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Separation and Purification Technology, Volume 98, 19 September 2012, Pages 230-239
Tsz Yan Ling, Jing Wang, David Y.H. Pui
Particle Technology Laboratory, Mechanical Engineering Department, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, MN 55455, USA
ETH Zurich, Institute of Environmental Engineering, Switzerland
Empa, Analytical Chemistry, Dubendorf, Switzerland
Abstract
The objective of this study is to demonstrate a convenient numerical approach for simulating nanoparticle diffusion using commercial computational fluid dynamics (CFD) software. It uses the Eluerian approach and solves the convective diffusion equation. The advantage is that it does not require defining user codes. We demonstrated the application of this approach by modeling nanoparticle capture by personal protective garments, both woven and non-woven. Such process usually has low face velocity, causing the primary capture mechanism to be diffusion. Simulation results for the woven media show satisfactory agreement with the classical filtration theory when the Peclet number lies between 0.1 and 100. Results for non-woven media also agree with experimental measurements within the range of concern. This work demonstrates a simple modeling approach for the design and selection of personal protective media against dermal exposure of nanoparticles in workplace.
