Electrostatic precipitators (ESPs), which remove particles from a flue gas by corona discharge, are widely used in industry. In this work, numerical investigations were carried out to explore the multi-physical characteristics of a wire-plate ESP with different collecting electrodes. By employing the COMSOL Multiphysics simulation tool, the multi-physical fields of ESPs were properly coupled. The effects of different types of collecting electrodes on electric filed, ionic wind, particle transport, and collection efficiency were investigated. The results show the ionic wind induced by corona discharge has a great influence on flow behaviors in ESP. In addition, simulation results indicate the existence of uneven collecting plates could have an impact of suppression on the flow near the plates, which would be beneficial for reducing the re-entrainment dust particles. Compared with C-type plate, the collection efficiency with triangle plate is found 6.87% higher for 5 mu m particles, and 10.37% for 10 mu m particles. (C) 2020 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.