Blog Tag: positive pressure

Intel is investing $20 Billion dollars to build two state-of-the-art Micro Chip manufacturing plants in Albany, Ohio. Chip manufacturing is done in Class 10 and Class 100 clean room facilities which are constantly being cleaned by HEPA filters with the rooms being under positive air pressure.

Chips are comprised of multiple layers and then assembled together. These layers are highly sensitive to any airborne particulate, even in the sub-micron level, as the dust particle will destroy the chips function and short it out when in use. The types of HEPA filters used in the manufacturing and assembly areas are normally comprised of a series of HEPA’s in banks. They use HEPA, ULPA and SULPA HEPA filters that will remove 99.9999% of all particles 0.12 microns and smaller. As as comparison, the Human hair is about 100 microns in diameter.

Pure Air Systems has been providing commercial grade, fan powered, scanned HEPA filters ( 99.99% at 0.3 microns) since 1985. Many of these systems have been and are being used in smaller micro chip operations, medical facilities, hospitals, military and institutional plants. The PAS systems range from 50 CFM up to 2000 CFM and can include Carbon media along with a Prefilter.

For more information on the complete line of HEPA systems please go to our website at:  http://www.pureairsystems.com    or call us on our tool-free number at: 800-869-8025.

Creating a room that meets the criteria considered class 1000 ( maximum of 1000 particles per cubic foot at 0.3 microns) usually requires special construction and an air handler system that includes HEPA filters and a motor/blower system capable of moving 2,000 CFM or higher of filtered air in a positive pressure environment. This design is both expensive and takes a fair amount of time to construct.

Using one of the larger HEPA Shield systems, made by Pure Air Systems, would provide a system that could be easily convert any room into a clean room or temporary surgery suite. The 2000HS unit comes with a 1HP programmable, variable speed drive motor, prefilter, carbon media filter and true, commercial grade 99.99% scanned HEPA Filter. The 2,000 CFM unit can be placed in the ceiling area or along the top of a wall attached to sections of sheet metal ductwork with diffusers located in various parts of the ceiling area. When the unit is operational it will be pushing 2,000 CFM of filtered air into the enclosed space. This will pressurize the room so that when a door is opened into the room the air will move out of the room creating a positive pressure seal of sorts. In this way no airborne contaminants are allowed to enter the room. 

This concept has been used in third world countries where almost any building can be turned into a quasi-clean room or semi-surgery suite for under $3,000.00. In addition, all of the filtration systems from Pure Air Systems are rated at 120/240Volt 50.60Hz.making them suited for any location anywhere in the world.

For more information on the complete line of HEPA and Carbon based air filtration systems, please go to our website at:  http://www.pureairsystems.com  or call us on our toll-free number at: 800-869-8025.

With all the concern about Ebola one must remember the reason that Ebola, like many other dangerous pathogens, is a virus and in terms of size it is very, very tiny. Less than .012 microns in size. It requires the most efficient HEPA type filters to trap these tiny microorganisms, usually requiring a SULPA filter ( Super Ultra Low Penetrating Absolute ) HEPA filter.  This is one of the main reasons for concern when treating or being near someone who has the virus. It is easily dispersed and so tiny that many of the normal preventative gowns, masks and gloves may not be sufficient to protect everyone from coming in contact with the virus.

The use of HEPA filters for clean rooms and chip manufacturers has been around for years and hospitals require them for their surgery rooms and isolation patient care rooms. In the field, however, it is very difficult to establish truly isolated rooms or areas where those  infected with the disease can be effectively isolated from health care workers.

Pure Air Systems has been manufacturing HEPA based, fan powered  air filtration systems since 1985 and over the years more of their larger HEPA units have been shipped to the third world countries to establish some form of controlled isolation rooms and facilities to at  least try to  maintain some form of sterile  environment for treating the sick.

