SHORT COMMUNICATION
Estimation of Air Velocity for Levitation
of Microparticles for Air Quality Control
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1
Ho Chi Minh City University of Education, Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam
2
NEOhouse Architecture Construction JSC., Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam
3
Laboratory of Applied Physics, Advanced Institute of Materials Science, Ton Duc Thang University,
Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam
4
Faculty of Applied Sciences, Ton Duc Thang University, Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam
Submission date: 2019-12-24
Final revision date: 2020-02-22
Acceptance date: 2020-02-22
Online publication date: 2020-05-14
Publication date: 2020-08-05
Corresponding author
Nguyen Duy Vy
AIMaS, Ton Duc Thang University, 19 Nguyen Huu Tho, 756636, Ho Chi Minh, Viet Nam
Pol. J. Environ. Stud. 2020;29(6):4459-4462
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ABSTRACT
Using Newton’s first law of motion and geometrical analysis, we performed an estimation of force
balance on a microparticle to figure out the conditions for dust levitation and ventilation. The dust
particle is assumed to be a sphere pushed by a uniform upward airflow. The gravitational force pulls it
downward. The velocity-dependent drag force is assumed to be zero. The results show that the minimal
speed of air is proportional to the square root of both the particle mass density and size. To visualize
the formula, five samples of dust have been used involving hazardous PM2.5 dust. The minimal speed
for PM2.5 dust at room temperature is ~22 cm/s, which is just 10% higher than the “breeze” speed of
air commonly known in the industry. This analysis could be adopted to other more complex shapes of
microparticles, such as ellipsoids and cylinders corresponding to various kinds of dust. The result could
also help figure out optimal and effective ventilation and filtration systems toward saving energy in air
quality control.