Compact, Self-Cleaning Wet Electrostatic Precipitators

Clean air is essential for public health, but current air filters often come with trade-offs— they remove harmful particles effectively but cause high pressure drops and need frequent replacements. In this project, we developed a new kind of air-cleaning system. Our design allows air to flow freely through wide gaps between wires, resulting in almost no pressure drop. To capture particles, we use a process called corona discharge, which gives particles an electric charge and pulls them toward the wires. A small stream of water flows down the wires, washing the particles into a container below—making the system self-cleaning. We tested how different design choices affect how well it works. Using salt particles about 30 nanometers in size, the system was able to remove over 99% of particles from the air. Further testing with incense smoke particles, with an average size of 100 nanometers, achieved a removal efficiency of 85%. This level of efficiency is similar to large industrial scrubbers, but this system uses much less water and energy. These results suggest that this type of self-cleaning air filter could be used in many real-world situations, from industrial sites to power plants, where reliable, low-maintenance air cleaning is important

Name thesis:degree_name

Master of Science

Level thesis:degree_level

masters

Discipline thesis:degree_discipline

Mechanical Engineering

Department dc:contributor.department

Mechanical Engineering

Grantor dc:publisher

Virginia Tech

Year dc:date.issued

2025

Author dc:creator

• Meeting, Livia Marie

Chair dc:contributor.committeechair

• Boreyko, Jonathan B.

Committee members dc:contributor.committeemember

• Qiao, Rui
• Staples, Anne E.

• Electrostatic precipitation
• particulate matter removal
• self-cleaning systems

Statement dc:rights

• In Copyright

Licence dc:rights.uri

• http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC/1.0/

Language dc:language.iso

en

Dc Identifier Other

vt_gsexam:43990

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:vtechworks.lib.vt.edu:10919/135095