Now the military is establishing small isolation “tent style” portable facilities in Liberia and other near by locations to attempt  to isolate those infected with Ebola to both treat and contain the spread of the virus. These tents use HEPA filtered air and try to mimic the same type of isolation room style used in the US hospital facilities. Difficult to do but better than the alternative.

We need to remember that the most harmful of viruses and bacteria can not be seen with the naked eye so we tend to forget that being around people that are sick or infected can be problematic especially for those  individuals with weakened immune systems. Exposure doesn’t always have to be physical, it can very often be airborne so just being in the same general area with those infected can be an issue.

Pure Air Systems sells a wide variety of HEPA filtration systems ranging from 50 CFM to 2000 CFM using variable speed  controllers to allow for finite volume control to fit the specific application. While all the systems are designed as commercial units they are used by home owners and the general public on a regular basis. PAS is considered a leader in the field of HEPA  filtration and learning more about their  systems and capabilities can be a healthy choice.

For more information on the complete line of  HEPA systems please go to our website at: https://www.pureairsystems.com or call us on our toll-free number at: 800-869-8025.

MRSA or Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus is a bacterium responsible for several difficult-to-treat infections in humans. It is also call mutlidrug resistant Staphylococcus aureus and oxacillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus.

One of the big challenges in treating this type of infection is the growing concern that the existing antibiotics now used to treat MRSA are no longer effective and once the MRSA infection sets in it is often a losing battle to keep the infection from spreading. This issue is now a major reason for new procedures regarding sterilization of all surfaces in hospitals and clinics.

Post-operative infections affect over 5% of the people that enter hospitals for surgery or wound treatments costing hospitals and health insurance companies hundreds of millions of dollars each year. Many of these patients require extensive treatments and often succumb  to the MRSA infections. Hospitals, Clinics, nursing homes and other health care related facilities are all taking special precautions to minimize the possibility of infections recognizing how quickly these types of bacteria can spread by contact.

Pure Air Systems, has been manufacturing commercial grade HEPA air filtration systems since 1985 and has extensive experience in placing its HEPA systems in various types of medical facilities including hospitals, clinics, oncology wards, isolation ( both positive and negative pressure) rooms, pharmaceutical manufacturing and portable surgery suites (both US and overseas). With systems ranging in capacity from 50 CFM to 2,000 CFM and the use of the new variable speed ECM digitally controlled motors, the PAS HEPA units meet and/or exceed the optimum performance requirements to remove or reduce the number of sub-micron airborne particles at a minimum efficiency of 99.99% at 0.3 microns or larger. With efficiency approaching 97% below 0.3 microns.

Over the past 10 years a number of air filter technologies have been tried to compete with HEPA systems in the removal of harmful airborne contaminants. Ozone generators, electronic air cleaners and specially treated filter medias have been used in-lieu of HEPA systems due to their much lower costs and size. However, after many trials of these alternate systems it has been determined that none of these other systems even comes close to the removal efficiency of the HEPA systems, not to mention that these alternate units could only operate in the 50 CFM to 250 CFM range.

HEPA medias are more expensive and require more powerful fan motors to pull the air through the HEPA filters. But is their air restrictive density that allow for the capture of sub-micron particulate and this design feature differentiates the use of HEPA with all other types of air filtration systems and products. Few companies have the know-how to design systems that get the most out HEPA filters and even fewer have systems that can move in excess of 2,000  CFM through these HEPA filters.

The thousands of installations of HEPA units in the past 28 years has provide PAS with the knowledge and experience to properly apply this technology in applications ranging from odor control in police stations to providing clean -room environments for sensitive testing equipment and everything in between.

For more information on the unique HEPA and Carbon based air filtration systems offered by PAS, please go to our website at: www.pureairsystems.com or follow us on Twitter @pureairsystems. If you want to contact us directly you can reach us on our toll-free number at: 800-869-8025.

