Semi-analytical and computational investigation of different dust loading structures affecting the performance of a fibrous air filter

In this study, a semi-analytical model was developed to illustrate the relationship between filtration performance （filtration efficiency and pressure drop） and dust loading under two different particle deposit structures based on theoretical analysis and computational fluid dynamic （CFD） technology. Under the compact deposit structure, within the practical parameter ranges （fiber diameter, air velocity, dust loading mass）, a slight efficiency enhancement （∽10%） occurred at the most penetration particle size （MPPS） and pressure drop increased significantly （∽100%） in response to the solidity increase from 5% to 15%. However, under the dendritic particle deposit structure, both filtration efficiency （∽40%） and pressure drop （4600%） increased significantly with the same solidity increase due to the larger air velocity and swerve change between fibers.     

Filtration characteristics of a binary multi-layer granular bed filter based on CFD-DEM coupling simulation

The coupled CFD-DEM method with the JKR (Johnson-Kendall-Roberts) model for describing the contact adhesion of dust to filter particles (FPs) is used to simulate the distribution pattern of dust particle deposition in the granular bed filter (GBF) with multi-layer media. The minimum inlet flow velocity must meet the requirement that the contact probability between dust and FPs is in the high contact probability region. The air flow forms vortices on the leeward side of the FPs and changes abruptly at the intersection of different particle size FPs layers. Dust particles form large deposits at the intersection of the first and second layers and the different particle size filter layers. Dual element multilayer GBF can further optimize the bed structure by interlacing filter layers with different particle sizes. Compared with single particle size multi-layer GBF, the bed pressure drop is reduced by 40.24%–50.65% and the dust removal efficiency is increased by 21.93%–55.09%.     

Charged ultrafine particle filtration through vehicular cabin air filters

Understanding the effectiveness of cabin air filters is important for assessing human exposure to ultrafine particles (UFPs) of vehicular origin. The filtration efficiency of vehicular UFPs with electric charges was investigated for different electric charge characteristics (charge state, charge polarity). The average filtration efficiency increased ∼10% as the electric charge state on the particles changed in distribution from lightly charged to highly charged. The enhancement of filtration efficiency due to electric charge was different at various filter-face air velocities. As electric charges increased, the filtration efficiency increased 12% and 9% at low air velocity (0.1 m/s) and high air velocity (0.5 m/s), respectively. The filter fiber material poses somewhat effect on the filtration efficiency change due to the electric charge. The effects of filter usage and charge polarity on filtration efficiency due to the electric charge were negligible. A coefficient was empirically derived and successfully accounts for the electric charge effect on UFP filtration efficiency.     

Experimental study on filtration performance of the moving bed granular filter with axial flow

The filtration performance of the moving bed granular filter with axial flow (MBGF-AF) is investigated through a large cold experiment. The effect of different operation parameters on the filtration performance (collection efficiency, pressure drop) of the axial-flow moving bed filter is investigated in combination with the dust deposition effect and the mechanism of trapping dust by the capturing particles. The results show that the collection efficiency of MBGF-AF is enhanced by decreasing the superficial gas velocity, increasing the inlet dust concentration properly, or decreasing the moving velocity of the capturing particles. A model covering the above operation parameters is established to calculate the collection efficiency of the moving bed granular filter. It is used in a wide range of operating parameters for the MBGFs.     

Magnetic filtration of an iron oxide aerosol by means of magnetizable grates

The cleaning of gases with low concentrations of small ferromagnetic or paramagnetic particles is a difficult task for conventional filtration. A new alternative procedure, magnetic filtration, is used in this work. Iron oxide aerosol was generated by elutriation of iron oxide particles from a fluidized bed consisting of a mixture of Geldart-C iron oxide powder and large spherical Geldart-B sand particles. The aerosol was filtered by means of a magnetic filter which consisted of one, two or three iron grates staggered to each other. The experimental installation contained also an isokinetic sampling system and a Microtrac SRA 150 Particle Analyser. A theoretical expression for filtration efficiency was deduced from a previous model taking into account the different forces acting on the iron oxide particles. Experimental filtration efficiency matches quite well calculated theoretical efficiency. It was found that an increase in particle size, in thee number of grates or in the applied magnetic field produced higher filtration efficiencies up to 100% in some cases. In all filtration experiments pressure drop through the magnetic filter was very small.     

