Effect of particle electrostatic charge on aerosol filtration by a fibrous filter

Abstract This study aimed to investigate the influence of the particle charge level on collection efficiency and pressure drop during aerosol filtration in a fiber filter. An Electrostatic Charge Classifier (ECC) measured the charge level of aerosol as a function of the particle diameter. The filter was made of polypropylene; its mass per area was 600 g/m 2 , its diameter was 0.047 m, and its thickness was 0.0026 m. Phosphate rock was the test dust (density: 3030 kg/m 3 ; average Stokes diameter: 3.25 μm). The aerosol was dispersed in air by a TSI Venturi type generator, model SSPD 3433. The particle charging was achieved by a corona charger. A relationship between the charge of particles and their diameter was identified. From the filtration results, it was analyzed the effect of the electrostatic charges in the particles on the performance of the filter (collection efficiency and pressure drop). The correlations from the literature did not adequately predict the experimental data behaviour. Thus, we proposed a new expression for the electrophoretic collection mechanism, which was consistent with the experimental results found in this research, as well as of other studies in the literature.