Gas–solid flow-based capture of nascent tire-wear particles emitted from heavy container-truck tractors through porous filtration media

Heavy container trucks generate disproportionately large quantities of tire-wear particles (TWPs) owing to their high axle loads, dual tires and long duty cycles. We investigate the gas–solid two-phase-flow capture of freshly emitted TWPs from the tractor unit using a porous filter that spans the full cross section of the collection duct. Porous filter placement together with inlet-outlet geometry was optimized through a coupled Eulerian–Lagrangian multiphase flow framework and verified with a 1:24 physical model on a bespoke test rig. The results showed that a suitably designed triangular inlet promotes the entrainment of TWPs into the capture duct, driven by the pressure differential between the internal and external flow regions. The optimal top angle of the triangular inlet was found to be 50°. The rear outlet, incorporating an overhead cavity, effectively suppresses air backflow within the capture duct by reducing the static pressure in the vicinity of the outlet. Under the integrated front–rear configuration, the average capture ratios reached approximately 31.4% at 30 km/h, 44.1% at 60 km/h, and 50.9% at 90 km/h. An analogous comparison across studies suggests that the porous filter achieves approximately 6.7% higher capture efficiency than the adhesive method at 90 km/h. The experimental and simulation results exhibit good agreement both qualitatively and quantitatively. The proposed methodology offers guidance for mitigating secondary hazards associated with tire-wear emissions from the tractors of heavy container trucks.