Controlling Airborne Germs: How Do Air Purifiers Work?

Anuj Srivastava
4 Minutes Read
  • Home
  • Blog
  • Controlling Airborne Germs: How Do Air Purifiers Work?

    Air purifiers are built with internal fans that pull air from closed spaces in your home or office, through filters that collect harmful particles like dust, pollen, and bacteria. There are also air purifiers that use ultraviolet radiation to destroy the DNA of viruses and bacteria, which neutralizes them. Once the air has been purified, it circulates back into the room, and the process is repeated continuously to keep a healthy indoor environment.

    Air purifiers can help limit the spread of infectious diseases like coronavirus. Droplets that contain the virus can be captured by filters, and the virus itself can be neutralized with ultraviolet radiation. Just be warned that UV radiation is not intended for direct use on humans, since it damages living tissue. Also keep in mind that air purification is not a replacement for social distancing measures, frequent handwashing, and using medical protection equipment.


    Improve your indoor air quality and eliminate germs with a professional ventilation design.

    CONTACT US


    Importance of Air Purifiers

    Here is a list of the main reasons to consider an air purifier in your home:

    Ensuring your family is breathing clean air. The US Environmental Protection Agency estimates that indoor air is two to five times dirtier than outdoor air, and up to 100 times more polluted in some cases. Having a good air purifier keeps you healthy.

    Air purifiers remove unpleasant odors. This can be an issue in apartments or spaces with limited ventilation, especially after cooking. An air purifier will clean your air, while helping remove unpleasant odors.

    Controlling airborne allergens released by pets. Air purifiers can collect pet dander, fur, and other airborne allergens before they settle.

    Neutralizing smoke from both smokers and combustion appliances. An air purifier can trap smoke before it impregnates your furniture and upholstery. Make sure any appliance with a flame is well vented, and prohibit indoor smoking.

    Air purifiers trap dust. Dust tends to accumulate in all spaces, and an air purifier can help trap dust particles before they settle. This cleans the air while preventing build-up.

    hepafilter

    Air purifiers can remove up to 99 percent of airborne bacteria by circulating air through a series of internal filters. Air purifiers can also capture small airborne particles like mold spores, which cause irritation or allergic reactions.

    Combating seasonal allergens like pollen, which are a serious problem for many people.

    Air purifiers can stop sickness and germs from spreading in your home. A true high-efficiency particulate air (HEPA)  air purifier with ultraviolet bulbs captures and neutralizes up to 99.97 percent of airborne germs.

    Maintaining an overall safe environment. Constant exposure to pollen, dander, dust, and other airborne particles can cause long-term health issues, mostly respiratory issues. Therefore, using an air purifier in your home guarantees an overall safe environment for occupants.

    Air purifiers provide versatility. They are available in many sizes and shapes and can be fitted into any room easily.

    High-Efficiency Particulate Air Filter

    HEPA is an efficiency standard for air filters, also known as high-efficiency particulate absorbing or high-efficiency particulate arrestance. Filters meeting the HEPA standard must meet certain levels of efficiency - removing at least 99.97% of particles with a diameter of 0.3 microns. To visualize how small this is, consider that one millimeter is equal to 1,000 microns.

    HEPA filters became commercially available during the 1950s. The term HEPA then became a trademark, and later a generic term for highly efficient filters. However, keep in mind that only a filter that captures 99.97% of 0.3-micron particles can be considered true HEPA. These filters are used in many applications that require contamination control, such as disk drive manufacturing, medical devices, semiconductors, nuclear power, food production, pharmaceutical production, motor vehicle applications and hospital ventilation.

    hepa

    Air Purifiers for Allergy Control

    Many types of air purifiers are commercially available, with various levels of performance. These range from purifiers that combine true HEPA with ultraviolet radiation, to less efficient filters that are similar to HEPA, but without the 99.97% effectiveness level. Selecting the right type of air pollutant for each application is important, to control air pollutants effectively.

    True HEPA/UV-C Air Purifiers

    True HEPA/UV-C air purifiers are the best option in the market, but also the most expensive. They combine replaceable HEPA air filters with ultraviolet germicidal light to eliminate airborne bacteria, allergens and germs. The HEPA filters in these air purifiers are typically replaced every three months. These purifiers can remove pollen, smoke, dust, dust mites, lint, odors, mold, pet dander and germs.

    True HEPA Air Purifiers

    True HEPA air purifiers use replaceable filters to remove airborne particles. These filters should be a minimum requirement when at least one occupant has allergies, since they can get rid of the main seasonal allergens. These purifiers can remove pollen, smoke, dust, dust mites, lint, odors, mold and pet dander.

    HEPA-Type Air Purifiers

    These are less effective than true HEPA air purifiers, since they cannot get rid of the smallest particles. However, in cases where these particles do not represent a big threat, these more economical air purifiers might be a proper fit. They can remove smoke, dust, lint, odors and pet dander.

    Permanent HEPA-Type Air Purifiers

    These air purifiers work just like HEPA-type. However, the filter does not need to be replaced, and it only requires occasional cleaning to ensure proper function. Like the replaceable HEPA-type filters, these remove smoke, dust, lint, odors and pet dander.

    Contact Us

    Tags : indoor air quality coronavirus air purifier HEPA UVGI
    Linkedin

    Leave Comment

    Please avoid adding links in comments. Any comment with external website links will not be published.

    Join 15,000+ Fellow Architects and Contractors

    Get expert engineering tips straight to your inbox. Subscribe to the NY Engineers Blog below.