CTP Team Technologies
Bag filter
Vs
Electrostatic Precipitator
 
 
 

         
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CTP Team S.r.l. - Sede operativa: Via S.Maria in Campo, 1 - 20040 Cavenago di Brianza (MB) -Tel.: +39-02-9591981 -
Fax +39-02-95919846 -- E-mail: info@ctp.mi.it

 
  

 
                     
 

 
1.0 INTRODUCTION

CTP team has the technologies and know how to manufacture electrostatic precipitator and bag
filter.
Electrostatic Precipitator (ESP) was common in coal/lignite fired power plants until 30 years ago.
Nowadays in Europe ESP is not a desirable choice for a new installation, and moreover many
existing ESPs have been converted into Fabric Filters. This is due to the changing limitation of the
value of admitted dust emissions. Also for gas emissions like SO2, dioxin etc., the fabric filter can
reach significant abatement with the injection of particular reactants directly on the bags

1.1. Emission Guarantees

With ESP technology the guarantees for the achievable emission levels are currently more than 80
mg/m3, especially for the old plants.
Now with the new Electrostatic precipitator the emission could be get 20 the mg/m3 but with more
than 4 fields.
Sizing of an ESP is not an exact science. Extensive reference knowledge for similar applications is
required, or design margins will increase

Fabric Filters are actually the best available technology in particulate control
With Fabric Filter technology the guarantees for the achievable emission levels are less than 10
mg/m3, but the real expected value could be around 4/5 mg/m3
PM10/2,5 likely to be regulated more specific in the near future, Fabric Filter is more efficient on fine
particulate collection

1.2. Process Requirements

ESP-sizing using the classic “Deutsch”-formula:

where:
η collection efficiency [%]
f(SCA) specific collecting area A/V [s/m]
wD migration velocity [cm/s]
A collecting area [m2]
V volume flow rate [m3/s]

Indicates that the collection efficiency

increases with the logarithmic increasing of
the collecting area, so for having an high
efficiency it is required to estimate a big
plant. Also there is a big dependence from
the type of coal/Lignite used.

         
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CTP Team S.r.l. - Sede operativa: Via S.Maria in Campo, 1 - 20040 Cavenago di Brianza (MB) -Tel.: +39-02-9591981 -
Fax +39-02-95919846 -- E-mail: info@ctp.mi.it

 
  

 
                     
 

 
With Fabric Filter the situation is completely different because there is nearly no dependence on
coal/ash properties with regard to emission limits

Stations need to cope with wider range of fuels without being limited by particulate control, maint-
aining full operational flexibility.
Low emission guarantees demanded by utilities available for FF at more competitive cost
compared to ESP.
Investment for bag filter considerably less than for ESP at low emission levels.

1.3. Economical selection criteria

Capital cost of Fabric Filter and ESP vs. SCA to achieve the same ELV in different applications
may differ considerably
Increasing ash resistivities require a larger ESP-Specifíc Collecting Area (SCA) to achieve a
certain emission value
Fabric Filters are insensitive to ash resistivity, thus their SCA is a constant for the same emission
value
These considerations can be clearly seen in the following graph.
 

Bag life guarantee usually ranges between 2 years and 4 years, subject to specific guarantee
conditions, but actual bag life may exceed guarantee considerably.

         
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CTP Team S.r.l. - Sede operativa: Via S.Maria in Campo, 1 - 20040 Cavenago di Brianza (MB) -Tel.: +39-02-9591981 -
Fax +39-02-95919846 -- E-mail: info@ctp.mi.it

 
  

 
                     
 

 
1.4. Layout and site specific criteria

The number of compartments is crucial for operational flexibility and availability, in a well designed
Fabric Fitter almost all the checks, most of the maintenance operations (>99%) and bag change
should be possible during operation (on-line)
Many retrofit systems have only few separate compartments due to limitations from the existing
ESP-casing. In those cases, load reduction is required if maintenance is required.
A system with multiple compartments also allows offline cleaning if specific dust properties make
cleaning difficult

In addition Fabric Filter retrofit shows limited space requirements compared to ESPs because
Fabric Filters need a reduced footprint compared with ESP

2.0 CTP Team Technologies

2.1 SWAP bag filter piston valve cleaning system made by CTP TEAM

Two special features distinguish CTP Shock Wave Pulse technique from conventional filter
systems: its active gas distribution and effective pulse cleaning.
Due to its superior cleaning principle with compressed air pulse, the Shock Wave Pulse filter can
operate with over 10-meter-long bags cleaned ON-LINE.

Raw gas goes through the filter's inlet duct CTP SWAP System can clean 10 m bags
for primary collection of large dust particles, with a compressed pressure of only 350
after that it is distributed up towards the kPa
upper section of the filter. This arrangement
creates a downward flowing (gravimetric) gas
stream along the filter bags, that helps to
transport the dust particles towards the dust
hopper.
With traditional systems where the particles
had only fallen because of the force of
gravity, it is produced almost incredibly low
settling rate. For example, it takes 28 hours
for a dust particle of 1μm size to fall 8 meters
in still air.
When a certain amount of dust has been
collected a quick and powerful pulse of
compressed air is injected through the bags.
The pulse of air has major cleaning effect
within a brief time because it closes almost
as quickly as it opens. When the filter
material contracts, the dust particles are
exposed to acceleration forces of up to 100g.
The high collecting efficiency of the filter will
also depend on the choice of bag, bag cages
and the tolerance between them.
While conventional systems demand a
compressor pressure of 600- 700 kPa to

