Over the last decade, industrial filters have seen great changes in the industry. New products were created that have significantly improved indoor air quality as well as reduced installation and operation costs of the equipment in most industrial facilities. Apart from technology improvements, industry standards and requirements have been adopted that foster healthy indoor air quality. Meanwhile, there is an ongoing discourse on the potential impact of improved air quality on tenants or building occupants and their overall health.
As engineers and maintenance experts are placing more focus on this matter, manufacturers of industrial filters are also working hard to create and provide air filtration systems that are more efficient and effective. Several technological advancements that can be noted in this field include improved filter efficiency, reduced pressure drops, smaller yet more effective motors and fans. As for the air filters themselves, the industry organizations have been advocating the adoption of the minimum efficiency reporting value system, or MERV, in the attempt to offer a standard definition of filtration efficiency. It specifically measures resistance of an air filter or its ability to trap large air particulates.
There are four most common product types that most manufacturers of industrial filters offer for the HVAC systems: polyester and pleated filter, HEPA filters, fiberglass filters, and washable filters. Pleated filters are quite similar to fiberglass but they offer the superior dust-stopping ability and have a higher resistance to airflow. The fiberglass filter, on the other hand, is the most common throwaway filter that is usually reinforced with a metal grating to provide support to the layered fiberglass and prevent them from collapsing.
The HEPA or high-efficiency particulate resistance filters are very unique type as they filter air at a very fine scale, filtering about 99.97% of all particles with 0.3-micron size and bigger. Finally, the washable air filters are ideal for industrial processes that involve filtration of high volumes of coarse dust.