In order to study the effect of wet electrostatic precipitators(WESP) on emission characteristics of condensable particulate matter (CPM) from ultra-low emission coal-fired power plants that are under different capacity conditions, a set of CPM sampling devices was built based on US EPA Method 202, and an ultra-low emission coal-fired power plant was detected. This study evaluated the emission level of the CPM from the flue gas of coal-fired power plants, the effects of different unit capacity conditions on the CPM emission concentrations, and the removal efficiency of WESP for different components of the CPM. The results suggested that the emission concentrations of the CPM from ultra-low emission power plants were 27.27 mg·m-3 and 28.71 mg·m-3under the conditions of 75% and 100% capacity, respectively. The removal efficiencies of WESP for the CPM were 35.59% and 27.59%, respectively. SO42- was the main component of water-soluble ions of the CPM. The proportion of SO42- in inorganic components of the CPM reached more than 65% under different capacity conditions. In addition, the removal efficiency of WESP for Cl-, K+, Ca2+, Mg2+, Na+, and other inorganic ions reached 30%-50%, but the mass concentrations of SO42- and NO3- increased.
Keywords: capacity; coal-fired power plant; condensable particulate matter(CPM); emission characteristic; wet electrostatic precipitator(WESP).