Brake dust collector with venturi suction generator for active boundary layer manipulationUp to 85% of traffic-induced particulate matter is comprised of dust emerging from brake, tire or road abration. The present brake and tire dust collector can help with reducing fine dust emission into the environment. The dust collector features an air feed that blows an airstream onto the brake disc, the tire or road surface which sheds the dust containing boundary layer off the respective surface and helps with efficient collection of fine dust. For energy efficient supply of the suction needed, a venturi nozzle is used to generate a suction from the air stream at the inner rim surface of the vehicle's wheel. ChallengeRecent studies have shown that up to 85% of the traffic-induced particulate matter of PM10 (particulate matter < 10 µm) is composed of tire-, brake- or road-abrasion or by dust being stirred up from road surfaces. The problem of particulate matter thus concerns not only diesel engine vehicles, but also petrol- or electro-powered vehicles. According to studies of the Empa, the Swiss Federal Laboratories for Materials Science and Technology, the fine dust emitted by disc brakes alone, adds up to roughly a fifth of traffic-induced particulate matter in cites. Together with tire abration, a total of over 111.400 tons of dust is stirred up into the air per year in Germany alone. Especially brake dust is particularly dangerous in breathing air, because it is composed to a great extent of particles with a particulate matter of below 0,1 µm (ultrafine fraction of PM2,5 fine dust particles), and can thus penetrate lunge tissue or even enter the blood stream. Additionally, due to brake disc and brake pad compositions, they contain extremely hazardous substances such as nickel, chrome and copper. Our SolutionFor the effective collection of tire-, brake- or road-abrasion, the present invention proposes a brake dust or tire abration collector hood that features an air feed that directs an opposing air stream onto the brake disc (s. Fig.1), or the tire and road respectively (s. Fig.2), to efficiently dissipate the boundary layer from the respective surface. Additionally, by sealing off the brake or tire area with a housing, a more effective and particularly more energy efficient removal of the particulate matter is achieved. The needed suction for sucking off the boundary layer is hereby greatly decreased.In order to generate the needed suction independent of consumers (e.g. pumps or turbines), a venturi effect-based suction generator in form of an air baffle inside the wheel is proposed. As such an air guide panel is mounted to the inner surface of the rim, creating a narrowing of the flow area between rim and air baffle. A drilling in the air guide panel at the narrowest spot is used to generate a suction via the venturi effect, that is sufficient to drive the dust collector described above. Thus, the necessary suction is constantly available while driving. By providing the right amount of feed and suction volume flow, a complete collection of the brake dust particles into the filter is possible.
For tire and road dust collection, a movable hood is proposed, that can be activated or deactivated according to weather conditions (rain, show), road surfaces (tarmac, gravel) or obstacles (curbs etc.).
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A first prototype was successfully tested in the univerity-belonging wind tunnel. PatentsituationGerman patent applications filed Patent holder: Related TechnologiesBrake dust filter hood with final separator and vortex generator for passive manipulation of the boundary layerContactDr. Tilmann Götze |