Patent ID: 8308846

Claim:
A method for precipitating liquid and/or particle-shaped impurities from a stream of gas, comprising: passing the stream of gas through a gas discharge section between at least two electrodes, of which at least one electrode is an active or emission electrode and at least one other electrode is a precipitation or counter-electrode; and precipitating the impurities from the stream of gas by electrically charging the impurities in the stream of gas in the gas discharge section and attracting the impurities to the counter-electrode by means of electrical field forces, wherein the stream of gas is passed between at least one electrode tip, which serves as the emission electrode, and a counter-electrode, which is positioned at a distance from said emission electrode, wherein a direct voltage, exceeding the breakdown voltage of the space between the at least two electrodes, is applied to the emission electrode and the counter-electrode, and wherein the current flow of the gas discharge section between the at least two electrodes is limited, by means of which a stable low energy direct current plasma is formed in the space between the at least two electrodes.