Submicron particles suspended in flue gas receive an attraction due to electrostatic polarization to the charged core particles. In order to make efficient use of the polarization forces, we have considered the use of strong vibration of core particles or the application of intense acoustic wave. The electrostatic polarization force has been evaluated precisely by the re-expansion method. Since the streaming around the core particle was also important for the analysis, we have used the method of matched asymptotic expansions to find a perturbation solution to Navier-Stokes equations. These results have been combined to simulate the motion of a small dust particle around the charged core particle to calculate the agglomeration kernel.For obtaining the agglomeration kernel experimentally, we have contrived a novel apparatus to measure the changes in size and electrostatic charge of a single core particle, on which monodisperse submicron particles agglomerated. An improved LDV technique for accurate measurement of core size and charge are also given in the appendix. Although the observed values for the agglomeration kernel scattered, the agreement between the observed and the calculated kernel was reasonable to show the theoretical consideration is acceptable. (C) 2003 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.