www.PDHcenter.com PDH Course M143 www.PDHonline.

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personnel. Incorrect handling and installation is often the cause of leakage in new filters. The filter

housing must be compatible with the filter assembly.

Supplementary means such as ‘ultraviolet germicidal irradiation’ (UVGI) can be used to

supplement HEPA and ULPA air filters. However, the application of UVGI is somewhat limited

due to dust accumulation and a gradual loss of capacity with age. UVGI alone should not be

substituted for HEPA filters in ducts that discharge air from isolation rooms into general

ventilation.

Gas phase filtration such as activated carbon often in conjunction with alumna impregnated with

potassium permanganate chemical filters should be employed where called for to assure removal

of odor, hazardous & corrosive gases, occupant safety and to protect vital process equipment.

Filter Effectiveness
The ability of a filter to remove particles from the air is reflected by its efficiency rating. The

American Society of Heating, Refrigerating, and Air Conditioning Engineers (ASHRAE) has

developed a standard for measuring filter effectiveness. The standard describes test procedures

to classify filters in terms of arrestance and efficiency. Two terms are commonly used.

• Arrestance is the amount of dust removed by the filter, usually represented as a

percentage. Since large particles make up most of the weight in an air sample, a filter

could remove a fairly high percentage of those particles while having no effect on the

numerous small particles in the sample. Thus, filters with an arrestance of 90 percent

have little application in clean rooms.

• Efficiency measures the ability of the filter to remove the fine particles. ASHRAE

efficiencies of between 10 percent and 40 percent should remove 20 percent to 40

percent of the 1-micron particles in the air, but hardly any of the 0.3 to 0.5-micron

particles. ASHRAE efficiencies of 80 percent to 95 percent can remove 50 percent to 70

percent of the 0.3-micron particles.

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