Simulation of C-CP Fiber-Based Air Filtration

The overall goal of this project is to develop High Efficiency Particulate Air (HEPA) filter media, using conventional fiber spinning techniques, with lower pressure drop than current media through the use of shaped fibers. Capillary-channeled polymer (C-CP) fibers are gaining interest for use in a range of separations applications. This paper focuses on modeling air filtration where the filter consists of C-CP fibers. A variety of numerical tools are being used in this effort, including a finite element flow solver and Brownian dynamics simulation. Aspects of these techniques in relation to the problem at hand will be described, and simulation results including comparisons to round-fiber filters will be presented. The primary result presented here is the significant difference in predicted pressure drop between a prototype C-CP filter and a round-fiber filter with equal total cross-sectional area.