Electrostatic Precipitator

An electrostatic precipitator, or ESP, is a filterless air pollution control device that removes fine particles such as dust and smoke from a flowing gas stream by giving them an electrostatic charge and then drawing them to a collecting surface, applying its energy directly to the particles rather than to the gas itself, which keeps its electrical consumption low and lets gas pass through with little resistance. The underlying effect, using a corona discharge to remove aerosol particles, was first demonstrated by Hohlfeld in 1824, but the technology was not commercialized for nearly a century, until University of California, Berkeley chemistry professor Frederick Gardner Cottrell patented the first working electrostatic precipitator in 1907, aimed first at sulfuric acid mist and lead oxide fumes damaging California vineyards near smelting and acid plants. The operating theory behind the device was developed further in Germany through the work of Walter Deutsch and the Lurgi company, and Cottrell used the proceeds from his own patents to found the Research Corporation in 1912, which went on to fund major scientific work including Robert Goddard early rocketry experiments and Ernest Lawrence development of the cyclotron.