Electronic air cleaners and associated systems and methods
AssigneeUniversity of Washington through its Center for Commercialization
InventorIgor Krichtafovitch
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
Electronic air cleaners for use in heating, air-conditioning, and ventilation (HVAC) systems and associated methods and systems are disclosed herein. In one embodiment, an electronic air cleaner (100, 200, 300) includes one or more collecting electrodes (122, 322) having a collection material with a porous, open-cell structure and a conductive internal portion (125, 325). The collection material can be configured to collect and receive charged particulate matter in an airflow path. After a period of time, used collection material can be removed from individual collecting electrodes (122, 322) and replaced with new collection material.
Claims29
An air filter, comprising:
- a housing having an inlet, an outlet, and a cavity therebetween;
- and
- an electrode assembly between the inlet and the outlet, wherein the electrode assembly includes a plurality of first electrodes and a plurality of second electrodes, wherein the first electrodes include an internal first conductive portion and an outer surface generally parallel with an airflow through the cavity, and wherein the first electrodes further include a first collecting portion comprising a first porous material.
The air filter of claim 5 wherein the individual first electrodes include a proximal end region at least adjacent the first corona electrode, and wherein at least some of the first electrodes include a second conductive portion between the first collecting portion and a second collecting portion disposed on the proximal end portion.
A method of filtering air, the method comprising:
- creating an electric field using an ionizer arranged in an airflow path, wherein the ionizer is positioned to ionize at least a portion of air molecules from the airflow;
- applying a first electrical potential at a plurality of first electrodes spaced apart from the ionizer, wherein the individual first electrodes include—
- a first conductive portion configured to operate at the first electrical potential;
- a first collection portion removably coupled to the first conductive portion and comprising a porous media;
- and
- a first surface substantially parallel to a principal direction of the airflow path, wherein the first surface has an electrical potential different from the first electrical potential;
- and
- receiving, at the first collection portion, particulate matter electrically coupled to the ionized gas molecules.
An electrostatic precipitator, comprising:
- a housing having an inlet, an outlet, and a cavity;
- an ionizing stage in the cavity at least proximate the inlet, wherein the ionizing stage is configured to ionize gas molecules in air entering the cavity via the inlet;
- and
- a collecting stage in the cavity between the ionizing stage and the outlet, wherein the collecting stage includes a plurality of collecting electrodes having an outer surface generally parallel with an airflow through the cavity and a first collecting portion comprising a first porous media having an open-cell structure, and wherein the collecting electrodes are configured to receive and collect particulate matter electrically coupled to the ionized gas molecules.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.