The influence of the velocity profile at the inlet boundary on the simulation of air velocity distribution inside an electrostatic precipitator is presented in this study. Measurements and simulations were performed in a duct and an electrostatic precipitator (ESP). A four-hole cobra probe was used for the measurement of velocity distribution. The flow simulation was performed by using the computational fluid dynamics (CFD) code FLUENT. Numerical calculations for the air flow were carried out by solving the Reynolds-averaged Navier–Stokes equations coupled with the realizable k-e turbulence model equations. Simulations were performed with two different velocity profiles at the inlet boundary – one with a uniform(ideal) velocity profile and the other with a non-uniform (real) velocity profile to demonstrate the effect of velocity inlet boundary condition on the flow simulation results inside an ESP. The real velocity profile was obtained from the velocity measured at different points of the inlet boundary whereas the ideal velocity profile was obtained by calculating the mean value of the measured data. Simulation with the real velocity profile at the inlet boundary was found to predict better the velocity distribution inside the ESP suggesting that an experimentally measured velocity profile could be used as velocity inlet boundary condition for an accurate numerical simulation of the ESP.