A novel slip-velocity model to simulate the filtration performance of nanofiber media

Aerosols such as PM(2.5) and PM(10) can have an immense impact on human health. With the outbreak of SARS-CoV-2, it is urgent to filter aerosols by media filtration technology. Electrospun nanofibers are a promising material for achieving high efficiency, low resistance, light weight, and environmentally friendly air filtration. But research on filtration theory and computer simulation of nanofiber media is still lacking. The traditional method involving computational fluid dynamics (CFD) and Maxwell’s first-order slip boundary overestimates the slip velocity on the fiber surface. In this study, a new modified slip boundary was proposed, which introduced a slip velocity coefficient on the basis of the no-slip boundary to address the slip wall. Our simulation results were compared with the experimental pressure drop and particle capture efficiency of real polyacrylonitrile (PAN) nanofiber media. The computational accuracy on pressure drop of the modified slip boundary improved 24.6% and 11.2% compared with that of the no-slip boundary and Maxwell’s first-order slip boundary, respectively. It was found that the particle capture efficiency near the most-penetrating particle size (MPPS) was significantly increased when slip effect occurred. This may be explained by the slip velocity on the fiber surface, which would make particles more accessible to the fiber surface and captured by interception.