Electrostatic filter and non-thermal plasma system for air pollution control of hydrocarbon combustion engines

An air pollution control apparatus comprising:

• a precipitation chamber with an electrical ground connection;
• an inlet port connected to the precipitation chamber;
• an outlet port connected to the precipitation chamber;
• at least two planar collecting plate electrodes within and electrically connected to the precipitation chamber, where the collecting plate electrodes have at least one opening within the plane of the collecting plate electrode;
• a rod passing through the openings of the collecting plate electrodes;
• an ionizing plate mounted on the rod, where the ionizing plate has sharp discharge points along a periphery of the ionizing plate, and where the ionizing plate is mounted at a predetermined distance K away from a nearest collecting plate electrode;
• a first end plate attached to a first end of the rod, a second end plate attached to a second end of the rod;
• an insulator securely mounting each end plate to the precipitation chamber;
• and
• a transformer electrically connected to the rod, the transformer capable of inducing a voltage differential between the ionizing plate and the collecting plate electrodes.

An air pollution control apparatus comprising:

• a precipitation chamber with an electrical ground connection;
• an inlet port connected to the precipitation chamber;
• an outlet port connected to the precipitation chamber;
• a first and a second plate assembly, each plate assembly comprised of
• at least two planar collecting plate electrodes within and electrically connected to the precipitation chamber, where the collecting plate electrodes have at least one opening within the plane of the collecting plate electrode;
• a rod passing through the openings of the collecting plate electrodes;
• an ionizing plate mounted on the rod, where the ionizing plate has sharp discharge points along a periphery of the ionizing plate, and where the ionizing plate is mounted at a predetermined distance K away from a nearest collecting plate electrode;
• a first end plate attached to a first end of the rod, a second end plate attached to a second end of the rod;
• and,
• an insulator securely mounting each end plate to the precipitation chamber;
• a first transformer electrically connected to the first or second end plate of the first plate assembly, the first transformer capable of inducing a first voltage differential between the ionizing plate attached to said rod and the collecting plate electrodes;
• a second transformer electrically connected to the first or second end plate of the second plate assembly, the second transformer capable of inducing a second voltage differential between the ionizing plate attached to said rod and the collecting plate electrodes;
• an insulator chamber surrounding the insulators;
• a conduit connected to the insulator chamber;
• a high pressure blower with an input port and an output port connected to the conduit;
• an inlet filter connected to the input port of the high pressure blower;
• and
• a heat exchanger between the inlet filter and the input port of the high pressure blower, capable of transferring thermal energy from the inlet port of the precipitation chamber.