For most people the word hospital conjures up a feeling of safety, help, relief, life saving and comfort. The doctors and nurses are highly trained and skilled at providing medical treatment for any type of physical trauma, disease or malady. The operating rooms are filled with  the most advanced diagnostic and surgical equipment money can buy. The rooms are all under positive pressure using 100% HEPA filtered air to eliminate the possibility of infection. During the operation you are protected by this very sterile environment. However, once you leave the operating room everything changes.

Depending upon which source you use, post operative infections account for over 100,000 deaths in the US every year. This does not include the number of patients  affected that have to return to the hospital or require follow-up treatment to deal with infections incurred while being treated in the hospital. And there is a good reason to be concerned. Treating some of the infections has been challenged by bacteria that have become resistant to all the standard antibiotics. But there is one way to minimize the expensive and devastating consequences of post operative infections.

As noted in the beginning of this blog the operating rooms utilize HEPA filters to eliminate the possibility of any airborne pathogens that may pose a potential risk for infection. Often some recovery rooms for patients the have received bone marrow transplants or have a weakened immune system due to a specific treatment, use HEPA filtered air in the rooms and these rooms, like operating rooms, are pressurized.

Pure Air Systems has been manufacturing HEPA and Carbon based, commercial grade air filtration systems since 1985. They use only certified, scanned HEPA filters in their heavy duty, all steel housed systems. The PAS units also incorporate the ECM style variable speed motors that are rated 120/240 volt, 50/60 Hz motors. These motors not only use less electricity but can be digitally controlled for best air flow to match required filtration performance.

The PAS HEPA systems are used in many commercial applications and a large number are utilized by hospitals, clinics and medical facilities in the U.S. and around the world. These compact, high volume units can both pressurize and provide 100% HEPA filtered air in medium sized operating rooms as well as isolation rooms and individual patient rooms. For medical facilities requiring a cost effective method for minimizing or eliminating infections in their facilities, the PAS units offer superior performance at a cost that is considerably less than the cost of treating patients with severe infections.

Today, over 60% of the PAS HEPA systems are used in the residential and light commercial markets. For patients returning home from long hospital stays using one of the various central HEPA systems by PAS can be of significant value. Also, PAS makes a unique, high volume portable HEPA unit that can be used effectively in any single room application. In either case, these HEPA systems can make the difference between a significant recovery or continued treatment for infection.

For more information on the complete line of HEPA and Carbon based filtration systems please go to our website at: www.pureairsystems.com . Or you can reach us on Twitter: @pureairsystems. Call us during normal business hours on our toll-free number. 800-869-8025.

Positive and Negative. Two words that are often used to indicate how someone feels about a certain issue or to describe the particular temperament of an individual as in “he is always so negative.” These two words are also used in the math world to indicate whether a particular number is positive or negative. But, for the purposes of this blog, we will use these two words to discuss the physical relationship of positive and negative pressures as they relate to heating/cooling systems and mechanical air filters .

When people think about air filters they normally associate them with the one they have in their heating/cooling ( HVAC) system. They need to be replaced about every 3 months or so as they get dirty and can create some air flow problems in the HVAC system. Most people are unaware of the fact that air flow through the HVAC system is affected by a number of variables.

In order to move air through an HVAC system requires a motor powered fan system. The size of the motor, in horsepower, is dependent upon the size of the system. For the most part, there are four sizes; 1/3,  1/2, 3/4 and 1 HP. The fan/motor assembly has to have enough power to move hot or cold air ( and cold air is heavier so it requires more power to move the same amount of air ) through a series of supply and return air ducts and grills as well as through the HVAC filter. Most motors are now multi-speed or ECM digitally controlled motors that automatically adjust speed to fit the air temperature and pre-determined comfort levels for the home.

