Nanofiber cleaning methods after air pollution filtering

The increasing of air pollution due to population and industrial growth has a negative impact on human health and the surrounding environment. In filtering air pollution, nanofibers are claimed to have higher efficiency compared to conventional filter membranes. Nanofiber-based filter media is able to filter or capture particles less than 1 µm due to the pore structure of the random fiber arrangement (nonwoven) which has better characteristics than the general membrane. Problem in the filtering of air filter media is blockage in the filter. This blockage will affect filter life as it reduces the filtering effectiveness. Therefore, in this work, a nanofiber cleaning method is investigated after air pollution filtering. There are two cleaning process techniques proposed: the backwash method and the water washing method. Styrofoam was chosen as the experimental polymer material, because it has been successfully manufactured and tested for its air filtration performance through previous research. The results showed that the cleaning method with water washing was better than backwash method, where the released of impurities nanofiber particles could reach 80% by washing with water compared to backwash method which only reached 50%.