Indoor Air Particulate Filtration onto Activated Carbon Fiber Media

Due to their bad effects on human health and comfort, removing particles and volatile organic compounds from indoor air has become an issue of major interest. In this study, the potential use of five media for particle removal was investigated: a felt, a cloth, and a knitted fabric made entirely of activated carbon fibers, and two prototype nonwovens made of different proportions of activated carbon and glass fibers. Dynamic filtration measurements were performed in experimental conditions as representative as possible of indoor air, with alumina particles (modal diameter: 0.37?μm), at an inlet concentration of 2,500?particles?cm?3 and for two different frontal velocities of air: 0.37 and 0.50?m?s?1. Although this medium was not designed for filtration, felt exhibited a high initial filtration efficiency (74%) for a low pressure drop (less than 210?Pa). Similarly, associating several layers of woven/knitted media in series led to high performances, as it reduced preferential paths for the airflow. Finally, prototype nonwovens appeared more efficient than activated carbon felt, but exhibited higher pressure drops.