American Association for Aerosol Research - Abstract Submission

AAAR 32nd Annual Conference
September 30 - October 4, 2013
Oregon Convention Center
Portland, Oregon, USA

Abstract View


Numerical Modeling of the Influence of Nanofibers Covering the Fibrous Filter Surface on the Filtration Cake Removal Efficiency

JAKUB GAC, Leon Gradoń, Warsaw University of Technology

     Abstract Number: 5
     Working Group: Control Technology

Abstract
The filtration of aerosols using the fibrous filters is very important process from the point of view of the environmental and health protection problems. One of the main features of the filters behavior for aerosol particles removal is its lifetime. This time is limited by the filtration cake formation on the surface of the filter, what results with the filter blocking. For this reason the efficient methods of removal of the cake is extensively investigated in both experimental and theoretical works.

In our present work we use the discrete element method for the numerical modeling of the filtration cake formation and its removal from the fibrous filter. We consider the case where the microfibrous structure of the filter is covered with the monolayer of nanofibers. Two techniques of filtration cake removal are applied: the shaking of a filter and the cleaning gas flow in the direction tangent to the filter surface. For both of these methods we compute the efficiency of cake removal at the absence as well as at the presence of nanofiber layers. We observe that at the presence of nanofibers the filtration cake is less adhesive and thus the efficiency of its removal (with both of two removal techniques considered) is higher than at the absence of nanofiber layer. We also investigate the influence of nanofibers diameter and the mean distances between nanofibers on the efficiency of cake removal, what allows us to design the optimal nanofiber cover of the filter.