IPS 2015

DEALING WITH ESP PERFORMNCE - ISSUES AND SOLUTIONS

FAIZ TAIYAB
KUMAR
AGM (OPN)

A K RAZA
AGM (BMD)

ABHISHEK
DY SUPDT (EMD)

ABSTRACT
One of the greatest problems that the world is facing today is that of environmental pollution,
increasing with every passing year and causing grave and irreparable damage to the earth. Air
pollution is by far the most harmful form of pollution in our environment. Power-generating plants are
probably the biggest sources of fossil fuel pollution.
To meet the growing electricity demand, the expansion of the coal-fired thermal power plants is the
most likely scenario, which consequently also leads to an array of environmental and health impacts.
India, depend on coal to produce electricity. 65% of the total installed power generation is coal. Indian
coal used in power stations is of inferior grade having high ash contents varying from 30 to 50%.
Air pollution from coal-fired power plants is large and varied and contributes to a significant number of
negative environmental and health effects. (PM), also known as particulate pollution, includes the tiny
particles of fly ash and dust that are expelled from coal-burning power plants.
Electrostatic Precipitators (ESPs) are used to control the fly ash emission from the boilers of the plant.
A precipitator is a relatively simple device which separates particles from a gas stream by passing the
carrier gas between pairs of electrodes across which a unidirectional, high voltage potential is
placed. The particles are charged before passing through the field and migrate to an oppositely
charged electrode. Improvement and sustenance in collection efficiencies of ESPs are major
challenge for power industries in India.
The present emission standards for particulate emission for a 210 MW boiler are 150mg/nm3, which
is likely to revise to 100 mg/nm3 soon.
The performance of old ESPs can be improved by taking number of retrofit measures for which
systematic studies are required. Also to improve and sustain the performance of ESP a systematic
and holistic approach is required to minimize the ill effects of factors adversely affecting the
performance of ESP.
Emission from stack has always been a major concern for KhSTPS due to high ash content in coal,
low CV of coal and high resistivity of fly ash generated.This paper deals with the difficulties, issues,
challenges faced and corrective actions taken along with continuous monitoring to improve and
sustain the performance of ESP at KhSTPS and keep the stack emission within the statutory limit.
INTRODUCTION
The operation and performance of ESP largely depend on the properties of coal burnt and fly ash
generated. The properties of the coal used in different plants across the country
vary widely. In many of the power plants like in KhSTPS, the ash content in coal is as high as 45%
with a low calorific value. This increases the rate of coal fired in the boiler which in turn generates
more fly ash there by increasing the inlet dust burden on ESP.
Besides, low sulphur contents (<0.5%) result in resistivity of fly ash being 2 to 3 order of
magnitude higher than that generated elsewhere. The higher value of electrical resistivity
results in development of back corona even at much lower current densities and generation of
sparks at much lower voltages. As a result the ESP despite being much larger, have lower collection
efficiency. Stack emission has always been a matter of concern for KhSTPS, because to fulfil the
statutory emission limit ESP requires continuous services of operation and maintenance and carries a
tag of handle with care with itself. The dedicated effort of cross functional team formed for ESP
improvement has yielded positive results and has helped in keeping the emission within the statutory
limit.

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REVISITING THE BASICS

The four steps in the process of precipitation of fly ash
1.
2.
3.
4.

