Modeling filtration performance of elliptical fibers with random distributions

Abstract

The fibrous media with elliptical cross sections may improve the filtration performance, however, current researches mainly focus on the capture mechanisms of a single elliptical fiber, and the fibrous media with randomly distributed fibers are rarely involved. In this work, a 2D numerical model was developed to predict the pressure drop and particle penetration for the fibrous filter composed of randomly distributed elliptical fibers. The results show that a big solid volume fraction of filter increases the effective collision area, and enhances the capture at a low face velocity. The particle penetrations through the fibers with the diameter of 5μm are conspicuously weaker than those with the diameter of 10μm, especially at big solid volume fractions and high face velocities. The blunt elliptical fibers restrain the penetration more effectively than the circle ones when the solid volume fraction is high. Though the blunt fibers lead to a large drag force, the increased pressure drop cannot improve the filtration performance at low solid volume fractions. In most cases, the slim elliptical fibers can enhance the filtration performance. A bigger aspect ratio of elliptical fibers leads to a low quality factor, showing the capture efficiency increases with the penalty of a high pressure drop.