Improved design of metal fiber filter materials: Experiment and theory

After a fire accident in a spent fuel reprocessing site of a nuclear power plant, the radioactive aerosol produced by the combustion is one of the main objects of accident control. Because metal fiber has good high temperature and radiation resistance, it is the preferred material for nuclear-grade filters. Taking nuclear grade filter's requirements as the evaluation index, this paper optimizes the design of metal fiber structure parameters. Under the currently limited technology, the best structural parameters are obtained by changing the fiber's basic weight and thickness of the filter layer. In addition, a protective layer and a structural layer are added on both sides to avoid damage to the filter layer during pleating and experimentation. The results show that the resistance caused by the protective layer is small, but it can improve the fiber efficiency to a certain extent, while the structural layer has little effect on the fiber performance. The optimal fiber structure parameters to meet the requirements of nuclear-grade filters are: the thickness of the fiber filter layer is 0.5 mm, and the basic weight is 950 g/m2. This work can provide a reference for the application of metal fibers to nuclear grade filters.