Removal of Aerosols by Bubbling through Porous Media Submerged in Organic Liquid.

Abstract

Aerosols can be filtered by passing the carrier gas through a fibrous filter immersed in water (Agranovski, I. E., Myojo, T., & Braddock, R. D. (1999a). Bubble filtering through porous media. Aerosol Science and Technology, 31, 249-257. Using water as the irrigating fluid significantly increases the efficiency of filtration of particles and adds the possibility for simultaneous removal of alien gases from the carrier. Organic compounds (gaseous and particulate) form a significant proportion of pollutants in the atmosphere, and effective purification is needed for ambient air as well as for cleaning exhaust streams. Water does not have a high level of solubility for gaseous organic compounds, and alternative irrigating liquids need to be considered. Experiments were conducted using sunflower oil as the irrigating fluid. The filtration efficiencies of the oil are better than for water, for liquid di-ethyl-hexyl-sebacate particles. As the solubility of organic vapours is much higher in oil compared with the one in water, oil provides an excellent opportunity for utilizing as the irrigating liquid for high-efficient simultaneous removal of organic particles and vapours from air carrier.