HEPA filters for airliner cabins: State of the art and future development.
Indoor Air
; 32(9): e13103, 2022 09.
Article
in English
| MEDLINE | ID: covidwho-2052595
ABSTRACT
The airliner cabin environment is very important to the health of passengers and crew members, and the use of high-efficiency particulate air (HEPA) filters for recirculated air in the environmental control systems (ECS) is essential for the removal of airborne particles such as SARS CoV-2 aerosols. A HEPA filter should be high efficiency, low-pressure drop, high dust-holding capacity (DHC), lightweight, and strong for use in aircraft. We conducted an experimental study on 23 HEPA filters with glass fiber media that are used in different commercial airliner models. The tested filters had a median filtration efficiency of >99.97% for particles with a diameter of 0.3-0.5 µm, a pressure drop of 134-412 Pa at rated airflow rate, and a DHC of 32.2-37.0 g/m2 . The use of nanofiber media instead of glass fiber media can reduce the pressure drop by 66.4%-94.3% and significantly increase the quality factor by analysis of literature data. The disadvantages of poor fire resistance and small DHC can be overcome by the use of flame-retardant polymers and fiber structural design. As a new lightweight and environmentally friendly filter material, nanofiber media could be used as air filters in ECS in the future.
Keywords
Full text:
Available
Collection:
International databases
Database:
MEDLINE
Main subject:
Air Pollution, Indoor
/
Air Filters
/
COVID-19
Limits:
Humans
Language:
English
Journal:
Indoor Air
Journal subject:
Environmental Health
Year:
2022
Document Type:
Article
Affiliation country:
Ina.13103
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