The quality of the air you breathe is essential for good health, and air filtration systems are particularly useful in hospitals and offices to remove bacteria, viruses and allergens from the air. There are a wide range of filters available, but these are the most common.
Panel Filters
Using a filter in an HVAC system can guard against a raft of health problems. The most common type are panel filters. Usually composed of fibreglass in a cardboard frame, these filters are extremely common as they’re a simple, low cost solution to filtering dust, but aren’t particularly effective at air filtration.
Pleated Filter
These are cheap and easily replaceable and do an extremely efficient job, removing nearly 100% of large particles and around 50% of smaller particles, like dust and spores. Commonly made of polyester-cotton fibres, different media are available depending on the installation.
Electrostatic Air Filter
As their name suggests, these filters use static electricity to filter particles out of the air and trap them in the layers of the filter. They work by charging the contaminant particles – dust, pollen, fumes, etc. – with electricity from a series of ionized wires. The particles are then attracted to the negatively charged metal plates in the collection section and trapped there while clean air is released. These filters can be cleaned and collect particles as small as 0.01 microns – smaller, in fact, than those dealt with using a HEPA filter. Like all filters, electrostatic filters are used in conjunction with ductwork parts, which are widely available from companies such as https://www.dustspares.co.uk/Ductwork/.
HEPA Technology
High Efficiency Particulate Air is a popular form of air filtration that uses an ultra-fine, fibre-like fabric, bent back and forth like a fan, which creates a maze of randomly placed fibres and a large surface area to trap chemical, bacteria and virus particles. The more times air passes through in an hour, the cleaner it will be. These filters typically last 2-4 years and are highly effective, removing 95% of particles. HEPA filtration is often combined with other filtration systems like activated carbon filtration, which is extremely effective at removing toxins from the air – this system of filtration was used in WWI gas masks. HEPA technology is widely used in hospitals as it’s particularly effective at dealing with airborne viruses and other contaminants.