Corona Generation
Particle Charging
Particle Collection
Particle Removal

Corona Discharge: Free Electron Generation

The applied voltage is increased until it produces a corona discharge. The free electrons created by
the corona are rapidly fleeing the negative electric field, which repulses them. They move faster and
faster away from the discharge electrode. This acceleration causes them to literally crash into gas
molecules, Negative gas ions traveling along the electric field lines collide with the suspended
particles and impart a charge to them. The ions will continue to bombard a particle until the charge on
that particle is sufficient to divert the electric lines away from it. This prevents new ions from colliding
with the charged dust particles. When a particle no longer receives an ion charge, it is said to be
saturated. Saturated charged particles then migrate to the collection electrode and are collected.
Ionization of Gas Molecules
The gas ions stick to the particles, imparting a negative charge to them. The net result is negatively
charged particles that are repulsed by the negative electric field around the discharge electrode and
are strongly attracted to the collection plate. They travel toward the grounded collection plate, and
stay there. More and more particles accumulate, creating a dust layer. This dust layer builds until it is
somehow removed.
Particle collection
When a charged particle reaches the grounded collection electrode, the charge on the particle is only
partially discharged. The charge is slowly leaked to the collection plate. A portion of the charge is
retained and contributes to the inter-molecular adhesive and cohesive forces that hold the particles on
to the plate. Adhesive forces cause the particles to physically hold on to each other because of their
dissimilar surfaces. Newly arrived particles are held to the collected particle by cohesive forces;
particles are attracted and held to each other molecularly. The dust layer is allowed to build up on the
plate to a desired thickness and then the particle removal cycle is initiated .
Particle Removal
Dust that has accumulated to a certain thickness on the collection electrode is removed by
one of two processes, depending on the type of collection electrodRapping is a process whereby
deposited, dry particles are dislodged from the collection
plates by sending mechanical impulses, or vibrations, to the plates. Dislodged dust falls from the
plates into the hopper
PERFORMANCE DEPENDENCY
ELECTRICAL RESISTIVITY OF FLY ASH

1.
2.
3.

Gas temperature
Gas composition & moisture content
Dust composition

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ESP characteristics with Resistivity
High resistivity (1012ohm cm and above ), the performance of ESP will deteriorate drastically due to
Reduced performance due to back-corona
High operating current levels
Reduced operating voltage levels
Very significant voltage loss across dust layer
High electrical force component retaining collected dust

Gas Temperature
Monitoring the temperature of the gas stream can provide useful information concerning ESP
performance.
Changes in gas temperature can have profound effects on ESP performance. The temperature
variation can be very small (in some cases as little as 15 0 F) and yet cause a significant change in
ESP power levels and opacity. their most important effect is on particle resistivity.
For sources with the potential for high resistivity, temperature changes can cause dramatic changes in
performance, even when all other parameters seem to be the same
250

200

150
Gas Temp.
Emission

100

50

0
Base

10

15

20

Graph shows the effect on ESP emission, due to increase of gas temperature only, without
considering variation in gas flow & dust load.
Variation of ESP emission w.r.t. gas temperature is not linear.
For 200 C (15 %) increase of gas temperature, emission shoots up by about 2 times.

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Gas composition and moisture
The chemical composition of both the particulate matter and flue gas can affect ESP performance.
In many applications, key indicators of gas composition are often obtained by using continuous
emission monitors.
Physical and chemical properties of the dust such as dust type, size of the dust particles, and
average and maximum concentrations in the gas stream are important. Particle size is important;
Small particles are more difficult to collect and become re entrained more easily than larger particles.
The dust loading can affect the operating performance. If the dust concentration is too high, the
automatic voltage controller may respond by totally suppressing the current in the inlet fields.
Suppressed current flow drives the voltage up, which can cause sparking.
Resistivity is a function of the chemical composition of the dust, the flue gas temperature and moisture
concentration. For fly ash generated from coal-fired boilers, the resistivity depends on the temperature
and moisture content of the flue gas and on the sulphur content of the coal burned; the lower the
sulphur content, the higher the resistivity, and vice versa. Increased content of SiO2, Al2O3 CaO
increases electrical resistivity.
High Electrical Resistivity of Fly-ash can be handled by doing the following

Adjusting the temperature of gas stream

Increasing the moisture content in flue gas
Adding conditioning agents to the gas stream
Increasing the collection surface area of ESP

BRIEF SYSTEM DESCRIPTION

Kahalgaon super thermal power station (KhSTPS) is having a total installed capacity of 2340MW
which consists of 4 units of 210MW (Stage-1) and 3 units of 500MW (stage-2). ESP in both stages
has been supplied by BHEL.
Stage-1 ESP has a total number of 24 fields divided in four passes, with six fields in each pass. To
isolate flue gas in a particular pass, inlet and outlet dampers are provided instead of gates. Ash
evacuation is continuous, where ESP hoppers are connected to flushing apparatus which disposes
the ash in wet form and send to fly ash pump house
Stage-2 ESP has a total number of 80 fields divided in eight passes, with ten fields in each pass. Ash
evacuation from ESP hoppers is cyclic and in dry form through a vacuum conveying system but
disposal has both facilities i.e. both dry and wet
S No
1

