This paper is aimed at investigating the reentrainment
phenomena of particles in wire-duct electrostatic
precipitators. This calls for assessment of the forces acting on a
particle positioned in the precipitator nearby the collecting
plate. These include Van Der Waals, Johnsen Rahbek and
repulsion forces. Re-entrainment takes place when the
repulsion force exceeds the resultant of both the Van Der Waal
and Johnsen Rahbek forces. To estimate the repulsion force,
the electric field acting on the particle is required as calculated
by using the charge simulation method. Conducting and
dielectric particles are investigated. Re-entrainment takes
place for dielectric particles at particle radius greater than 1
μm in agreement with previous findings. The particle radius
values at re-entrainment are smaller than those for metal ones.