A Look at Different Types of Air Filters and Their Uses

It’s common for homes, workplaces, and classrooms to have fire alarms, carbon monoxide detectors, fire extinguishers, and first-aid kits as safety measures. However, in many cases, these spaces lack another important piece of protection: an air purifier.

Air purifiers use fans to draw in the air in a room. The air enters the purifier and passes through filters designed to capture and remove a wide range of pollutants. Then, the air purifier circulates clean air out into the room.

Air filters trap items like allergens, bacteria, viruses, and smoke that contaminate the air. For this reason, the filters you place in the air purifier greatly affect how you achieve clean, safe air. Whether improving your home’s air quality, protecting hospital patients, or nurturing little ones in daycare, there’s an air filter readily available to fit your air purifier.

A look at different types of air filters and their uses will lead you to two effective choices: HEPA and carbon filters. Each specializes in removing different contaminants. Compare their mechanisms to determine which one suits your indoor air needs and if you should combine them for the best results.

Identifying HEPA Filters

HEPA stands for high-efficiency particulate air. Filters of this caliber effectively reduce allergens and fine particles of 2.5 microns and smaller in size.

To receive the renowned HEPA distinction, a filter must have efficiency and capability that meets the standard of what experts refer to as a medical grade H13 filter. This means it must be able to remove at least 99.97 percent of airborne particles 0.3 microns in size, which is the most challenging particle size to capture.

HEPA filters consist of dense, randomly aligned glass or synthetic fibers that catch particulate matter. They capture airborne contaminants through one of the following filtering methods:

• Impaction: The filter traps large particles as they directly collide with the fibers’ surface.
• Interception: The fibers intercept medium-sized particles.
• Diffusion: Tiny particles traveling in zig-zagged patterns hit the filter and become stuck in its fibers.

Why Using a HEPA Filter Matters

Tiny particles can go deep into the lungs and enter a person’s bloodstream. Exposure to particulate matter can contribute to health issues, including:

• Irregular heartbeat,
• Irritated asthma symptoms,
• Reduced lung function,
• And premature death in people with cardiovascular or respiratory conditions.

Since HEPA filters can capture large and small particles, they’re great in homes with pets. They effectively trap dander, pollen, mold, and dust mites.

It’s just as important to implement an air filter in spaces that people with allergies or respiratory conditions occupy. Air purifiers with HEPA filters used in offices, schools, homes, and shops can remove airborne triggers that could cause respiratory flare-ups.

Common HEPA Filter Uses

Medical Facilities

Hospitals and clinics rely on air purifiers that use HEPA filters to protect the health of medical professionals, patients, and visitors. The filters prevent airborne infections and viruses from spreading. Common locations for air purifiers in medical facilities include:

• Operating rooms to enhance the environment’s sterility and reduce the likelihood of post-surgical infections in patients.
• Newborn intensive care units must protect the lungs of newborns whose weakened immune systems make them more susceptible to respiratory infection.
• Use in waiting rooms, cafeterias, and consultation rooms to prevent illnesses from bacteria and virus exposure.

Laboratories

HEPA filters are especially important for workers who deal with hazardous materials and pathogens. With HEPA filters, people can prevent cross-contamination and defend sensitive experiments from the influence of external particles.

A Look at Carbon Filters

Volatile organic compounds (VOCs) and gases move differently through the air. Therefore, they demand a different type of filter for air purifiers. Carbon filters can capture invisible gases, odors, and harsh chemicals that HEPA filters can’t block.

How Carbon Filters Function

Activated carbon refers to carbon that received additional processing to become more effective at trapping gas molecules. The process typically entails activating carbon by injecting it with steam, hot air, or carbon dioxide.

As a result of this process, the formation of a lattice of tiny pores occurs in the carbon. This makes the carbon porous and increases its surface area. As a result, the vast space can trap numerous harmful molecules emitted by factories, vehicles, forest fires, and more. Some of the dangerous substances that activated carbon filters can mitigate include:

• Carbon monoxide,
• Sulfur oxide,
• Nitrogen oxide,
• Ozone,
• Radon,
• And VOCs like benzene and formaldehyde.

Adsorption

Once a carbon filter traps molecules of gaseous substances, it filters these molecules from the air through the process of adsorption. During adsorption, gaseous contaminants stick to the outside surface of the carbon filter.

Molecules that have a higher affinity for the adsorption site can displace those with a smaller affinity. Environmental aspects like temperature and relative humidity ultimately determine a molecule’s affinity for the adsorption site.

Therefore, a carbon filter may release different gases as conditions change. When a carbon filter’s surface reaches complete saturation and can no longer trap pollutants, it’s a strong sign to replace the carbon filter.

Guarantee both the initial and replacement carbon filter will function well by acquiring them from a reputable distributor of equipment with demonstrated effectiveness in improving indoor air quality, like Smarter HEPA. Our carbon air filters for air purifiers remove carbon monoxide, VOCs, formaldehyde, sulfur oxide, and nitrogen oxide.

When To Consider Carbon Air Filters

Looking closely at different types of air filters and their uses may lead you to conclude that not everyone needs carbon air filters. How can you tell if you do need them? Consider the concerns and pollutants that directly impair air quality in your specific environment.

Common Carbon Filter Uses

There are numerous scenarios where carbon filters are the favored choice for air purifiers. If you have concerns regarding exposure to chemicals and unpleasant smells, carbon filters might be more beneficial than HEPA filters in the following applications.

Industrial Use and Commercial Settings

Cars, trucks, ships, planes, and trains emit methane, ammonia, and greenhouse gases as most fuel for transportation is petroleum-based. Factories and laboratories produce these same emissions when burning fossil fuels for energy and making products from raw materials.

To combat this, workspaces in transportation, manufacturing, and chemical industries can use carbon air filters to control harmful gas emissions and the odors they produce. Likewise, restaurants can use air purifiers to manage particulate matter, VOCs, and other gases produced by cooking.

Households and Schools

Carbon filters keep spaces safe and odor-free. Homes and schools—especially those that are near factories or busy highways—can benefit from installing air purifiers with carbon filters. Purifiers fit with carbon filters to eradicate gaseous pollution that impairs neurodevelopment and lung function.

Furthermore, homes and schools in areas affected by forest fires also need an air purifier using an activated carbon filter to neutralize wildfire smoke. Wildfire smoke contains VOCs, including ethane, xylene, benzene, and acetaldehyde. These gases can irritate the nose, throat, and eyes, and contribute to respiratory and neural issues and cancers.

Using a carbon air filter in a purifier can remove these dangerous molecules from the surrounding environment. This is an important resource to protect families’ and students’ lungs and overall health.

Renovation and Cleaning Tasks

Also, consider how VOCs and other gaseous contaminants can originate from everyday sources such as cleaning products, paint, furniture, carpets, and cooking methods. This makes carbon filters just as useful in households as they are in industrial spaces.

Breathe Fresh Air With Smart Solutions

Don’t underestimate the power of filters in air purifiers. These products protect people from potentially harmful air. There’s an air filter designed to:

• Battle smoke and odors in offices and industrial spaces.
• Adhere to strict cleanliness regulations in medical facilities and laboratories.
• Manage a household with an ill person or individuals with respiratory conditions.

Properly fit the air purifier with a HEPA filter and an optional carbon filter based on the environment’s contamination risks. With these filters in place, your air purifier will establish a healthy space for everyone who walks indoors.