Description

210 MW

500 MW

ESP Type

FAA-6X45-78125-2

FAA-10 X 45H-2 X 90135-2

Gas flow rate

296 m/Sec

849 m/Sec

Temperature

129 C

130 C

Dust concentration

73.83 gm/N m

72.58 gm/Nm

---

23 mg/Nm

Design Condition
2

Outlet Dust concentration

Number of Fields

Six

Ten

No of gas path per

pass

One

Two

Collection efficiency

99.90%

99.90%

20 mmwc

20 mmwc

0.759

0.87 m/sec

Pressure drop across

ESP

Velocity of gas

Treatment Time
No of collecting
Electrode per unit

NTPC Kahalgaon

35.57
6X27 (=162 per field)
X24=3888

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51.72 Second
6X61(=366)X40=14,640

IPS 2015

12
13

Type of Electrode

14

Plate/wire spacing

Boiler 1st
pass

Bottom
Ash-20%

12.5 mtr X 750 mm

13.5 mtr X 750 mm

237.16 m/ m/sec

343.46 m/ m/sec

(3X3)X6X26(=1404)X24=33,
696
Spiral with hooks 2.7 mm
dia
150 mm(300 mm pitch)

Boiler
2nd pass

Eco
Ash

(3X3)X6X60(=3240)X40=1,29,60
0
Spiral with hooks 2.7 mm dia
150 mm(300 mm pitch)

ESP
APH
APH
Ash

11

Dimension of plate,
Height X Length
Specific Collecting
Area
No of Emitting
Electrode

S TAC

10

ESP Ash80%

TRIGGER POINTS FOR DETERIORATION OF ESP IN KAHALGAON

HIGH ASH CONTENT & LOW HEATING VALUE IN COAL FIRED

Coal in KhSTPS comes from Lalmatia mines located 30 kms from plant .Besides high ash content in
coal, specific coal consumption is also high, of the order of 0.88 which demands high coal feeding in
furnace, thus generating more fly ash and consequently loading the ESP higher. The inlet dust burden
gets increased & combined with high gas flow rate, decreases the treatment time of ash particles
inside ESP. The high gas flow rate poses another challenge. The Boiler outlet or ESP inlet temp goes
high increasing the gas volume and hence the gas flow rate increases further.
Lalmatia coal
Sample-1
Sample-2

Moisture %
8.05
8.18

Ash %
49.52
38.92

VM%
19.04
21.43

FC %
23.39
31.47

HIGH RESISTIVITY OF FLY ASH

Analysis of fly ash generated at KhSTPS shows that silicon dioxide and aluminium oxide constitutes
92.17% of total composition. The property of silica & alumina is that it acts as insulator and increases
fly ash resistivity. Very low sulphur (<0.5%) and alkali(<0.7%) content (which reduce
resistivity),aggravates the problem further. A single most important parameter which has significant
impact on ESP performance is the fly ash resistivity because
1. The holding force on the electrode increases as the value of resistivity increases and more force is
required to dislodge dust particles from collecting plates

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2. Also it produces a high electric field across the dust layer deposited on plates which causes local
ionization of dust called back corona.
Silicon dioxide
Aluminium oxide +
Magnesium
Na2O
Total
Fly ash test
%
iron oxide %
oxide
%
chlorides
result
%
%
60.67
31.50
3.01
0.08
.021
FLUE GAS FLOW RATE MORE THAN DESIGNED FOR ESP INLET CONDITIONS
Gas flow rate is defined by quantity of coal fired, excess air and air in leakage. Measured gas flow
rate at ESP inlet was around 1.5 times than the designed flow. Design flow is 296m 3/sec.
Treatment time calculated for the flue gas was in the range of 23-26sec against design of 35.5sec.
Decreased treatment time results in high stack emission
The main reason for high flue gas flow is high specific coal consumption and air in leakage from air
heaters, sand compensators and re heater control stage casing. Oxygen mapping of boiler 2 nd pass
up to ESP inlet shows an increase from 3% at economiser outlet to 7% at ESP inlet.
Chocking of APH tubes/baskets, eroded guide vanes of flue gas duct, rotating fire-ball due to
tangential firing may skew the inter pass flow rate which causes higher gas flow rates in some of the
passes.
High flue gas velocity also results in re entrainment of particle inside ESP. It also disturbs the flow
pattern & flue gas distribution among different passes.

