Soot Trapping by High-permeability Porous Membrane Filter Made of Aggregates of Alumina Nanoparticles

Abstract

A new diesel particulate filter (DPF) with a highly porous membrane made of alumina submicron particles, which are aggregates of alumina nanoparticles, was proposed to eliminate the radical increase in pressure drop caused by the soot accumulation in surface pores at the beginning of soot trapping and to improve the initial filtration efficiency of the DPF. The alumina membrane was manufactured by introducing particles-suspended nitrogen gas into the conventional DPF. The particle size of alumina and the particle-carrying gas velocity, which are significant parameters to determine the permeability of the layer, were optimized to make a low pressure drop membrane.