Strict demands are put on HEPA terminal filters but the need to meet energy targets is also important. Dr Michael Osborne, Dr Lothar Gail, Peter Ruiter and Hugo Hemel describe the use of a membrane air filtration technology that makes energy savings and reduces process risks.
Emerging legislation and directives, as well as steadily rising energy prices, are enforcing an increased focus on reducing energy consumption. For critical applications that work in cleanroom environments this has resulted in an enhanced focus on more energy efficient cleanroom HVAC solutions.
Existing studies estimate that, on average, supply air fans and exhaust air fans can easily account for 25–30% of the overall energy consumption in a cleanroom. Installing air filters with a low pressure drop can contribute to reducing this percentage.
Comparative test results of HEPA filters in efficiency class H14 to EN1822-1:2009 demonstrate that ePTFE membrane media features a significantly lower pressure drop than traditional wet laid media (produced using a process similar to papermaking), adding up to 50%, depending on the exact conditions.
At the same time, the overall filtration efficiency for ePTFE membrane media has proved to be higher than for wet laid media with a Most Penetrating Particle Size (MPPS) typically between 0.06µm and 0.08µm (versus 0.10–0.25µm for wet laid media).
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