Flue gas flow at ESP

inlet(m3 /s)
Flue gas velocity
(m3 /s)

Design
296

Unit-2
451

Unit-3
444.3

Unit-4
441.2

0.76

1.15

1.012

1.01

OPERATION AND MAINTENANCE INITIATIVES TO MAINTAIN PERFORMANCE OF ESP AT

KHSTPS
ESP parameters like precipitator current and voltage are recorded in a format on daily basis. Trend of
voltage and current are compared to earlier values in order to ascertain the condition of field

DAY
F WISE VOLTAGE LEVEL FOR DIFFERENT UNITS OF FIRST FIELD(A1)
I
E
L
D
V
O
L
T
A
G
E

60
50
UNIT 1

40

UNIT 2

30

UNIT 3

20

UNIT 4

10
0

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DAY WISE VOLTAGE LEVELS FOR FIRST FIELDS OF ONE UNIT
F
I
E
L
D
V
O
L
T
A
G
E

70
60
50
40
30
20
10
0

Unit 4 A1
Unit 4 B1
Unit 4 C1
Unit 4 D1

CURRENT VS VOLTAGE
V
O 100
L
50
T
0
A
0 50 100150200250300350400
G
E
FIELD CURRENT

A4
B3
D6

In every shutdown air load test is carried out and air load test curves are kept as a record for
future reference
During short shutdown all rapping mechanism for each field, both collecting and emitting are
checked physically. On several occasions problem has been found in pin arrangement of
emitting electrode and pinion of collecting plates
Daily checking of rapping motors- a format has been developed to check and record the
status of rapping mechanism on daily basis. Any deviation is immediately informed to
concerned area for rectification to prevent the field from outage
Oxygen mapping of boiler 2 nd pass is done on regular basis to find out the area of air in
leakage. Locations are identified and are attended in short/long shutdown. KHSTPS stage-1
has tubular air pre heaters which has got a tendency of chocking at low flue gas temperature.
During every start up SCAPH is charged to maintain temperature. SCAPH is also kept in
charged condition during winter. Chocking of air heater tubes increases the flue gas velocity
in balance tubes resulting in erosion and air in leakage through the tubes
Monitoring of ash evacuation from ESP hoppers- logging of evacuation parameters like shut
off vacuum, line vacuum of each ESP pas of each unit in every shift has helped in overcoming
the ash evacuation problem at KhSTPS which was very frequent due to high coal feeding and
high ash content. cycle time of each pass is also monitored, if any pass evacuation goes slow,
corrective action is taken or pass is isolated from flue gas side.

FLUE GAS CONDITIONING (Ammonia Dosing)

The term flue gas conditioning involves a change in particulate properties like ash resistivity, ash
cohesiveness and to some degree ash particle size. Coal fired in KhSTPS has very low sulphur and
high alumina and silica content in ash. To reduce the impact of such problems, ammonia dosing
system has been installed in all the four units of stage-1 with individual air blower, ammonia manifold
and flow controller. Ammonia dosing has resulted in reduction of emission levels at KhSTPS.
In the existing dosing system one modification has been done, that is on line inspection & removal
facility of nozzles through which dosing is carried has been provided to replace the worn out nozzles

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without taking any shutdown. The main disadvantage of ammonia dosing experienced at KhSTPS is
formation of sticky layer of ash on the collecting plates which does not come out by rapping.

