The National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) has undertaken a long-term performance test of heating, ventilation, and air-conditioning (HVAC) system filters. This testing is being conducted at the NIOSH facility in Morgantown, WV in an air handling unit (AHU) that services the animal quarters. The six-pocket bag filters in this AHU have been replaced with higher efficiency mini-pleat V-Bank filters and have been monitored monthly for filtration efficiency. This study required the development of a method to determine the actual HVAC filtration efficiency using optical particle counters (OPCs) while the system was in operation. OPCs were used to collect particle counts in 15 different particle size ranges from 0.30-0.40 m to >20 m. Instruments are placed upstream and downstream of the filter bank and data were collected over several days. Filtration efficiency was determined for submicron to supermicron particles averaged over the sampling period.
Real-time HVAC filter efficiency testing using optical particle counters
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Year:
2002
Bibliographic info:
Proceedings of Indoor Air 2002 (9th International Conference on Indoor Air Quality and Climate) - June 30 - July 5, 2002 - Monterey, California - vol 1, pp , figs, refs