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Capacity of quartz fibers with high filtration efficiency for capturing soot aerosol particles

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Abstract

Two proposed quartz fibrous filters with dissimilar solid volume fractions and thicknesses are investigated for their efficiency in removing soot aerosol particles from air. Soot particles are sourced from a candle burning in a chamber, and the tests involve 1.5 h of continuous loading of particles at three different flow rates: 4.5, 8.15 and 9.55 l/min. The fractional efficiency, morphology and pressure drop of both clean and loaded filters are studied using a scanning mobility particle sizer, scanning electron microscope and differential pressure gauge. Both filters have relatively similar levels of efficiency 93% for particle size (100–400 nm) at the lowest flow rate. At higher flow rates, the re-entrainment process effects the filtration efficiency of both filters. At the higher flow rate of 8.15 l/min, the filter with a higher solid volume fraction and thickness shows a higher pressure drop and an efficiency level of 95%. Increasing the flow rate to 9.55 l/min helps to pass the particles with diameters larger than 100 nm through two filters. This phenomenon decreases the fractional efficiency of both filters during the loading time.

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Acknowledgments

The authors gratefully acknowledge the International Laboratory for Air Quality and Health (ILAQH) group at Queensland University of Technology (QUT) for providing facilities, and Mr. Ali Pourkhesalian for his valuable support during the experimental work.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Chemical Engineering, Faculty of Engineering, Shahid Bahonar University of Kerman, Kerman, 76175, Iran

    S. Akbarnezhad & A. Soltani Goharrizi

  2. Center for Infrastructure Engineering, Western Sydney University, Kingswood Campus, Bld Y, Locked Bag 1797, Penrith, NSW, 2751, Australia

    A. Amini

  3. School of Engineering, Australian College of Kuwait, Kuwait City, Kuwait

    A. Amini

  4. Science and Engineering Faculty, Chemistry, Physics, Mechanical Engineering, Energy and Process Engineering, Queensland University of Technology, Box 2434, Brisbane, QLD, 4001, Australia

    T. Rainey

  5. International Laboratory for Air Quality and Health, Queensland University of Technology, POB 2434, Brisbane, 4001, Australia

    L. Morawska

Authors
  1. S. Akbarnezhad
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  2. A. Amini
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  3. A. Soltani Goharrizi
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  4. T. Rainey
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  5. L. Morawska
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to A. Amini.

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Editorial responsibility: Mohamed Fathy Yassin.

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Akbarnezhad, S., Amini, A., Soltani Goharrizi, A. et al. Capacity of quartz fibers with high filtration efficiency for capturing soot aerosol particles. Int. J. Environ. Sci. Technol. 15, 1039–1048 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1007/s13762-017-1457-1

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s13762-017-1457-1

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