Complex shaped fiber for particle and molecular filtration

Abstract

An ultra-efficient multilobal cross-sectioned fiber filter for chemical contaminant filtering applications is described. An absorptive chemically reactive reagent, preferably an acid or base and in liquid or an adsorptive chemically reactive reagent (an acid or base) in solid form, is disposed within longitudinal slots in each length of fiber. The reagent may be used alone or in conjunction with solid adsorptive particles which may also be utilized with the reagents in the longitudinal slots within the fibers. Reagents within the fibers remain exposed to a base-contaminated airstream passing through the filter. Base contaminants in the airstream, chemicals such as ammonium and amines (as well as particles), react with the acid reagent within the longitudinal slots of the fibers. As the contaminant and reagent react, the ammonium or amine becomes irreversibly absorbed (or adsorbed if reagent is a solid acid) to the liquid acid reagent and multilobal fiber.

Description

[0001] This application is a divisional of application Ser. No. 10 / 652,230, filed Aug. 28, 2003, which claims priority to application Ser. No. 09 / 834,581, filed Apr. 12, 2001 (U.S. Pat. No. 6,623,715), both of which are incorporated herein by reference in their entirety.BACKGROUND [0002] 1. Field of the Invention [0003] This invention relates to a filter system and specifically to a system utilizing solid and liquid reagents. [0004] 2. Description of Related Art [0005] It is conventionally known to use activated charcoal and other materials as adsorptive elements to remove impurities from an airstream. With the advent of effective fiber cross sections, it is possible to produce fibers which are partially hollow. A particularly effective cross section is one having three T-shaped lobes extending from a central core, as described in U.S. Pat. No. 5,057,368, which is incorporated herein by reference. Conventional filters have used filtering media coated with solid or liquid materials i...

AI Technical Summary

Problems solved by technology

However, conventional chemical filters have a very short life span, require frequent replacement, and are ineffective at efficiently filtering out certain chemicals.

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