Study and optimization of the filtration performance of multi–fiber filter

•A DPM model of the software Fluent is used to simulate the filtration process.•The layered structures with the same total solid volume fraction are compared.•The structure of the filter is optimized to promote the filtration performance.

Fibrous media is the most common method of filtration, which is generally characterized by its pressure drop and filtration efficiency. In this work, the computational fluid dynamics (CFD) technology was applied to simulate the filtration performance of multi–fiber filters. The pressure drop and filtration efficiency with different fiber arrangements, fiber diameters, face velocities and particle sizes were studied. It was found that filtration efficiency changed with the face velocity for different particle sizes. The layered structures with the same fiber diameters and total solid volume fraction (SVF) were compared, indicating that the dense–sparse structure had the highest filtration efficiency for all the simulated particle sizes at the cost of high pressure drop. Then the dense–sparse structure was optimized to achieve a better filtration performance by using less tiny fibers in the front–row and removing some fibers in the back–row.

Graphical abstractTrapping process of particles, (a) particle trajectories in X–Y profile; (b) trapped particles of each row.Figure optionsDownload full-size imageDownload as PowerPoint slide