The air filter elements used in cleanrooms come in various forms and are called by many names, such as pleated air filters, cassette filters, pocket filters, and extended surface v-style filters. The most common type that is mostly used in air cleaning systems both in the workplaces and residential buildings is the square or rectangular pleated panel filter. In general, in-duct air cleaning filters utilized for domestic air handling can be classified into five major categories. These include the reusable or washable filters, deep pleated air filters, fiberglass filters, electric filters, and electronic air cleaners. In all these filters, apart from the last category, textile media is often used.
The manufacturers of cleanrooms put great emphasis on air particles, aiming to target the elimination of air particles with 0.5 μm in size or bigger, which has been the general task of most cleanroom air filters. While this is good enough when it comes to filtering unwanted debris from the system, many industries are now even more stringent in trapping much smaller air particles. The majority of indoor air pollution comes from dangerous biological and non-biological agents. So, the cleanroom system should be able to reduce or prevent these contaminants from combining with the air drawn into the room.
The use of high-efficiency particulate air and ultra-low penetration pleated air filters made of glass fibers is very common in most cleanrooms. Whereas for applications in cartridge filters, ultra-thin and stiff nonwovens are typically employed. The thickness of these filter elements varies a lot, ranging from 0.1 and 5 mm. Moreover, they resemble the look of paper as they are spun laced, are pleated and formed in a star shape. This form is what provides the filter with higher stiffness and higher surface area, which is good for the pressure drop of the entire system.
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