An air cleaner includes a rear filter receiving air from the outer environment, an ionizer grid connected to a high voltage power supply and having wires extending between opposite sides of a frame such to emit positively charged ions and apply an electrostatic charge on the air received from the rear filter; a collector grid connected to ground and having wires extending between opposite sides of a frame, the combination of the ionizer and collector grids causing the air to move toward the collector grid; a front filter collecting contaminants suspended in the air received from the collector grid; and an apparatus frame housing the rear filter, the ionizer and collector grids, and the front filter, wherein the frames of the ionizer and collector grids are suspended within the apparatus frame with isolating members made of a non-arc tracking material, such to minimize coronal discharge and reduce audible noise.

The subject of the invention is a procedure, a filter module, and an air cleaning device composed of such filter modules for the highly efficient cleaning of air containing small contaminating particles. In the course of the procedure, the principle of adhesion and repelling effect is exploited to capture the contaminating particles in the device composed of an appropriate number of filter modules (1). The air to be cleaned is moved like a quasi-electrodynamic linear engine in the device, so that the mass and/or size of the coagulated particles is increased by the powers of two as necessary while passing through two sequential filter modules (1), up to 2.sup.20 value. This way, the flow velocity of the fine grains with increased mass is decreasing gradually and they are separated or fall out from the flow space, meaning that particles with a starting size below 1 micrometre, in the nano-range, which are the most harmful to the human body, may also be captured. The essential part of the invention is the filter module (1) that is fitted with electrodes (7), composed of a collector (5) and a separator (6) located at a given distance, which are connected to a positive or negative high voltage (8, 9) and are surrounded by a cover consisting of a base plate, connected to zero potential (10), side plates, and a cover plate. Two electrodes (7) form an electrode pair, and two electrode pairs form a filter module (1), where the electrode pairs are placed so that there is one electrode (7) of the opposite potential installed between two electrodes (7) of the same potential. The solution according to the invention may be used in versatile ways, especially on the field of civil environmental protection, as stand-alone, pre-, or post-filter, such as for cleaning the air and exhaust gas in the chimney of industrial plants, for cleaning polluted urban air, for cleaning, de-germination, and filtering pollen from the air of closed premises, and for military purposes on the field of NBC safety as a pre-filter.

An electrostatic air cleaning device comprises a particle charging section, a panicle precipitation section, a current sensor for measuring an electric current flowing through electrode plates of the precipitation section and a relative humidity sensor. The voltage applied to the electrode plates and the air flow through the device are am trolled in dependence on the measured current flowing through the electrode plates. In this way, control is provided to prevent excessive electric leakage currents inside the precipitation section, that may lead to a hazard, and to optimize the energy efficiency of the cleaning device in relation to its cleaning performance. The relative humidity information also enables diagnosis of the cause of the high leakage current and the status of the precipitation section concerning the amount of precipitated particles therein.

Provided is an electrostatic dust filter including a frame that is opened back and forth and forms a space through which air passes, a chemical absorbent that is accommodated in the space and absorbs harmful substance in the air, a mesh member that covers the front of the frame and has a plurality of pores through which the air passes, a ground electrode that covers the rear of the frame and has the plurality of pores through which the air passes, and is grounded, and a voltage electrode that is disposed to opposite to the ground electrode with respect to the mesh member and applied with a high voltage.

Electrokinetic devices and methods are described with the purpose of collecting assayable agents from a dielectric fluid medium. Electrokinetic flow may be induced by the use of plasma generation at high voltage electrodes and consequent transport of charged particles in an electric voltage gradient. Actively growing mold releases the carbohydrate cell wall component (1.fwdarw.3)--D-Glucan into the air. The invention recognizes that the airborne fraction is that which affects respiratory health and selectively tests for a free form which is soluble in aqueous medium. The sample to be analysed is preferably collected by the electrokinetic propulsion method described, but any air sampling method such as filtration, impactor or impingement may be applicable.

Disclosed herein is a flue pipe system comprising a flue pipe, a first electrode, a second electrode, a third electrode, and a voltage supply. The flue pipe can define a fluid flow path through an interior volume of the flue pipe. The voltage supply can be connected to the first electrode, the second electrode, and the third electrode. The voltage supply can form a first electrical circuit comprising the voltage supply, the first electrode, and the third electrode and a second electrical circuit comprising the voltage supply, the second electrode, and the third electrode. The first electrical circuit can form a streamer corona discharge between the first electrode and the third electrode in the interior volume such that the fluid flow path flows therethrough. The second electrical circuit can form a flow of ions between the second electrode and the third electrode along the interior surface of the flue pipe.