CFD–DEM simulation of particle deposition characteristics of pleated air filter media based on porous media model

In this study, the three-dimensional physical model of pleated air filtration media was simplified to porous media model, and the calculation parameters of porous media were obtained based on experimental data. The model of V-shaped pleated air filter media is constructed, the height of the media pleat is 50 mm and the pleat thickness is 4 mm, the pleat angle is 3.7°. The Hertz-Mindlin contact model was modified by Johnson Kendall Roberts (JKR) adhesion contact model. The deposition process of particles in media was simulated based on computational fluid dynamics (CFD) theory and discrete element method (DEM). Results show that the CFD–DEM coupling method can be effectively applied to the macro research of pleated air filter media. The particles will form dust layer and dendrite structure on the fiber surface, and the dust layer will affect the subsequent air flow organization, and the dendrite structure will eventually form a “particle wall”. The formation of the “particle wall” will prevent the particles from moving further in the fluid domain, which makes area of pleated angle become the “low efficiency” part about the particle deposition. Compared with area of pleated angle, the particles are concentrated in the opening area and the middle area of the pleated to agglomerate and deposit.     

Controlled atomization using a twin-fluid swirl atomizer

This paper presents the results of an experimental study of a twin-fluid internally mixed swirl atomizer. In this type of injectors, atomization is attained by injecting a small amount of air (i.e. of the order of less than 16% of the mass flow rate of liquid) into a liquid stream within the injector and the two-phase air liquid mixture is passed through a swirling passage to impart a swirling motion to the flow. Since most of the energy for atomization is supplied to the liquid by the atomizing air, a significantly small pressure drop can produce very fine spray with a small amount of atomizing air. At low values of air–liquid mass ratio (ALR), the appreciable tangential component of velocity with respect to the axial velocity provides a hollow cone spray structure, which turns into a solid cone spray with the increase in axial momentum, through either an increase in ALR or the liquid supply pressure. The results presented in this paper suggest that the investigated injector could be used to control the flow rate and spray characteristics (e.g. spray cone angle, spray solidity, breaking distance, and the droplet diameter) independent of each other by simultaneously varying the supply pressure of the liquid and the atomizing air flow rate. The controlled atomization studied in this paper for a twin-fluid internally mixed swirl atomizer makes it attractive to be used for various commercial applications as the atomizer is capable of providing various spray characteristics depending upon the application requirement.     

Moving shocks through metallic grids: their interaction and potential for blast wave mitigation

Numerical simulations and laboratory measurements have been used to illuminate the interaction of a moving shock wave impacting on metallic grids at various shock strengths and grid solidities. The experimental work was carried out in a large scale shock tube facility while computational work simulated the flow field with a time-dependent inviscid and a time-dependent viscous model. The pressure drop measured across the grids is a result of two phenomena which are associated with the impact of the shock on the metallic grids. First are the reflection and refraction of the incoming shock on the grid itself. This appears to be the main inviscid mechanism associated with the reduction of the strength of the transmitted shock. Second, viscous phenomena are present during the reflection and refraction of the wave as well as during the passage of the induced flow of the air through the grid. The experimental data of pressure drop across the grid obtained in the present investigation are compared with those obtained from computations. The numerical results slightly overpredict the experimental data of relative pressure drop which increases substantially with grid solidity at fixed flow Mach numbers. The processes of shock reflection and refraction are continuous and they can be extended in duration by using thicker grids that will result in lower compression rates of the structural loading and increase the viscous losses associated with these phenomena which will further attenuate the impacting shock. Preliminary theoretical analysis suggests that the use of a graded porosity/solidity material will result in higher pressure drop than a constant porosity/solidity material and thus provide effective blast mitigation.      

爆炸压力积聚工况下石松子粉尘爆炸火焰传播特性

搭建了一套兼具承压和可视性能粉尘爆炸实验平台,在压力积聚工况下实验研究了石松子粉尘爆炸火焰传播特性。实验结果表明:压力积聚工况下的石松子粉尘爆炸火焰呈现空间离散的束状结构,火焰锋面呈齿状。随着粉尘浓度的提升,火焰连续性增强,锋面趋于平滑,亮度增加,并在750g/m^3达到最佳。不同浓度条件下的石松子粉尘爆炸火焰在传播过程中均呈现明显的速度脉动特征,但脉动频率随粉尘浓度的增大而减小。爆炸火焰平均传播速度随粉尘浓度的增大先增大后减小,并在750g/m^3达到最高。不同浓度条件下的石松子粉尘爆炸火焰前期传播速度均高于后期传播速度。     

Optimizing air purification for household particulate matters using sensor-based and time-based intervention strategies

Filtration efficiency of portable air cleaner (PAC) is affected by resident perceptions and adherences to when and how to operate the PAC. Incorporating PAC with smart control and sensor technology holds the promise to effectively reduce indoor air pollutants. This study aims to evaluate the efficiency of a PAC at removing indoor fine particulate matters (PM_2.5) exposure under two automated operation settings: (1) a time-based mode in which the operation time is determined based on perceived time periods of indoor pollution by residents; (2) a sensor-based mode in which an air sensor monitor is used to determine the PAC based on the actual PM_2.5 level against the indoor air quality guideline. The study was conducted in a residential room for 55 days with a rolling setting on PAC (no filtration, sensor-based, time-based filtrations) and a continuous measurement of PM_2.5. We found that the PAC operated with sensor-based mode removed PM_2.5 concentrations by 47% and prolonged clean air (<35 μg/m³) period by 23% compared to the purifications with time-based mode which reduced PM_2.5 by 29% and increased clean air period by 13%. The sensor-based filtration identified indoor pollution episodes that are hardly detected by personal perceptions. Our study findings support an automated sensor-based approach to optimize the use of PAC for effectively reducing indoor PM_2.5 exposure.     

