Electrostatic precipitator that operates in conductive grease atmosphere

Abstract

An improved electrostatic precipitator system is provided for use in high-grease atmospheres in which the grease is electrically conductive. The precipitator includes high-voltage insulators that are both located in areas unlikely to accumulate electrically-conductive grease and that, in themselves, can operate in a high-voltage system without tracking, even when a certain amount of conductive grease has accumulated on the insulators' surfaces. In a multi-cell precipitator system, a high-voltage insulator is provided as part of a cell-to-cell assembly that receives high-voltage electricity on one side of its insulator, and conducts that electricity to its opposite side, and is placed in a specially-shaped cut-out in the bulkhead between the cell chambers, in which the cut-out is shaped so as to minimize the amount of grease that may accumulate upon the cell-to-cell assembly's insulators. The electrostatic precipitator also includes a high-voltage electrical power supply that has special current limiting features and time delay functions that allow it to operate during relatively brief time intervals when a high-humidity atmosphere exists along with the electrically-conductive grease particulate. The electrostatic precipitator also includes electrical door interlocks using safety limit switches to detect whether or not any of the doors have been opened and which shut down the high voltage power of the system in the event of an untimely opening of one of the doors.