The flue gas generated from glass furnaces contains particles with high concentrations of alkali metals and hazardous heavy metals, which could reduce the lifespan of selective catalytic reduction (SCR) catalysts and lead to catalyst deactivation. Removing the particles before SCR could improve system operation reliability and reduce nitric oxides (NOx) emission. In this paper, the characteristics of fly ash from glass furnaces and the particle removal properties in the electrostatic precipitator (ESP) from 363 K to 623 K were studied. The particle collection efficiency was found to decrease with increasing temperature. A method of enhancing particle removal was proposed and tested through particle conditioning in a lab-scale experiment. In order to change the characteristics of the fly ash, calcium carbonate powders were used as conditioning particles and the particle collection efficiency increased from 65.8% to 87.6% at 623 K. This method was further applied in an industrial high-temperature ESP for a glass furnace. When the ratio in mass between the particles from the glass furnace and from the conditioning proportion was 1:1.5, the particle collection efficiency of the ESP was improved significantly and the outlet particle concentrations decreased from 103.23 mg/Nm3 to 39.25 mg/Nm3.
