Characterization of glass fiber felt and its performance as an air filtration media

Abstract

The glass fiber felt made through flame blowing process was characterized on morphology and its filtration performance. Fiber diameter has been measured through SEM and BET methods. Theoretical calculations on pressure drop and filtration efficiency were developed and compared with the experimental measurement. The discrepancy between the calculated results and measurement on filtration efficiency is derived from the presence of fine fiber (<0.5µm) in the glass fiber felt, which contributes to the actual high filtration efficiency in measurement. The multiple micro-layered structure in glass fiber felt, which improves the dust holding capacity and enables glass fiber felt as a depth filter. Glass fiber felt showed a longer duration of the slow increase region for pressure drop build-up comparing to other filter materials with lower averaged pressure drop through its filtration service life. Furthermore, quality factor calculation has been developed for prediction on the energy cost performance of the filters based on the pressure drop, separation efficiency and dust holding capacity.