Patent Document ID: 4521223
Application ID: 06628776
Patent Flag: 1

Claim One:
1. A method for operationally determining the existence of an optimal knocking period for the rapping of the collector electrodes for an electrostatic precipitator, comprising the steps of: (a) operating the precipitator under dust-free gas flow conditions; (b) during the execution of step (a), measuring the current flow to and the voltage across at least one pair of the electrodes; (c) determining, from the measurements of current flow and voltage in step (b), a current-voltage characteristic for dust-free operation of said precipitator; (d) operating said precipitator under actual use conditions; (e) during the execution of step (d), measuring the current flow to and the voltage across at least said one pair of said electrodes; (f) determining, from the measurements of current and voltage in step (e), a current-voltage characteristic for actual use operation of said precipitator; and (g) comparing the current-voltage characteristic arrived at in step (f) with the current-voltage characteristic arrived at in step (c) to determine whether the electrical resistance of a dust layer accumulated on said electrodes during actual use operation is at least equal to the electrical resistance of pure gas passing between said electrodes during dust-free operation of said precipitator, thereby determining whether an optimal knocking period exists.