Self-cleaning, maintenance-free aerosol filter by non-thermal plasma at atmospheric pressure

Abstract

Two lab-scale self-cleaning filters based on dielectric barrier discharges in air at atmospheric pressure have been developed and tested. Experimental results on aerosol removal by charging and electro-collection are presented versus plasma and hydrodynamic parameters for monodisperse aerosol from 20 nm to 1.2 μm. For classical atmospheric aerosol, the average mass and number filtration efficiencies exceed 95% and 87%, respectively in the most penetrating size range (100-700 nm). The frequency of the applied voltage controls the amplitude of the oscillation of charged particle and can be adjusted to favour either filtration or cleaning. Low frequency (1 kHz) is suitable for electro-collection, while high frequency (60 kHz) is favourable for filter cleaning. Electrical characterization and filter efficiency are two indicators of the filter loading. The durations of both filtration step at maximal efficiency and cleaning step depends on the deposited mass, the surface input power and subsequent dielectric surface temperature.