2024 journal article
Toward formulating coalescence filtration: Characterizing wetting saturation via centrifugal force
INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF MULTIPHASE FLOW, 170.
author keywords: Coalescence filtration; Centrifugal desaturation; Capillary pressure; Bubble point pressure; Wetting saturation; Multiphase; VOF
UN Sustainable Development Goal Categories
6. Clean Water and Sanitation
(Web of Science)
Source: Web Of Science
Added: December 4, 2023
Coalescence filtration is the removal of dispersed droplets from a gas or from an immiscible liquid using a fibrous filter. Coalescing filters operate under a partially-saturated condition where some of the filter pores are filled with accumulated droplets. To date, there exists no theory that can predict the filtration efficiency of a coalescing filter and this is due to the complicated coupling between the aerodynamic field inside the filter and the capillarity of the fibers. This paper presents a new approach to study coalescence filtration by replacing the aerodynamic field inside the filter with a centrifugal force field and to thereby decouple the role of fiber properties from that of the airflow in fluid accumulation in a filter. This paper is only the first step towards developing the above mathematical theory for coalescence filtration. In the current study, we use numerical simulation and experiment to compare desaturation of a liquid-saturated fibrous media via centrifugal force (new) and via compressed air (traditional). For the simulations, we used the volume-of-fluid (VOF) method implemented in ANSYS software, and for the experiments, we used a Porometer for the pressure-driven desaturation, and a custom-made setup inside a swing-bucket centrifuge for the centrifugal desaturation. The experiments were conducted using a nonwoven fabric infused with mineral oil. Pressure-driven and centrifugal desaturation processes were compared with one another, and the advantages of the latter were discussed in detail.