Prediction of PM2.5 Filtration Efficiency at Ramie (Boehmeria nivea) Fibers Filter with Computational Fluid Dynamics Simulation

• Main Author: Wahyu Anggara - 13114034, Iik
• Format: Final Project
• Language: Indonesia
• Online Access: https://digilib.itb.ac.id/gdl/view/27940
• Institution: Institut Teknologi Bandung

PM2.5 is a type of pollutant that is harmful to human health, especially for the human respiratory system. In Indonesia, the number of deaths due to this type of pollutant reached 80,650 people in 2016 and was the highest in Southeast Asia. In 2015, the number of early deaths due to PM2.5 in Indonesia reached 1,081 people. <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> The use of air filters is one of the prevention from the impact of PM2.5. The use of natural fibers slowly replacing the use of synthetic fibers as the material in filter production. Natural fibers and synthetic fibers have different characteristics such as pressure drop and filtration efficiency. <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> According to ASHRAE 52.2 standard for filtering efficiency testing on filter media, the pressure drop characteristic can be obtained by varying the fluid flow velocity through the filter media. The higher filtering efficiency on the filter media, the higher pressure drop occurred. In general, natural fibers have smaller fiber size. Smaller fibers size affects the increased of filtering effieciency of the filter media. <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> Pressure drop characteristic is determined by viscous resistance and inertial resistance of the filter media. Based on the result of SEM test, filter made of natural fiber from Ramie (Boehmeria nivea) has a higher viscous resistance than MERV 8 filter which is made of synthetic fibers. The CFD simulation result shows that filter which is made of Ramie has PM2.5 filtering efficiency of 65.26%