Air purifiers disinfect the air by removing toxins in the air. Fungal spores, dust mites, pollutants, odours and toxins are just a few airborne contaminants that an air purifier can capture, but some air purifiers are more robust in the trapping of particulate matter depending upon the specific technology used by the air purifier.
The development of new home air purification systems around the globe has soared in recent decades. This rapid innovation era has resulted in various types of air purifiers coming in all shapes, sizes and colours. This has supported the air purifiers market.. In the industrial, commercial and medical industries, ionic, HEPA, biomass and UV light air filters are widely used.
1- High-Efficiency Particulate Arresting (HEPA) Air Purifiers
HEPA filtration is an important and common type of technique for air purification. HEPA is a device that is able to trap much very small particles which would just re-circulate into the air at home by other vacuum cleaners.
HEPA air purifier consists of a highly dense filter of paper, which absorbs harmful pollutants from airborne materials such as dust, bacteria, pollen and even animal hair. A pre-filter Mesh HEPA which is only in the most current cleaning systems. This filter is known as permanent HEPA because it can be washed.
2- Ultraviolet Light Air Purifiers
UV technology is safe and has been shown to be successful against microorganisms. With the use of Ultraviolet rays, the light destroys cells, such as bacteria, viruses and mould spores. However, this technology is weak against contaminants such as dust, smoke and odour due to lack of mechanical filter. Most UV air purifiers are small and compact because only one filter and a thin light bulb are used.
3- Ionic Air Purifier
It is also called Ionizer air filter. The ionic air filter is an air purification system that works on charged electrical surfaces or needles. A cloud of negatively formed ions is released into the air, whereas the positively charged (ionic) pollutants will then be drawn to a charged collector plate electrostatically. Such impurities are only placed on the floor. It removes very fine particles up to 0.1 microns in size. The Ionic Air Filter also contains ozone trace concentrations that reach an industrial safety requirement with less than 0.05 ppm of ozone.
4- Activated Carbon Technology
Activated carbon is one of the most commonly used filtration systems for domestic air purifiers because it absorbs thousands of contaminants and chemicals. It is a vital tool for controlling pollution from coal-fired power plants, cement plants and industrial boilers and incinerators, as well as for eliminating toxic and odorous pollutants in the drinking water sector.
It is also called a charcoal air filter and uses a special activated carbon type consisting of millions of small adsorbent pores. This activated carbon filter is capable of molecularly absorbing and neutralizing volatile chemicals, including hazardous gasses, smells, VOCs and certain chemicals. Instead of eliminating pollutants, this filtering method will turn them from the gaseous into a solid form. Therefore, this sort of air filter rarely stands alone but operates with other types of air filter, especially the HEPA air filter.
In the last decade, the air filtration industry has seen its share of improvements. Manufacturing companies have introduced new models that not only boost indoor air quality (IAQ) but also reduced the production and operational costs of air-filtration equipment at commercial and institutional installations. Below are a few more types.
Types of Air Purifiers
Electrostatic Precipitators (ESP)
ESP air purifier filters are considered as the most effective filters that use electrostatic attractiveness to eliminate particulate matter from the atmosphere such as dust and cigarette smoke. The Air Purifiers with ESP filters use less power by focusing their energy only on the small particles which are suspended in the air. It helps certain ESP filters to clean the air better than other filters.
The negatively charged particles accumulate onto electrostatic plates by charging incoming particles with negative electrical charges. The maintenance is very high because the metal plate can be contaminated by particles. This once-popular choice of filtration even disappeared in houses with ozone as a by-product.
Ozone Generator
One of the most common ways of “cleaning” the air and eliminating heavy odours is by using an ozone air generator, also known as ozone air purifiers. Ozone generators are among the most common ways in which airborne contaminants and smells are rapidly eliminated from houses, workplaces and even vehicles.
Ozone consists of three bonded oxygen molecules and is a strong deodorant. These are used in hospitals, hotels and even in homes, but unluckily it is also a toxic gas in large doses and can also affect our health, especially our lungs. Therefore, they can be dangerous and only trained, and skilled professionals should use them.
Air-to-Air Exchangers
Air-to-air exchangers ventilate the house by eliminating aged, stale air with fresh air. It also helps to monitor the temperature and humidity in the homes by using energy recovery fans. For instance, the air-to-air exchanger can absorb the heat from the air in the winter before ventilating it out of the home.
The heat is used to bring and moisten clean air into the home so that a constant temperature is preserved. On the other side, in summer air to air exchangers cool and dehumidify clean air from outside before being channelled into the house.
Odour Eliminator
Odour eliminator is also sometimes known as a carbon air purifier, charcoal air purifier, deodorizer or odour removal. The purification process of odour eliminator is similar to the HEPA air purifier. Odour eliminator purification method is similar to HEPA air cleaner.
This uses a mechanical filter focusing exclusively on smoke. Higher-level versions are fitted with an active carbon filter or granular carbon filter while the carbon sheet or baking soda filters can be used for the lower grade model.