Separation of Nanoparticles from Air Using Melt-Blown Filtering Media

Abstract

Over the last few years, expectations have grown for the development of appropriate materials for separation of nanoparticles of different morphologies from air. Therefore, the objective of this work was to conduct a broad study of the process of filtration of polydisperse nanoaerosols in materials of our design and production. They were made using the modified melt-blown technology, a very promising technique that allows to produce large amounts of fibers with a wide range of diameters which when properly formed in mats or cores can be used in various filtering products, such as protective masks, car filters. The filtration efficiency for KCl solid nanoparticles and DEHS (di-ethyl-hexyl-sebacat) liquid nanoparticles in three polypropylene filters of different morphologies have been established. The obtained results show how the aerosol face velocity and the morphology of the nonwoven media affect the filtration efficiency and pressure drop. It turned out that fibrous filters of our own production can separate particles with very small diameters from the air. As the effectiveness of the separation grew with a decrease in diameter of filter fibers, a filter composed of nanoscale fibers proved to be the most effective. An increase in aerosol flow velocity through the filter negatively affected its filtering effectiveness. The observation of data for cubical KCl and spherical DEHS particles, showed no differences in filtering effectiveness, which proves that for the tested diameter range the morphology of particles removed from air does not play a significant role, as it does for larger particles. The results obtained from the filtration of polydisperse nanoaerosols were successfully interpreted using our Partially Segregated Flow Model which takes into account the polydisperse distribution of fiber diameters in the filter. What is more, it shows that the application of the classical theory of filtration significantly overvalues the results obtained in our experiments.

Fabrication of stretchable and high‐filtration performance melt‐blown nonwoven webs for PM0.3 aerosol filtration

“…This was mainly because with additional increment from 10 to 20 wt.% in TPU content caused a slight decrement in mean fiber diameter during the high‐speed hot air stretching process 24 . Moreover, the visual inspection indicates that the addition of a higher amount of TPU (20 wt.%) decreases the melt viscosity of the 80PP‐20TPU blend polymer 25 . The decrement in melt viscosity could also be related to the incorporation of PP‐G‐mA.…”

Comparison of the relative performance efficiencies of melt-blown and glass fiber filter media for managing fine particles

“…Additionally, the melt blowing process creates nonwoven fibers with characteristics such as low abrasion resistance (Dutton 2008) and improved efficiency of the MB filter media (Podg orski et al 2006;Jackiewicz et al 2013). Jackiewicz and Werner (2015) demonstrated that nanofiber filters are effective for nanoparticle removal. They produced polypropylene fibrous filters (i.e., filter mats) with diameters of 0.47-9.62 mm using a modified MB technique in which it was possible to increase the efficiency of the separation of both solid and liquid nanoparticles from air with a higher pressure drop (Jackiewicz and Werner 2015).…”

“…Jackiewicz and Werner (2015) demonstrated that nanofiber filters are effective for nanoparticle removal. They produced polypropylene fibrous filters (i.e., filter mats) with diameters of 0.47-9.62 mm using a modified MB technique in which it was possible to increase the efficiency of the separation of both solid and liquid nanoparticles from air with a higher pressure drop (Jackiewicz and Werner 2015). In another application, a modified MB filter media were also effective for improving the efficiency of respiratory protective devices against nanoparticles (Brochocka et al 2013).…”

Selective Impact of MTMS-Based Xerogel Morphology on Boosted Proliferation and Enhanced Naphthoquinone Production in Cultures of Rindera graeca Transgenic Roots

“…In the case of A2–C2 samples, the base material of non-woven PP-based fibrous mats was manufactured using melt-blown technology [ 42 ]. As a result, 50-layer filter mats (2.86 mm thick) were trimmed into circles with an effective diameter of 15 cm.…”