Specifications
11
Types of air cleaners available
Air purification is not just important to people who suffer from allergies and asthma. It is also very
beneficial to anybody concerned about his or her general health. Air is our most important provision and
we spend 90 percent of our time indoors. Indoor air pollution is among the top five environmental risks
to public health. In addition to the effects indoor air pollution has on asthma and allergy suffers, other
long term effects include eye, nose and throat irritation, dizziness, fatigue, pneumonitis, respiratory
diseases, heart disease and even cancer.
Types
Air cleaners are typically classified by the technology employed to remove particles of various sizes
from the air. There are four general types of air cleaners on the market. They include:
Mechanical filters1.
Electrostatic air cleaners2.
Ion generators3.
Ozone generators4.
Mechanical filters
Mechanical filters may be installed in ducts in homes with central heating and/or air-conditioning or
may be used in portable devices that contain a fan to force air through the filter. Mechanical filters
used for air cleaning are of two major types:
Flat filters•
Efficiently collect large particles, but remove only a small percentage of respirable size particles.
Pleated/Extended surface filters•
Generally attain a greater efficiency for capturing respirable size particles than flat filters. The
pleated filter allows greater surface area which in turn allows the use of higher efficiency filter
media without a too large drop in airflow rate.
Mechanical filters can achieve very high efficiency, like HEPA filters, but often the dense packed filter
gives high energy consumption and noise levels.
Electrostatic air cleaners
Electronic air cleaners use an electrical field to trap charged particles. In electrostatic precipitators,
particles are collected on a series of flat plates. In charged-media filter devices, the particles are
collected on the fibers in a filter. Electrostatic air cleaners clean the air silently with low energy con-
sumption. However, the electrical field can emit ozone as by product. Read further for health effects
of ozone.