Numerical Simulation of Particle Filtration by Rectangular Fibres within a Parallel and Staggered Array

Abstract

In this research, two-dimensional numerical simulation is used to examine the filtration performance of rectangular fiber filters. Ansys Fluent is employed to obtain the stable flow field distribution and the DPM model is used to calculate the particle trajectories in the flow field. The effect of pertinent factors such as fiber arrangement, particle-to-fiber diameter ratio, and Stokes number on the performance of rectangular fiber filters are analyzed. The simulation results indicate that both the parallel and staggered arrays of rectangular fibers have a significant influence on the capture efficiency and pressure drop. At the same flow velocity, the pressure drop of the fibers with a parallel array is lower than that of the staggered array fiber model. The capture efficiency of the staggered array model and the parallel array model increases with the increase of the ratio of particle to fiber diameter and the Stokes number. When the interception and inertial impaction mechanisms domiant, the filter with a staggered fiber array structure performs batter than the parallel array in terms of capture efficiency. The research results can provide a theoretical basis for the structure optimization and design of the air filter with multi-layer fiber.