Research On Characteristicsof Particulate Pollutantsin Aircraft Cabin And Performanceof A New Filter Material

Effective control of particulate pollutants in aircraft cabin is important forimproving cabin air quality and preventing the spread of infectious diseases. But there isalmost no relevantresearch about particulate pollution and its dynamic characteristics inaircraft cabin during a whole duration currently. Moreover, aircraft filter and novelfiltration material, which can remove particulate in cabin effectively, is a lack ofresearch either. Based on the condition aforementioned, related studies were carried outand the main contents and academic contributionsare as follows:Firstly, measurements of particles larger than0.3μm (PM>0.3) were made on16flights. Results indicate that number concentrations of PM>0.3decrease firstly and thenincrease in supply air and breathing zone air in general, and the lowest concentrationoccurred at cruising phase. Clouds and turbulence can result inparticle concentrationpeaks in supply air and breathing zone.The major counts of PM>0.3were those particlessmaller than1.0μm. Via estimating, we found that mass concentrations of particles incabin were less than the Air Quality Guidelines specified by World Health Organization(WHO).Secondly, contributions of particles in breathing zone contributed by bleed air andcabin interior can be calculated by using concentrations of particles and CO2in supplyair and breathing zone. Results show that particles in cabin were mainly come frombleed air.Cabin interior was equivalent to a particle sink for some particle size ranges(0.3-0.5μm,0.5-1.0μmand1.0-2.0μm).Thus, bleed air (or supply air) filtration caneffectively reduce the concentration of particles in cabin.Furthermore, we found thatthere are significant difference between particles within0.3-0.5μm in new aircrafts andold aircrafts. For new aircrafts, particle concentrations in breathing zone arelarger thanthat in supply air. For old ones, particle concentrations in supply air and breathing zonewere almost the same.Thirdly, a filtration material testing platform was built up. CNT/quartz fiber filterswith hierarchical structure and gradient structure were developed and their filtrationperformances were tested onthe platform. Results show that compared to conventionalfilter materials, the novel materials have distinct advantages in filtration efficiency andquality factor.