On the design of particle filters inspired by animal noses

Passive filtering is a common strategy used to reduce airborne disease transmission and particulate contaminants in buildings and individual covers. The engineering of high-performance filters with relatively low flow resistance but high virus- or particle-blocking efficiency is a nontrivial problem...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:arXiv.org 2021-09
Main Authors: Jisoo Yuk, Chakraborty, Aneek, Cheng, Shyuan, Chung, Chun-I, Jorgensen, Ashley, Basu, Saikat, Chamorro, Leonardo P, Jung, Sunghwan
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Air filters
Air flow
Contaminants
Disease control
Efficiency
Flow resistance
Flow stability
Local flow
Low flow
Low resistance
Masks
Pressure drop
Structural stability
Three dimensional printing
Viruses
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Summary:Passive filtering is a common strategy used to reduce airborne disease transmission and particulate contaminants in buildings and individual covers. The engineering of high-performance filters with relatively low flow resistance but high virus- or particle-blocking efficiency is a nontrivial problem of paramount relevance, as evidenced in the variety of industrial filtration systems and the worldwide use of face masks. In this case, standard N95-level covers have high virus-blocking efficiency, but they can cause breathing discomfort. Next-generation industrial filters and masks should retain sufficiently small droplets and aerosols while having low resistance. We introduce a novel 3D printable particle filter inspired by animals' complex nasal anatomy. Unlike standard random-media-based filters, the proposed concept relies on equally spaced channels with tortuous airflow paths. These two strategies induce distinct effects: a reduced resistance and a high likelihood of particle trapping by altering their trajectories with tortuous paths and induced local flow instability. The structures are tested for pressure drop and particle filtering efficiency over a wide range of airflow rates. We have also cross-validated the observed efficiency through numerical simulations. The designed filters exhibit a lower pressure drop than the commercial mask and air filters (N95, surgical, and high-efficiency particulate air (HEPA)). The concept provides a new approach to developing scalable, flexible, high-efficiency air filters for various engineering applications.
ISSN:2331-8422