Frederick Cottrell invented the "electrostatic precipitator," which removes pollutants from smoke. Cottrell was born on January 10, 1877, in Oakland, California, the son of Henry and Cynthia Cottrell. His ingenuity and interest in the applied sciences were demonstrated early on.

Who discovered electrostatic precipitator?

In 1824 M. Hohlfeld, a mathematics teacher in Leipzig, first described the precipitation of smoke particles by electricity. The first commercially successful process was patented in 1908 following experiments by American chemist Frederick Gardner Cottrell at the University of California, Berkeley.

What is the principle of electrostatic precipitator?

Electrostatic precipitators operate on the principle of the attraction of a charged particle for an oppositely charged collector. They have been used for both collecting particles for further analysis and for controlling particulate emissions from sources.