Ammonia dosing arrangement with new air blowers

Unit load
205MW

Ammonia
injection rate
SPM(mg/nm3)

0 kg/hr

7kg/hr

12kg/hr

171

123

114

MAINTENANCE INITIATIVES
REPLACEMENT OF SAND COMPENSATORS WITH NON-METALLIC EXPANSION JOINTS
BOILERS OF STAGE-1

IN 210 MW

The connection between Economizer Stage- 2 and Air Pre Heater Stage- II is facilitated
through Sand Compensators, which allows vertical movement of second pass of the boiler
as well as sealing of the pass against air ingress.
The plate welded to the bottom header of wall super heater is allowed to move vertically
within the channel which is filled with sand and sealed with asbestos rope to prevent air
ingress.
Gradually the sand gets sucked inside the furnace as it is under negative pressure, resulting
in a creation of passage for atmospheric air to get inside the flue gas path.
Replacement of the Sand Compensator in the Air Pre Heaters (APHs) zone of the 210 MW
boilers with NMEJ (Non-Metallic Expansion Joints) was a viable option to get rid of such
recurrent problem.

NMEJ

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MODIFICATION OF ECONOMISER & AIR HEATER FLUSHING APPARATUS IN STAGE-2 AND
INSTALLATION OF AIR HEATER ASH EVACUATION SYSTEM IN STAGE-1

Initially there was problem in ash evacuation from economiser hoppers leading to more dust loading
on ESP. it was mainly due to
Misalignment of sealing apparatus. Restriction in expansion used to tilt the sealing apparatus
from one side and air ingress did not allow the ash to flow through
Capacity of flushing apparatus was not as per the rate of ash coming from economiser
hoppers. Size of flushing apparatus was increased along with modification in nozzle
arrangement, instead of unidirectional two nozzles in tangential direction was placed to create
more turbulence.
REPLACEMENT OF COLLECTING ELECTRODES:
The collecting electrodes of stage I ESPs have corroded / eroded at many locations. The
following problems were found in inspection of the fields during the shutdowns
The thickness of some of the plates had reduced to 0.6-0.7 mm as against designed
thickness of 1.2mm.
Shear at the bottom
Shear from Top hook
Bending of the plates causing misalignment
After inspection it was found that the damage of the plates might have occurred due to
following reasons:
Ageing of the ESP internals which is being reflected by reduction in thickness of the
plates.
Defects and misalignment in the rapping mechanism of collecting electrodes.
Unequal ash loading leading to hopper overfills
Heavy deposition on collecting electrodes to to high resistive and adhesive ash.
Such plates were identified and damaged plates in the first two fields of stage I units have
been replaced. Post overhauls, average voltage of these fields has increased marginally.
REPLACEMENT OF EMITTING ELECTRODES:
Most outages of the fields at KhSTPS occur due to snapping of Emitting electrodes. After inspection
the probable reasons for snapping are as follows:
The emitting electrodes weaken due to excessive sparking near the hooks connecting to
the discharge frames.
The vibration caused by regular rapping also causes slackness due to loss of spring-back
in the coils.
Heavy ash deposition on the emitting electrodes due to Back corona and failure of
coupling pins of the rapping shafts which is not visible from outside.
Corrective actions:
Wherever the collecting electrodes are changed during overhauling it is ensured that new
emitting electrodes are put in the vicinity of these collecting electrodes.
In addition to this, the emitting electrodes whose spring-back is less than normal are replaced
on regular basis.

Replacement of collecting plates

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Deposition on emitting electrodes

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Bend collecting plates

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REPLACEMENT OF RAPPING MECHANISM:
As frequency of rapping in initial fields is high, most of the damage occurs in these fields. In order to
ensure healthiness of the rapping system, all shock-bars, shock-pads, inner & outer arms, and CRM
shafts are replaced in first three fields. The damaged shock-bar guide is also replaced.
REPLACEMENT OF SHAFT INSULATORS:
Heavy salt deposits were found on the shaft insulators. These led to tracking and field shortages. All
such shaft insulators are replaced. Further care is taken that there is no air ingress point near shaft
insulators. All 24 shaft insulators are thoroughly inspected and the damaged ones are being replaced
in every OH.
REPAIR OF DUCT GUIDE VANES AND ESP INLET SPLITTER PLATES :
These have major role in proper gas distribution across ESP. Abnormal difference in flow rate among
the different passes may lead to high gas flow rate in some sections. This results in poor collection
efficiency. The high erosion rate of such guide vanes are due to high ash content and low quality of
coal. Splitter plates at the entry of ESP are subjected to very high flue gas velocity which is also one
of main cause of erosion. These are replaced in each OH.

