Abstract
The collection of aerosol particles that have magnetic components such as actinides, Co/Ni/Fe, brass, and alloys are of interest in the nuclear industry and for regulatory applications. The collection of these particles is important for monitoring and a number of collection approaches have been developed based on separations mechanisms including size, mass, electrical or thermal properties. In this work, we present the performance of a single-stage, high gradient magnetic collector with a nickel foam matrix for removing airborne magnetic particles. The collection efficiencies for two different particle size regimes and compositions (NaCl and Fe3O4 below 200 nm and SiO2 and Fe3O4 at 1-2 m) were measured to assess the performance of the magnetic collector. The high gradient magnetic collector did not remove nanosized magnetic Fe3O4 particles any more effectively than non-magnetic NaCl particles. However, in the larger size range, the collector more efficiently removed Fe3O4 particles compared to SiO2 with a collection efficiency of 99% compared to 84% for SiO2. The removal mechanism could be attributed to both filtration and the high gradient magnetic field.
