Precipitators
Smoking chimney stacks in a generic power station image
East Perth Power Station & The Battle With Dust
When East Perth Power Station’s “A” Station was first built, its chimney stacks didn’t include any pollution control equipment like precipitators. At the time, the amount of smoke, grit, and dust was considered acceptable under normal operating conditions but in reality, it caused serious problems across the city and nearby suburbs.
Electrostatic precipitators (ESPs), are devices designed to clean the air coming out of power station chimneys by removing fine particles like dust and ash. They work by giving these particles an electric charge, causing them to stick to metal plates with the opposite charge, rather than escaping into the air. From time to time, the plates are shaken with vibration and the dust falls into hoppers at the bottom, where it’s collected and removed. These systems are highly effective, removing up to 99% of the dust from the exhaust gases.
As Perth’s population and industries grew, the demand for electricity kept rising. The power station was often pushed to its limits, running almost non-stop to keep up with demand. That began to ease when the new South Fremantle Power Station opened, meaning East Perth’s ageing “A” Station no longer had to carry the full load for the city.
By comparison, the newer “B” Station at East Perth was fitted with modern high-pressure boilers and a large chimney stack equipped with electrostatic precipitators. This meant “B” Station produced far less visible smoke, dust, and grit.
But the pollution problems from “A” Station continued. In 1951, complaints flooded in once again — including from taxi drivers frustrated that they couldn’t keep their cars clean from the constant dust fallout.
The issue wasn’t new. Locals had been complaining for years and would keep doing so for years to come. In 1954, one resident remarked that even white dogs were turning black from soot and smoke. Car paint was being damaged, shopkeepers had to wipe dust from their shelves every day and floors that were mopped clean one day would be filthy the next.
095515PD East Perth Power Station, 1938
Households were constantly battling the mess. Washing hung out to dry was quickly covered in soot and ash, affecting thousands of homes as far away as Mt Lawley and Maylands. People covered their beds and furniture with old sheets to protect them from the dust. Even relaxing on the lawn could leave you coated in grime. Newly polished timber floors suffered the most with the dust acting like sandpaper, scratching and damaging the surface as people walked through their homes.
The problem got worse during hot spells and with strong easterly winds, which carried the ash and grit over the city and along the river flats. Making matters worse, the station was also burning poor-quality coal at the time, which produced more ash.
By the early 1950s, plans were finally underway to replace the five ageing chimneys at “A” Station with a single, modern chimney fitted with proper precipitators, similar to what “B” Station already had. But it would take more than five years before this long-overdue upgrade became a reality.