Effect of particle and fiber size on the morphology of deposits in fibrous filters

The capture of aerosol particles during their production and purification of air at workplace and atmospheric environment require an efficient separation method of particulate matter from the carrier gas. Many papers have been published recently on the deposition of particles on fibrous collectors, often using the classical continuum approach to describe the process. However, the approach is not convenient for studying the influence of particle deposition on filter performance (filtration efficiency and pressure drop) when one has to introduce nonsteady‐state boundary conditions. For the purpose of this work, the lattice Boltzmann model describes fluid dynamics, while the solid particle motion is modeled by the Brownian dynamics. The aim of this study is to model the influence of single particle loading (amount and morphology – e.g., porosity and fractal dimension) on its performance. Copyright © 2014 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

漂珠颗粒材料静动态力学性能与破碎机理研究

为考察脆性空心颗粒材料冲击载荷下的力学特性,以具有不同粒径分布的粉煤灰漂珠为研究对象,对其静动态力学性能进行实验研究。通过限制颗粒材料压缩应变为50%,分析颗粒破碎率和破碎机理与材料宏观应变率效应的关系。结果表明:（1）不同粒径的漂珠颗粒材料在动态压缩下较准静态压缩下颗粒材料的强度均有明显的增强,在0.001和150 s?1大小颗粒的强度分别提高200%和195%,在150和300 s?1大小颗粒的强度分别提高39%和51.5%,在300和800 s?1大小颗粒的强度并未发生明显的变化;（2）在相同加载速度下粒径较小的颗粒比大粒径颗粒的强度和吸能效果分别提高35%～40%和35%～48%;（3）对破碎后颗粒粒径分布曲线分析可知,随着加载速度的增加,大小颗粒的破碎率和破碎程度都会增大,且在相同加载速度下大颗粒的破碎率较小颗粒的破碎率高;（4）Hardin破碎势分析表明,单位输入能量下颗粒的相对破碎势随冲击速度增大而减小,动态冲击下用于颗粒破碎的能量利用率降低,从而导致材料在相同压缩量下产生更高的能量耗散和应力水平,即表现为宏观的应变率效应。     

The inverse problem of determining the filtration function and permeability reduction in flow of water with particles in porous media

Deep bed filtration of particle suspensions in porous media occurs during water injection into oil reservoirs, drilling fluid invasion of reservoir production zones, fines migration in oil fields, industrial filtering, bacteria, viruses or contaminants transport in groundwater etc. The basic features of the process are particle capture by the porous medium and consequent permeability reduction. Models for deep bed filtration contain two quantities that represent rock and fluid properties: the filtration function, which is the fraction of particles captured per unit particle path length, and formation damage function, which is the ratio between reduced and initial permeabilities. These quantities cannot be measured directly in the laboratory or in the field; therefore, they must be calculated indirectly by solving inverse problems. The practical petroleum and environmental engineering purpose is to predict injectivity loss and particle penetration depth around wells. Reliable prediction requires precise knowledge of these two coefficients. In this work we determine these quantities from pressure drop and effluent concentration histories measured in one-dimensional laboratory experiments. The recovery method consists of optimizing deviation functionals in appropriate subdomains; if necessary, a Tikhonov regularization term is added to the functional. The filtration function is recovered by optimizing a non-linear functional with box constraints; this functional involves the effluent concentration history. The permeability reduction is recovered likewise, taking into account the filtration function already found, and the functional involves the pressure drop history. In both cases, the functionals are derived from least square formulations of the deviation between experimental data and quantities predicted by the model.     

一种研究炸药反应阈值的新方法

应用火药炮发射飞片产生低冲击压力的加载方法,采用组合式电磁粒子速度计测量不同加载压力情况下的炸药内部粒子速度,发展了一种用粒子速度与加载压力关系分析炸药反应阈值的新方法,获得了低冲击作用下JOB-9003炸药的反应阈值。研究表明,JOB-9003炸药的化学反应阈值和点火阈值分别为1.33GPa和1.87GPa,炸药的反应阈值与厚度无关。该研究方法为炸药安全性的研究提供了一些新的思路,研究结果可以为炸药安全性评估提供有益的参考。     

