BARRIERLESS ULTRASONIC AIR CLEANER

MILITARY VEHICLE AIR CLEANER SYSTEM PERFORMANCE CAN BE EVALUATED IN SEVERAL WAYS, HOWEVER, ONE OF THE MOST IMPORTANT PERFORMANCE CONSIDERATIONS IS SERVICE LIFE. TODAY, AIR CLEANERS REQUIRE FREQUENT SERVICING IN DUSTY CONDITIONS AND POSE A CONTAMINATION RISK FACTOR TO MEDIA MATERIAL AND MAINTENANCE PERSONNEL DURING CLEANING IN AN NBC ENVIRONMENT. IN FACT, IT IS THIS PARAMETER THAT HAS LED TO THE USE OFTHE STAGE SYSTEMS INCORPORATING INERTIAL PRECLEANERS. THE OBJECTIVE OF THE PROPOSED PROJECT IS TO DEMONSTRATE THE FEASIBILITY OF USING AN ULTRASONIC STANDING WAVE FIELD TO CAUSE COALESCENCE OF DUST PRIOR TO SEPARATION IN DEVICES SUCH AS PRECLEANERS, THUS, LEADING TO SUFFICIENTINCREASES IN SEPARATOR EFFICIENCY WHILE DECREASING THE PENALITIES ASSOCIATED WITH INCREASED INITIAL PRESSURE DROPS SO AS TO OBIVATE THE NEED FOR ANY FILTER. PHASE I WILL EVALUATE THE FEASIBILITY OF THIS APPROACH THROUGH PARAMETRIC STUDIES FORMULATED TO PROVIDE PERFORMANCE PREDICTIONS ON THE COMBINED SYSTEMS.