Authors:

Tyler James Hughes

Date Created:

Not specified

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Professor:

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About Paper:

The average person spends 80-90% of their life indoors, making indoor air quality especially important. However, many Heating, Ventilation, and Air Conditioning (HVAC) systems struggle to remove common viruses from the air due to the particles' size. It is known that restrictive filters and acoustically enhanced HVAC systems can increase the capture efficiency of these particles. Restrictive filters are shown to have much less space between each fiber and are tightly woven, making them expensive relative to more porous filters. Acoustics have been shown to increase particle interaction with filters and channel walls through acoustic streaming, radiation forces, and the interaction force. Our lab aims to experimentally test if highly porous filters with acoustical interaction can perform similarly to highly restrictive filters. Experimental testing was done using the Aerogen Solo Nebulizer to generate particles at different sizes and measured using an optical particle scanner (OPS) and a scanning mobility particle sizer (SMPS). Using these scanners, the capture efficiency can be calculated by dividing the concentration of particles downstream by the concentration upstream and subtracting that from one. Early simulations have shown that the capture efficiency of a channel can increase by upwards of 123 times when acoustics is introduced. Additional research can be done into the fiber arrangement, shape, and material, as well as the frequency and amplitude of the acoustic field. Acoustically enhanced filtration has been shown to be a highly promising technology for removing viruses and leading to a healthier world. Keywords: [no keywords provided]

Source:

Purdue University / 2025

Topics:

No topics listed

Co-authors:

Tyler James Hughes