Prediction of polyester conductive filter media life on flat and pilot filtration test rigs under flyash aerosol pre-charge

One of the vital aspects considering the commercial benefit for any gaseous filtration industry is the life cycle of filter material. A filter media providing consistent filtration for a long period of time is desirable for its prolonged life. In view of this; the present study is undertaken for experimental characterization of three different polyester conductive filter materials viz. PTFE coated media, stainless steel fibre blended with PET media, and stainless steel fibre scrim media by predicting their ageing behavior. The materials were investigated on two different laboratory based test rigs viz. flat based and pilot filter unit under two levels of dust densities (50 g/m ³ and 150 g/m ³ ) using fly ash aerosol. The aerosol was charged through a pre-charger at three levels viz. 4 kV, 8 kV and 12 kV. The outcome revealed an enhanced ageing performance at higher level of aerosol charge in case of both the test rigs for all the materials. However, the relative performance of the flat media test rig has been found to be better under all operating conditions. The ageing behavior of PTFE coated materials has been found to be the best among all the investigated materials in both test rigs due to its better surface characteristics as a result of coating.