Shock wave diffraction by a square cavity filled with dusty gas

A simple two-dimensional square cavity model is used to study shock attenuating effects of dust suspension in air. The GRP scheme for compressible flows was extended to simulate the fluid dynamics of dilute dust suspensions, employing the conventional two-phase approximation. A planar shock of constant intensity propagated in pure air over flat ground and diffracted into a square cavity filled with a dusty quiescent suspension. Shock intensities were and , dust loading ratios were and , and particle diameters were and {\rm \mu}$m. It was found that the diffraction patterns in the cavity were decisively attenuated by the dust suspension, particularly for the higher loading ratio. The particle size has a pronounced effect on the flow and wave pattern developed inside the cavity. Wall pressure histories were recorded for each of the three cavity walls, showing a clear attenuating effect of the dust suspension. Received 15 November 1999 / Accepted 25 October 2000     

Hydrodynamic characteristics of a rectangular gas-driven inverse liquid-solid fluidized bed

The hydrodynamic characteristics of a rectangular gas-driven inverse liquid-solid fluidized bed (GDFB) using particles of different diameters and densities were investigated in detail. Rising gas bubbles cause a liquid upflow in the riser portion, enabling a liquid downflow that causes an inverse fluidization in the downer portion. Four flow regimes (fixed bed regime, initial fluidization regime, complete fluidization regime, and circulating fluidization regime) and three transition gas velocities (initial fluidization gas velocity, minimum fluidization gas velocity, and circulating fluidization gas velocity) were identified via visual observation and by monitoring the variations in the pressure drop. The axial local bed voidage (ε) of the downer first decreases and then increases with the increase of the gas velocity. Both the liquid circulation velocity and the average particle velocity inside the downer increase with the increase of the gas velocity in the riser, but decrease with the particle loading. An empirical formula was proposed to successfully predict the Richardson-Zaki index “n”, and the predicted ε obtained from this formula has a ±5% relative error when compared with the experimental ε.     

Viscous fluid flow around a semipermeable particle

The problem of hydrodynamic interaction between a laminar flow of a viscous fluid and a partially permeable spherical particle is formulated and solved analytically. The filtration flow inside the particle is assumed to obey the Darcy law. Expressions for the filtration flow velocity, drag, sedimentation velocity, and stream functions are obtained. The effect of the permeability of the particle on the flow characteristics is studied. Stream functions of the flow are constructed. __________ Translated from Prikladnaya Mekhanika i Tekhnicheskaya Fizika, Vol. 50, No. 4, pp. 48–53, July–August, 2009.     

Magnetic filtration with magnetized granular beds： Basic principles and filter performance

This study is devoted to the explanation of different characteristics of magnetic filtration and the way these characteristics affect the important filtration parameters. Magnetic fields in pores and the force effect of these fields on magnetic particles and the magnetization properties of packed beds composed of ferromagnetic spheres and metal chips are evaluated. The profile of accumulation and capture regions of the particles, the variation of the fluid velocity in these regions and analytic expressions of particle capture radius are presented. The effects of filtration regime parameters on magnetic filter performance were investigated. An analytical expression has been obtained for the dependence of the logarithmic efficiency coefficient on filtration velocity, the geometry of filter elements, the particle size and other parameters of filtration. The stationary and non-stationary equations of the magnetic filtration processes are given. An expression of magnetic filter performance is shown with dimensionless parameters obtained from the filtration system. These relations are useful for calculations in engineering practice, including the design of magnetic filters, provision of suggestions on construction, and optimization and control of filter operation.     

Plug conveying of coarse particles in a horizontal pipe with secondary air injection

An experiment was made of pneumatic plug conveying of solid particles in a horizontal pipe. The secondary air was injected from a sub-pipe set up in the main pipe to produce a number of plugs along the pipe. First, an automatic data processing system was developed to obtain the length, velocity and pressure drop of individual plugs. Second, the effects of particle size and the number of the injection holes were investigated. As a result, it was found that the effects of particle size are remarkable, while the hole number has little influence on the transportation properties. The efficiency is high in the case of small particles.     

Investigation of the characteristics of particulate flows through fibrous filters using the lattice Boltzmann method

A fibrous filter is one of the most common systems used to separate suspended particles from air.Two important factors(i.e.,the pressure drop and capture efficiency) are usually used to evaluate the performance of this type of filter.This study considers three two-dimensional arrangements of fibers(parallel,staggered,and random) to geometrically model fibrous media.The lattice Boltzmann method is employed to numerically simulate fluid flow through the filter.The Lagrangian form of the equation of motion of a particle is numerically solved to track the path of each particle in the flow field,where a one-way interaction between the fluid and particles is considered.The effects of pertinent parameters such as the fiber arrangement,solid volume fraction,particle-to-fiber diameter ratio,particle-to-fluid density ratio,Reynolds number,Stokes number,and size of the fibrous medium on the pressure drop and capture efficiency are studied.The obtained results are compared with existing empirical and theoretical findings and discussed.