Sulfuric acid mist may contain submicron aerosol that conventional wire mesh cannot remove reliably. Where fine aerosol dominates, fiber-bed or staged separation may be required, with careful attention to acid concentration, temperature, pressure drop, solids, and condensation location.

Poor-quality wash water can introduce hardness scale, dissolved salts, suspended solids, and corrosive contaminants into a mist eliminator. Water chemistry, filtration, nozzle condition, evaporation, rinse quality, and drainage should be included in wash-system design.

Outlet moisture measurements can verify whether downstream carryover meets a requirement, but they cannot determine removal efficiency unless inlet liquid loading is also known. Sampling location, temperature, flow basis, condensation, and operating load must be controlled for meaningful comparison.

Mist eliminator pads can collapse or move because of high differential pressure, wet or fouled weight, liquid slugs, inadequate supports, missing hold-downs, corrosion, creep, or vibration. Failure analysis should examine the complete mechanical load path before replacement.

Mist eliminator performance can worsen after cleaning if mesh is deformed, segments are reassembled incorrectly, hold-down systems over-compress the pad, deposits remain internally, or cleaning residues alter wetting. Post-maintenance DP and carryover should be compared with the original clean baseline.