Erosion of guide vanes & Deflector plates

REPAIR OF ANTI-SNEAK PLATES:

Anti-sneak plates are provided in the areas where the gas has tendency to bypass the ESP and
escape untreated. Repair of these plates forces the gas inside the ESP.
REPLACEMENT OF APH TUBES:
Proper maintenance of APH is necessary for good ESP efficiency because of these reasons:
Proper heat transfer in the APH reduces FG outlet temperature. This reduces the gas flow
rates and brings down the resistivity of the ash.
It reduces the air in-leaks which leads to higher gas flow rates.
The temperature distribution across the passes is much more uniform. Non uniform
temperature may lead to higher resistivity at some places, reducing efficiency at those
locations.
At KhSTPS, there was huge ingress inside the APH due to punctured tubes. Choking of tubes further
aggravates the problem as it increases the flue gas velocity in clear tubes. This problem was found
mostly in the lowest elevation of the APH which consists of approx.32000 tubes. An action plan was
made to replace at least 25% of the tubes during every OH depending on the area of chocking and
leakage.
Apart from these, levelling and alignment of discharge and collecting frames as well as the electrodes
is also ensured after checking of gaps with GO- NOGO gauges. Reduced gap between discharge and
collecting electrodes causes spark at low voltages. Hence the running voltage of the entire field
reduces causing low efficiency of the field.

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350

310

300
250

289

260
221

200
150

131

122

133

143

2011
2014

100
50
0
unit 1

unit 2

unit 3

unit 4

IMPROVEMENT IN SPM LEVEL OF STAGE-1 UNITS

STATION PLANS IN NEAR FUTURE:

1. Replacement of ESP internals: Due to ageing, the collecting electrodes have shown the
problems of bowing, tearing at the ends apart from sharp edges resulting from corrosion
holes. These trigger sparks much earlier limiting the field voltage. Changing CE, however,
requires considerable care and skills. The station has replaced the defective plates in the first
and second fields in the recent overhauls and plans similar replacements in other fields in
forthcoming overhauls. Similarly, the slack DE and defective rapping mechanisms shall also
be replaced en masse.
2. Isolation gates for pass isolation: Attending field shortages without stopping the unit is not
possible as there are no pass isolation gates as of now. They are being procured and shall be
provided in near future.
3. CFD Analysis of Flue gas duct: Proper gas distribution in the duct and ESP plays vital role
in the ash loading of different passes. The ACW rotation of tangential fired boiler (when
viewed from top) tends to bias the flow towards the right side of the duct. Similarly, the middle
passes tend to get more flow. Inside the ESP, the flow tends to remain at the bottom half of
the ESP. The guide vanes of duct and ESP flow splitter plates must be designed to improve
these biases. Station has planned to take the help of NETRA for CFD analysis of all stage I
units before overhauling so that corrective action may be taken.
4. Continuous emission monitoring system: Although being procured in compliance to the
recent guidelines, the continuous emission monitoring system provides vital input to tune the
ESP for better results.
ON A WIDER PERSPECTIVE:
The present emission standards for particulate emission for a 210 MW utility boiler is 150mg/nm3,
which is likely to revise to 100 mg/nm3 soon. Emissions standards are becoming more stringer day by
day, as a result new technologies or retrofits are being applied in the existing power plant in India. As
the norms get stringer day by day, we also should gear-up to bring in some new technologies the
world is abuzz with. Some are detailed in brief as under
1. Moving Electrode Electrostatic Precipitator (MEEP): The collecting electrodes in the
moving Electrode Electrostatic Precipitator move on a set of sprockets and as electrode plate
collects dust, the rotary brush within the lower hopper removes dust from the electrode
surface. As there is no hammering, the re-entrainment losses are minimized. Therefore, the
MEEP can effectively collect highly-resistive dust, which cannot be removed by the
hammering method in general fixed electrodes, as well as the fine dust which drifts in with the
gas flow again in the hammering method. As a result, the field voltage is greatly enhanced
and chances of back corona are also reduced. The dust collection area can be reduced
substantially.