         
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CTP Team S.r.l. - Sede operativa: Via S.Maria in Campo, 1 - 20040 Cavenago di Brianza (MB) -Tel.: +39-02-9591981 -
Fax +39-02-95919846 -- E-mail: info@ctp.mi.it

 
  

 
                     
 

 
clean Filter bags 6,5 m long, in ON-LINE

The fabric bags are cleaned by means of compressed air pulses which are directed down through
the bag's opening. The compressed air expands the bag with a shockwave effect, with such a
strong acceleration that dust particles on the outside of the bag are loosened when the bag later
contracts. The compressed air is directed down into the bags via a tube provided with nozzles.
The nozzles are specifically designed to reduce flow losses to a minimum.

The compressed air pulse is extremely short Both mechanical and pneumatic conveyors
(approximately 0.05s). The entire cleaning are available, and the type selected can be
operation, which occurs while the bags are in adapted to different types of dust.
full operation, consumes little energy.
The compressed air is usually supplied by a
separate compressor. The distribution of air
in short pulses is done by means of a piston
valve. The pulse repetition frequency can
either be constant or controlled by the
resistance over the filter bags. The practical
solution to the problem of pulse regulation
involves, among other elements, a unique
piston valve design for which a patent has
been applied. The collected dust falls into
dust hoppers located under the bags and is
transported away by conveyor.

         
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CTP Team S.r.l. - Sede operativa: Via S.Maria in Campo, 1 - 20040 Cavenago di Brianza (MB) -Tel.: +39-02-9591981 -
Fax +39-02-95919846 -- E-mail: info@ctp.mi.it

 
  

 
                     
 

 
2.2 Electrostatic precipitator CTP Team technologies

Electrostatic precipitator

The fundamental principle of operation of an ESP is that the particles are passed through an
electrical field where they receive an electrical charge.

Charged particles are then deflected across the field and collected on grounded plates.

In practice, the ESP normally takes the form of a series of vertical parallel plates, usually named
“receiving (or collecting) electrodes”, which are normally at ground potential, having insulated
discharging elements positioned midway between them.

Adjacent to the electrode elements, the resultant high electrical field ionizes the gas molecules,
forming both positive and negative ions.

The positive ions are immediately captured by the negatively charged electrodes, while the
negative ions and any electrons, generally referred to as a corona discharge, migrate under the
influence of the electric field into the inter electrode space.
As the gas-borne particles pass through the inter-electrode space, the larger particles receive an
electric charge either by collision with the ions/electrons or by induction charging for the smallest
particles.

The charged particles then move under the influence of the electric field and migrate to the
collecting electrodes, where the charge subsequently leaks away to the ground.

 
 
Working principles

ESPs’ working principles can be roughly divided in the three following phases:

         
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CTP Team S.r.l. - Sede operativa: Via S.Maria in Campo, 1 - 20040 Cavenago di Brianza (MB) -Tel.: +39-02-9591981 -
Fax +39-02-95919846 -- E-mail: info@ctp.mi.it

 
  

 
                     
 

 
phase n. 1: transfer of the electrical charge to particles of dust;

phase n. 2: capture of the particles;

phase n. 3: removal of the captured particles.

The electrical charge is transferred to dust particles in accordance to the principles of the “Crown
Effect”; this phenomenon is carried out in presence of non-uniform electric fields, obtained by
applying high voltages to small sizes conductors.

Electrons are highly accelerated by the magnetic field produced by electricity and this causes the
ionization of flowing gasses; solid particles in suspension in the flue gas are electrically charged
and captured by the collecting electrodes according to the below scheme:

All the particles can be charged by the described electrical and magnetic effect, and the charge
level is strictly related to the particles resistivity.

         
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CTP Team S.r.l. - Sede operativa: Via S.Maria in Campo, 1 - 20040 Cavenago di Brianza (MB) -Tel.: +39-02-9591981 -
Fax +39-02-95919846 -- E-mail: info@ctp.mi.it

 
  

 
                     
 

 
3.0 B.A.T. (Best Available Technologies ) Project proposed by CTP Team

CTP chosen Fabric Filter fabric filter technologies for the follows reasons:

 The reduction in emissions in order to meet the more stringent requirements from the
Authorities, with the possibility of control also the gas emission like Sox,Hcl,Hf.
 The footprint required, approx 1/2-1/3 than an "equivalent" ESP and the opportunity of
recovering of the existing foundations and sometime the ESP structure and casing.
 The lower investment compared with an equivalent ESP
 Almost no limitations in coal/Lignite range
 Possibility to do the maintenance during the filtration without stop of the kiln and
therefore the nickel production
 No limitation of Co inlet (For ESP is necessary to avoid high concentration of Co gas inlet to
prevent explosion)
 Less electrical power consumption at the equal dust emission.
 Possibility to absorbed in the future acid pollutants like Sox with alkaline reagent injection
 PM10/2,5 likely to be regulated more specific in the near future, Fabric Filter is more
efficient on fine particulate collection

         
8 
CTP Team S.r.l. - Sede operativa: Via S.Maria in Campo, 1 - 20040 Cavenago di Brianza (MB) -Tel.: +39-02-9591981 -
Fax +39-02-95919846 -- E-mail: info@ctp.mi.it