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Removal of submicron aerosol particles and bioaerosols using carbon fiber ionizer assisted fibrous medium filter media

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Abstract

This paper reports the installation of a carbon fiber ionizer in front of a fibrous medium filter to enhance the removal of submicron aerosol particles and bioaerosols. Test particles (KCl) were classified with a size range of 50–600 nm using a differential mobility analyzer (DMA). The number concentration of the test particles was measured using a condensation particle counter (CPC). The average charge per particle was estimated by current measurements using an aerosol electrometer. At the face velocity of 0.5 m/s, the particle removal efficiency was 31.4% (for dp=100 nm) when the ionizers were not operating but increased to 35.7% and 46.9% at 1.6×1011ions/s and 6.4×1012ions/s with the ionizers, respectively. For the antibacterial tests, the test bioaerosols (E. coli) were aerosolized using a nebulizer and were deposited on the filter media for 5 minutes. After the deposited bioaerosols were exposed to unipolar air ions, they were incubated for 12 hours. The survival efficiency of E. coli was measured using a colony counting method. The survival fractions of E. coli exposed to positive air ions for 1, 5 and 10 minutes were 61.7%, 45.4% and 25.2%, respectively.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Mechanical Engineering, Yonsei University, Seoul, 120-749, Korea

    Jae-Hong Park, Ki-Young Yoon, Yang-Seon Kim & Jungho Hwang

  2. Digital Printing Division, Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd., Suwon, 443-742, Korea

    Jeong Hoon Byeon

Authors
  1. Jae-Hong Park
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  2. Ki-Young Yoon
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  3. Yang-Seon Kim
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  4. Jeong Hoon Byeon
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  5. Jungho Hwang
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Jungho Hwang.

Additional information

Jungho Hwang received his B.S. and M.S. degree in Department of Mechanical Engineering from Seoul National University, South Korea, in 1983 and 1985, respectively. He received his Ph.D. degree from UC Berkeley in 1991. Dr. Hwang is currently a Professor at the School of Mechanical Engineering at Yonsei University in Seoul, Korea. Dr. Hwang’s research interests include aerosols, air cleaning and thermal environmental engineering.

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Park, JH., Yoon, KY., Kim, YS. et al. Removal of submicron aerosol particles and bioaerosols using carbon fiber ionizer assisted fibrous medium filter media. J Mech Sci Technol 23, 1846–1851 (2009). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12206-009-0613-z

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12206-009-0613-z

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