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2. Electrostatic Fabric Integrated Precipitator (EFIP):The coarser particles in this type of filter
are captured by conventional electrostatic process while the finer particles are captured in the
fabric bags. This is highly effective in capturing highly resistive dusts. This type of hybrid filters
are of much use in India and are increasingly finding favours for retrofitting old plants as well
as new units burning low grade coals. As bags have higher dp margins of ID fan has to be
taken in consideration while going for a retrofit.
3. Lower Temperature Electrostatic Precipitator (LTEP) :
Coals with high resistive ash residue generally have very low sulphur content or the units with
an FGD unit ahead of an ESP have little chance of corrosion due to acid due point
depression. This provides opportunity to extract further heat from the flue gases so that the
resistivity is favourably reduced. Many precipitators in Japan are able to reduce emissions
using this technology by just reducing 20-30 0 C temperature of the flue gases. Advantage of
this technology is that it reduces the flue gas volume also. This not only reduces ID fan
margins but improves collection efficiency of precipitator also.
4. High Frequency Power supplies (HFPS):
There have been many new developments in the input power supplies which have been
effective in collection of smaller size particles as well as high resistivity ash. These increase
the peak field voltages while keeping the average current densities below back corona
threshold. Typically these operate from a 3 phase supply. In operation the DC from the input
rectifier is switched to a high frequency to feed the transformer. The major advantage of this is
that, for a normal 50 Hz supply the switching time is 100 milliseconds, whereas with say a 35
kHz supply the switching time is 140 microseconds, this enables a much closer control of
flashover with an extremely fast spark recovery. HFPS units have the inbuilt algorithm that
enables the controller to disconnect the power supply during the rapping cycle and make the
rapping more effective. The above is effective also in case of dust collected on discharge
electrodes.
CONCLUSION
In spite of adopting various methods, suitable for high resistivity ash and high ash content, the
sustainable and efficient collection of ash from ESP is a challenging task. KhSTPS has been able to
overcome numerous problems faced during operation by carrying out need based corrective actions
through meticulous planning, open approach and effective deployment. A joint effort by cross
functional team has yielded results in keeping the emission levels below the statutory limits but more
thrust is required to work out on future plans to improve ESP performance as the emission norms are
going to be more stringent very soon.

REFERENCES:
Emission reduction and Availability improvement in old Electrostatic Precipitators at Gold Roaster A
Case Study Debasish Chakrabarti ICESP XIII, September 2013, Bangalore, India
The Airflow Distribution Design of ESP-FF Hybrid Dust Collector and the Application at Balco Power
Plant in India Yao Yuping, Zhao Yongshui, Wang Yong ICESP XIII, September 2013, Bangalore,
India
Chandra A., Kumar S., and Kumar S.V., Investigations on Fly Ash Resistivity, Development of Empirical
Relations based on Experimental Measurement, Centre for Energy Studies, IIT Delhi, ICESPX- Australia, 2006,
Paper 8B1.
Application of the Lower Temperature Electrostatic Precipitator Wu Huifeng ICESP XIII, September
2013, Bangalore, India
The Project on Efficiency and Environmental Improvement of Indian Coal-Fired Power Stations
Full-Fledged diagnosis for Unit #2, KhSTPS Thermal Power Station April, 2012 JCOAL

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FAIZ TAIYAB (AGM-OPERATION)

NTPC, Kahalgaon
faiztaiyab@ntpc.co.in
9431215308
A.K.RAZA (AGM-BMD)
NTPC, Kahalgaon
akraza@ntpc.co.in
9473196799
ABHISHEK KUMAR (DY.SUPDT-EMD)
NTPC, Kahalgaon
abhishekkumar05@ntpc.co.in
9431600306

NTPC Kahalgaon

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