[Object of the Invention] An object of the present invention is to develop an air curtain device generating parallel air flow based on the knowledge in that parallel air flow generated at the outlet of a turbulent flow runup zone does not include vortex flows and has strong air current interruption performance. [Disclosure of the Invention] An air curtain device comprises a first ventilation box comprising a discharge elbow provided with guide vanes, a honeycomb, an industrial use ventilating fan, a suction elbow provided with guide vanes, and a pre-filter, wherein the aforesaid elements are sequentially accommodated in a rectangular box whose one side surface is open and an outlet port of the discharge elbow provided with guide vanes and the pre-filter are disposed on the open side surface of the rectangular box, and a second ventilation box of the same structure as the first ventilation box, wherein the first ventilation box is put on an entrance floor with the discharge elbow provided with guide vanes above, and the second ventilation box is put on the entrance floor with the discharge elbow provided with guide vanes below, so that the first ventilation box and the second ventilation box oppose each other at their open side surfaces in a mutually upside-down manner and the first ventilation box and the second ventilation box are distanced from each other by a breadth Xg of the entrance, and wherein an entrance ceiling is provided to a breadth equal to the distance between the ventilation boxes so as to connect a top of the first ventilation box with a top of the second ventilation box, thereby forming an air curtain device entrance, wherein relation between the breadth Xg of the entrance of the air curtain device and a breadth D of the outlet ports of the discharge elbows provided with guide vanes is set at Xg5D.

An air cleaner includes a rear filter receiving air from the outer environment, an ionizer grid connected to a high voltage power supply and having wires extending between opposite sides of a frame such to emit positively charged ions and apply an electrostatic charge on the air received from the rear filter; a collector grid connected to ground and having wires extending between opposite sides of a frame, the combination of the ionizer and collector grids causing the air to move toward the collector grid; a front filter collecting contaminants suspended in the air received from the collector grid; and an apparatus frame housing the rear filter, the ionizer and collector grids, and the front filter, wherein the frames of the ionizer and collector grids are suspended within the apparatus frame with isolating members made of a non-arc tracking material, such to minimize coronal discharge and reduce audible noise.

[Object of the Invention] An object of the present invention is to develop an air curtain device generating parallel air flow based on the knowledge in that parallel air flow generated at the outlet of a turbulent flow runup zone does not include vortex flows and has strong air current interruption performance.

[Disclosure of the Invention] An air curtain device comprises a first ventilation box comprising a discharge elbow provided with guide vanes, a honeycomb, an industrial use ventilating fan, a suction elbow provided with guide vanes, and a pre-filter, wherein the aforesaid elements are sequentially accommodated in a rectangular box whose one side surface is open and an outlet port of the discharge elbow provided with guide vanes and the pre-filter are disposed on the open side surface of the rectangular box, and a second ventilation box of the same structure as the first ventilation box, wherein the first ventilation box is put on an entrance floor with the discharge elbow provided with guide vanes above, and the second ventilation box is put on the entrance floor with the discharge elbow provided with guide vanes below, so that the first ventilation box and the second ventilation box oppose each other at their open side surfaces in a mutually upside-down manner and the first ventilation box and the second ventilation box are distanced from each other by a breadth Xg of the entrance, and wherein an entrance ceiling is provided to a breadth equal to the distance between the ventilation boxes so as to connect a top of the first ventilation box with a top of the second ventilation box, thereby forming an air curtain device entrance, wherein relation between the breadth Xg of the entrance of the air curtain device and a breadth D of the outlet ports of the discharge elbows provided with guide vanes is set at Xg5D.

An electrostatic precipitator includes a collecting electrode provided along a gas flow direction, including a plurality of openings being formed in the collecting electrode, and a discharge electrode arranged in parallel with the collecting electrode. The discharge electrode includes a plurality of corona discharge portions for corona discharge, the plurality of corona discharge portions are continuously provided in the gas flow direction, and are protruding toward only one collecting electrode of the collecting electrodes that face each other. A plurality of collecting electrodes and a plurality of discharge electrodes are alternately arranged in a direction orthogonal to a gas flow direction. In each of the upstream region and the downstream region in the gas flow direction, all of the corona discharge portions protrude in the same direction.