Development of Test Stand and Test Plan for Qualification of Sintered Fiber Metal Media Filters

High efficiency particulate air (HEPA) filtration technology is commonly used in Department of Energy (DOE) facilities that require control of radioactive particulate matter (PM) emissions due to treatment or management of radioactive materials. Although HEPA technology typically makes use of glass fiber media, metal and ceramic media filters are also capable of filtering efficiencies beyond the required 99.97%. Sintered metal fiber filters are good candidates for use in DOE facilities due to their resistance to corrosive environments and resilience at high temperature and elevated levels of relative humidity. Their strength can protect them from high pressure or pressure spikes and allow for back pulse cleaning, which can extend lifetime use. The use of these filters also has the potential to reduce the cost of filtration in these DOE facilities due to lifetime cost savings. However sintered metal media filters are not currently in use in DOE facilities because ASME AG-1 section FI pertaining to qualification of metal media filters has not been approved due to a lack of protocols and performance criteria for qualifying section FI filters. The Institute for Clean Energy Technology (ICET) has developed a test stand design and test plan capable of assisting in the qualification ASME AG-1 section FI filters. The data provided from ICETs test stand and test plan should be sufficient to establish the missing protocols and performance criteria needed for approval of section FI.