NEWS RELEASE                                                                                        FEBRUARY 2016

$10 Billion Annual Market for Precipitator Upgrade and Repair

Fabric filters are now the popular optionfor particulate control. The sales of new electrostatic precipitators peaked some years ago.  However, electrostatic precipitators will continue to outstrip fabric filters in terms of the installed base for at least the next 15 years. This is the prediction in N018 Electrostatic Precipitator World Market.

Large investments in new electrostatic precipitators are being made in Indonesia, Vietnam, India and other developing countries.  In Europe, China, Japan and the U.S. billions of dollars per year are being spent to repair and upgrade existing units.

Most countries now limit emissions from coal-fired boilers, cement plants and other large sources to such a low level that it is difficult for existing precipitators to meet the requirements.  The installation of newer designs of discharge and collection electrodes and modifications to the electrical system can improve operations.

Another option is to make the precipitator into a hybrid. The last field of the precipitator is replaced with bags.  LongKing has sold a number of hybrid conversions to Chinese power plants.  FLSmidth has sold hybrid conversions to cement plants.

One option is to add a wet precipitator downstream of the dry precipitator and scrubber.  Several of the 2010 vintage new coal-fired power plants in the U.S. incorporate this combination.  A number of Chinese power plants chose this option to deal with the new particulate standard.

One of the most promising developments involves the reduction of the inlet temperature to the precipitator.  Mitsubishi and Hitachi found that reducing the temperature below 200°F at the precipitator inlet achieved the 10 mg/Nm³ performance which otherwise required the wet precipitator addition.

The challenge of this approach is toreduce the inlet temperature without condensing sulfuric acid. URS and others are preventing the acid formation by injecting sorbent ahead of the air pre-heater.

The addition of the sorbent and extension of the air heater is more than justified by the 1 percent increase in thermal efficiency for the plant.  The precipitator improvement is a serendipitous result.

The biggest opportunity for precipitator suppliers lies in a comprehensive support program to help precipitator owners minimize their total cost of ownership while complying with the regulations.

To learn about all these options and their impact on the market opportunity click on N018 Electrostatic Precipitator World Market.