Shiro Suzuki

Mr. Shiro Suzuki joined Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, Ltd. (MHI) after graduating from Yokohama National University, Kanagawa, Japan, in engineering science, in March 1993. He was assigned to an environmental equipment division in Kobe, and was involved in many projects as a person responsible for the detailed design, basic planning, research and development of electrostatic precipitator (ESP).

In particular, he played an important role as an engineer of wet type ESP which has two main
applications : SO3 removal from flue gas from boiler using high sulfur content fuel and dust removal from fuel gas from the steelmaking process. In flue gas from boiler using high sulfur content fuel, extremely fine sulfuric acid mist exists due to quenching process of wet FGD. Since these particles are fine and form long smoke color when exposed to sunlight, they are often considered as a visible pollution problem. To improve the plume condition from the stack, wet ESP is required. Furthermore, this problem occurs after a certain period of operation, and there is not enough space to install wet ESP. To solve this problem, he has advanced the technology of vertical type wet ESP and has supplied highly efficient vertical wet ESP in a small area in many projects.

Fuel gas from the steelmaking process such as blast furnace is used as a fuel for gas turbines, and
dust in the gas must be removed to protect the compressor and turbine blade. He contributed
greatly to the design of wet ESP for this application in domestic and overseas projects.
Since wet ESP is not affected by typical re-scattering or reverse ionization in terms of dry type ESP,
low ESP outlet concentration can be achieved, and it is sometimes installed as an environmental
device at the end of large thermal power plants. In order to expand such wet ESP technology, he
conducted technical cooperation with ESP manufacturer in China, and provided technical support
to each manufacturer as the person in charge of this project.

In October 2015, two of Japan’s leading ESP manufacturers, Mitsubishi and Hitachi, agreed to a
management integration, and a new company was established with headquarters in Yokohama.
With the launch of the new company, he was involved in the integration of Mitsubishi and Hitachi ESP
technologies as manager of ESP design division.

In April 2020, he assumed the General Manager of ESP designing department of the MHI Group,
and contributes to the development of ESP technology.