scholarly journals Characterizing the performance of a DIY air filter

Author(s):  
Rachael Dal Porto ◽  
Monet Kunz ◽  
Theresa Pisotchini ◽  
Richard L Corsi ◽  
Christopher D Cappa

Air filtration serves to reduce concentrations of particles in indoor environments. Most standalone, also referred to as portable or in-room, air filtration systems use HEPA filters, and cost generally scales with the clean air delivery rate. A 'do-it-yourself' lower-cost alternative, known as the Corsi-Rosenthal Box, that uses MERV-13 filters coupled with a box fan has been recently proposed, but lacks systematic performance characterization. We have characterized the performance of a five-panel Corsi-Rosenthal air filter. Measurements of size-resolved and overall decay rates of aerosol particles larger than 0.5 microns emitted into rooms of varying size with and without the air filter allowed for determination of the apparent clean air delivery rate, both as a function of size and integrated across particle sizes. The measurements made in the different rooms produced similar results, demonstrating the robustness of the method used. The size-integrated apparent clean air delivery rate increases with fan speed, from about 600 to 850 ft3 min-1 (1019 to 1444 m3 h-1). Overall, our results demonstrate that the Corsi-Rosenthal filter efficiently reduces suspended particle concentrations in indoor environments.

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Devabhaktuni Srikrishna

BackgroundSARS-Cov-2 aerosols have potential to accumulate in airspaces of poorly ventilated, indoor spaces such as classrooms, offices, homes, restaurants, and bars. Separately, toxic aerosol pollution (e.g. wildfires, wood burning) is frequently encountered in these locations with ventilation relying on outside air. Portable high efficiency particulate air (HEPA) air purifiers are useful to remove both types of aerosols without relying on outside ventilation. To meet or exceed recommended 4 to 6 air exchanges per hour (ACH), high price-points for select HEPA air purifier models without incurring excessive noise generation make them unaffordable for many households and communities. Do-it-yourself (DIY) alternatives with box-fans and HVAC filters can be much lower cost but their clean air delivery rate (CADR) and noise generation varies greatly depending on choices of filters, number of filters, and fan speeds.ObjectiveTo compare cost-effectiveness and noise-generation of aerosol filtration by commercially available, portable HEPA air purifiers and do-it-yourself (DIY) alternatives built from box fans and HVAC filters rated at MERV 13 or 14 using single and quad filter designs.MethodsThe comparison is based on three metrics: clean air delivery rate (CADR), the noise generated (dBA), and affordability ($$) using an ISO-certified aerosol measurement device to measure input/output particle filtration of particles sizes ranging from 0.3 microns to 10 microns, airspeed meter to measure airflow, and NIOSH sound meter app to measure noise.ResultsAccounting for reduced filtration efficiency of MERV 13/14 filters compared to HEPA, estimated clean air delivery rate (CADR) of a do-it-yourself (DIY) setup using 2” and 4” filters with a box fan running at fan speed 1 for tolerable noise was 278 cfm ($38) to 371 cfm ($58), comparable or better than a commercial HEPA air purifiers running at maximum speed with low noise generation at 282 cfm ($375). However the quad filter designs, popularly known as the Corsi-Rosenthal box, achieved gains in CADR of only 60% over a single filter design but in contrast to 200-250% gains reported by UC-Davis.ConclusionsDIY alternatives using single 1”, 2” and 4” MERV 13/14 filters compare favorably to commercially available systems in terms of estimated CADR and noise but at five to ten times lower cost. Compared to use of one filter, an improvement in CADR (air flow) was observed with a popular DIY configuration involving quad filter design, popularly known as the Corsi-Rosenthal box, not as high as reported by a recent study by UC-Davis


Author(s):  
Hong Qian ◽  
Ying Fang ◽  
Kao Wu ◽  
Hao Wang ◽  
Bin Li ◽  
...  

Abstract This study presents two methods to improve the air filtration performance of konjac glucomannan (KGM)-based aerogel air filters through physical structure design by changing the pore-size distribution and the surface area, using an air purifier. Results indicated that KGM-based aerogels had a comparable filtration effect with the commercial air filter with a longer purification time. This purification time could be shortened by over 50%, by changing the pore-size distribution from large size to small size or increase the surface area with the fold structure. This should boost the development of polysaccharide-based aerogel used as the air filter.


Author(s):  
Steve Ingistov ◽  
Michael Milos ◽  
Rakesh K. Bhargava

A suitable inlet air filter system is required for a gas turbine, depending on installation site and its environmental conditions, to minimize contaminants entering the compressor section in order to maintain gas turbine performance. This paper describes evolution of inlet air filter systems utilized at the 420 MW Watson Cogeneration Plant consisting of four GE 7EA gas turbines since commissioning of the plant in November 1987. Changes to the inlet air filtration system became necessary due to system limitations, a desire to reduce operational and maintenance costs, and enhance overall plant performance. Based on approximately 2 years of operational data with the latest filtration system combined with other operational experiences of more than 25 years, it is shown that implementation of the high efficiency particulate air filter system provides reduced number of crank washes, gas turbine performance improvement and significant economic benefits compared to the traditional synthetic media type filters. Reasons for improved gas turbine performance and associated economic benefits, observed via actual operational data, with use of the latest filter system are discussed in this paper.


2013 ◽  
Vol 2013 ◽  
pp. 1-7 ◽  
Author(s):  
Hyun Wook Moon ◽  
Woojoong Kim ◽  
Sewoong Kwon ◽  
Jaeheung Kim ◽  
Young Joong Yoon

A simple and exact closed-form equation to determine a penetrated ray path in a ray tracing is proposed for an accurate channel prediction in indoor environments. Whereas the penetrated ray path in a conventional ray tracing is treated as a straight line without refraction, the proposed method is able to consider refraction through the wall in the penetrated ray path. Hence, it improves the accuracy in ray tracing simulation. To verify the validation of the proposed method, the simulated results of conventional method, approximate method, and proposed method are compared with the measured results. The comparison shows that the proposed method is in better agreement with the measured results than the conventional method and approximate method, especially in high frequency bands.


Author(s):  
Lawrence J. Czerwonka ◽  
Jack M. Carey

A general purpose centrifuge method for measuring particle-size distribution of air-filter inlet, outlet and catch dust samples is demonstrated. Treatment and analysis of data to determine air-cleaner performance based on size distribution is shown for two types of air filters, a louver and a glass-fiber media filter. The advantages and limitations of the method and interpretations of results associated with the application of these procedures for arriving at efficiency versus particle-size performance curves, and for predicting filter efficiency for any given dust are discussed.


2020 ◽  
pp. 111-117
Author(s):  
Debabrata Das ◽  
Debayan Das
Keyword(s):  

1974 ◽  
Vol 51 (11) ◽  
pp. 753 ◽  
Author(s):  
James L. Charlton ◽  
Bryan R. Henry

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