Enhancement of fiber attenuation and filtration quality via electrostatic-induction-assisted melt blowing

Abstract

Melt-blown nonwovens with smaller fiber diameters and fewer roping defects are good candidates for air filtration. However, there have been few publications of experimental work reducing the fiber diameter and improving the roping defects of melt-blown nonwovens at the same time. Here, we reported an electrostatic-induction-assisted melt-blowing (EIMB) process by introducing an induced electrostatic field to the conventional MB process. The EIMB process is based on a commercial process without interfering or charging the polymer jet before spinning. Therefore, the production efficiency of the EIMB process is the same as the conventional MB process. The numerical simulation method was employed to investigate the effects of the electrode width on the melt-blown airflow field since the electrode width is a critical parameter that affects the stability of the MB airflow field. Benefiting from the introduction of the electrostatic field, melt-blown nonwovens with smaller fiber diameters and fewer roping defects were obtained using the EIMB technology. Compared to the conventional MB process, the EIMB process dramatically improved the filtration performance and reduced the energy consumption.