electrodes from 1 to 4. The theoretical onset voltages agreed with the experimental data and increased with the addition of wires. The ESP could achieve 99% particle charging despite the shielding effect observed in some configurations.