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Curiosity Insight

Curiosity Insight

Learning never exhausts the mind

How Does an Air Purifier Work?

August 31, 2020 By Miranda Jackson Leave a Comment

The air purifier sucks the air in a room through fans inside the unit. There, the room air passes through several filter stations and is returned as purified air.

A cleaner usually consists of a combination of different filters – so filtered and clean air should arise. Which filters are typically used, and which are essential, you will find in this article.

The different filter types

  • Hepa
  • Activated carbon filter
  • An electrostatic filter
  • Photocatalytic filter

But what functions do these have?

HEPA filters

This filter is probably the most widely used of all. The HEPA filter was initially designed for aerospace and research – so wherever you need clean air urgently. The word HEPA stands for “High-Efficiency Particulate Air Filter,” which translates to “air filter with high efficiency against particles.” The close-knit fabric of synthetic fibers and cellulose resembles a paper filter but is, of course, much higher quality. On average, a Hepa filter is very durable and always provides high efficiency regarding air purification. This makes this filter so versatile against house dust, pollen, smoke, and other particles used.

Activated carbon filter

The activated carbon filter eliminates unpleasant odors such as cigarette smoke from the air, so it absorbs molecules of organic origin. The black mat that makes up the filter becomes more demanding and more challenging over time. This is an indication that you should change the filter to maintain high efficiency.

An electrostatic filter

The electrostatic filter consists of several metal plates that are charged with voltage. This system electrically captures impurities from the air as it is drawn into the air purifier. Dust and dirt particles are thus effectively attracted to the metal plates and remain suspended in the filter. The significant advantage of these filters: they do not need to be replaced and thus enable a cost-effective operation of the air purifier permanently. For cleaning, the electrostatic filter is merely vacuumed with a vacuum cleaner.

Photocatalytic filter

This filter is similar to the electrostatic filter. However, the photocatalytic filter filters not only unpleasant odor particles but also germs, bacteria, and disease viruses from the air. The efficiency of microorganisms is almost 100%.

Also, many air purifiers have an ionizer integrated.

As you can see, there are many different types of filters; the technical details are not necessarily crucial for the end-user. For thorough air purification, the desired device should have at least one HEPA filter and one activated carbon filter.

Operation of the air purifier

To effectively treat domestic pollution cases, this operating principle of the air purifier has been specially designed to guarantee its performance. The air sucked by the air purifier will go through a series of several filters. These filters each have their role and target specific pollutants. All together in series and effectively neutralize many types of contaminants. And the air rejected by the air purifier is thus overall cleansed. This is why it is essential to pay close attention to the quality of filters, because the more they are of good quality, the more they will effectively retain a large number of pollutants.

In addition to filter air purifiers, you can also find other technologies on the market, including ionization air purifiers or ionizers. These models, in turn, work by releasing negative ions that attach to the suspended particles and then drop them back to the ground. More pollution in the air; you just have to pick up these microscopic particles with a vacuum cleaner during the household of your home.

The filtration system in detail

To further understand the operating principle of the air purifier, let’s take a closer look at how an air cleaner filters work.

S already explained above, the operation of the air purifier is based on an air ventilation system combined with a series of several filters. The polluted air then begins to pass through a pre-filter that will capture the most massive particles visible to the naked eye, including animal hair or large dust. Installed directly between the hood and the other filters, it makes sure not to let any macro-particle pass.

The order varies depending on the model, but we can find afterward the activated carbon filter, which is formidable for the elimination of foul odors, chemical gases, or fumes. To do this, this filter usually contains active carbon microbeads to eliminate any toxic gas permanently.

There is also a HEPA filter from the medical community, which will trap the smallest particles more massive than a few microns (μm). Thanks to its incredibly tight weave design, this component will retain all kinds of particles, including mites, molds, bacteria, or fine particles, physical or chemical. Attention, the fineness, and the quality of a HEPA filter vary according to its classification. Thanks to the perfect combination of these elements, the operation of the air purifier is useful to remove up to 99% of pollutants from your home.

Know also that according to their level of ventilation and the capacity of their filters, filter purifiers can cover an area ranging from 5 to 150 m². Finally, you will also find models equipped with automatic sensors to detect the level of pollution, and for example, to adjust the necessary filtration speed. Even though they significantly increase the price of the air purifier, most of these sensors have very low accuracy, and usually only detect a single, particular pollutant, but they can give an indication of the relative quality—indoor air.

Filed Under: Science & Technology, Topics

About Miranda Jackson

I am a chemistry researcher and research various household products to make life easier and enjoyable for people around the world.

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