An air purifier is device that can remove pollutants or contaminants that are present in the air. Home air purifiers are very benificial to those people suffering from allergy or asthma. Home air purifiers also eliminates second-hand tobacco smoke. Commercial air purifiers are built as small stand-alone unit or as a unit that can be installed to an air handler or HVAC. This configuration is commonly found in industrial, medical and commercial industries. Depending on the technology used in an air purifier, they can remove dust, pollen, pet dander, mold spores, dust mite feces which can act as allergens, smoke particles and volatile organic compounds (VOCs). More advance air purifiers are capable of capturing a larger number of bacterial, virus, and DNA damaging substances. Air purifiers use a small amount of electrical energy and the return is even greater because air purification can reduce the incidence of some forms and cancer, respiratory and pulmonary illness.
Air Purifier Technologies and Methods
There are many air purification technologies that are used in air purifiers today. They range from simple filtration using activated carbon to the more advanced hepa air purifiers. There are also air purifiers which generate ions as in the case of ionic air purifier or ionizer air purifier. There are also air purifiers which generate ozone that aids in removing smoke odors and musty smells inside a room.
Ultraviolet Germicidal Irradiation - UVCGI is used to sterilize the air passing through the beam of a UV light. It uses a fan to force the air to be sterilized past a UV light beam. There are UVCGI systems that provides an additional filter to remove the dead micro-organisms.
Filter-Based Purification - this system traps air borne particulates or micro-organisms by size exclusion. Air is forced to pass through a filter and the particles are captured by the filter. Hea Air Purifiers can remove 99.97% of 0.3 micrometer particles. HEPA air purifiers are also very effective in filtering particles as small as 0.01 micrometers.
Activated Carbon - this is a porous material that adsorb volatile chemicals on a molecular level but it cannot remove larger particles. Activated carbon is more commonly used with other filter technology. There are other materials that can be used to absorb materials but activated carbon is cheaper and more cost effective.
Photocatalytic Oxidation (PCO) - it is a process in which short-wave ultraviolet light (UVC) and a catalyst is used to oxidize chemical contaminants like Volatile Organic Compounds. PCO also kilss 99.99% of bacteria and viruses, however PCO does not trap or remove particles like dust and other pollutants.
Ionizer Air Purifiers / Ionic air purifier - they generate electrically charged air or ions by using high voltage. the ions would attach themselves to airborne particles that are then attracted to a collector plate which is also electrically charged. They also generate ozone as a byproduct but it is considered harmless since the ozone they generate is less than 0.05 ppm ( considered safe ).
Ozone generators or Ozone Air Purifiers - they produce large amount of ozone to clean the air. the ozone that they generate is used to oxidize a range of chemical contaminants. Ozone generators can remove the smell of smoke, old, stench caused by decaying flesh and other bad smelling odor coming from organic materials. Take note that ozone is poisonous and it should be used with extreme caution.