The fan/motor assemblies have to both pull the air from the return air ductwork, pull the air through the air filter and push the air through the burner or condensing coil and supply side ductwork. The pressure to do this is measured in inches of water. For example, a 1200 CFM 3 ton HVAC system would use a 1/2 HP motor and the total system static, less the air filter, would be .5 ” to .7″ of water. This total pressure does not include the use of a standard, throw-away fiberglass furnace filter. The pressure drop or resistance across a minimum duty filter clean is about .2″. For some of the more dense media filters like the 3M Filtrete filters the clean pressure drop can be as high as .4″ to .5″. Even clean these filters already have almost as much negative pressure as the entire HVAC system.

Once these filters or any air filter gets dirty the pressure drop across some filters can reach 1.0″. This means the motor/fan assembly will not be able to pull and/or push enough air through the HVAC unit to adequately heat or cool the home. As the pressure drop increases, unless you add more horsepower, the motor/fan assembly will actually slow down. This is why it is so important to understand the relationship between pressure ( positive and negative ) as it relates to the overall effectiveness of the HVAC unit.

For more information on understanding the adverse affects of filters on air moving devices please go to the “Pure Air University” tab of the following web site. www.pureairsystems.com

You always hear about the eternal optimist that says you can always turn a negative into a positive if you just rethink the problem. All too often we have something happen in our lives that creates a negative feeling or puts us in a negative mood. But these negative thoughts are a waste of energy. Instead of dwelling on what could go wrong or did go wrong, look at all the positive things in you life and don’t waste energy worrying about the negative aspects of the issue.

The title of this blog relates to turning two negatives into a positive and while your life  maybe filled with multiple negative thoughts the two negatives I am referring to relate to negative pressure of the physics kind.

Pure Air Systems has been making HEPA and Carbon based, fan powered, commercial grade air filtration systems since 1985. The use of certified, commercial grade HEPA filters creates a design issue in how you incorporate the motor/blower assembly and HEPA filter to obtain maximum performance with minimal noise and air turbulence.

HEPA filters, by their nature, have a relatively high resistance to air flow due to the extremely dense HEPA paper that is used in the fabrication of the filter. When moving air through a fan/motor assembly with a HEPA filter in line you have two options. You can put the fan in front of the HEPA and blow air through the HEPA filter keeping the fan/motor assembly in the dirty air stream or place the HEPA in front of the fan/motor assembly.

Since the resistance to moving air across the HEPA is so high ( over 1.0 inches as measured in water column) pushing the air through the HEPA filter creates an air buffeting affect and requires more horsepower to push the air through the filter. By placing the fan/motor assembly on the clean air side or “negative” side of the HEPA you get a very smooth flow of air, little or no buffeting and a reduction in horsepower requirements.

The HEPA systems manufactured by Pure Air Systems also incorporate a carbon media filter and a polyester, dual layer ring panel roughing filter. All of these filters are placed ahead of the fan/motor assembly. So they are all on the negative side of the blower and offer the same benefit of having a smooth, non-buffeting air flow across their surface areas and keep the blower and motor clean. So in essence, you are turning three negatives into a positive.

Many other companies that utilize HEPA filters in their systems place their blower/motor assembly ahead of the HEPA and this creates more noise fills up the HEPA filter faster as it tends to push the dirt into the HEPA paper rather than pull the dirt through, which is a more efficient way of using the HEPA filter.

For more information on this aspect of the HEPA systems made by Pure Air Systems please go to our website at: www.pureairsystems.com

In the health care, micro-electronics, micro-chip manufacturing, optics, food processing and other environmentally sensitive applications, the need for high end air filtration or HEPA filtration is high.For example, all hospital and out-patient surgery suites require 100% HEPA filtered air all the time whenever a patient is in surgery.

However, did you know that not only does the surgery room require HEPA filtration but it must operated under a negative pressure system?

The concept of negative and positive air pressure as a means to control an enclosed environment has been around for a long time. While we don’t always notice it, we all see this working on a day-to-day basis in the everyday world.

Remember the last time you opened the door to an office building and you had to pull real hard to get the door to open. Or, just the opposite. You opened the door to a building and when it opened up it blew your hair back. The first example is negative pressure, the second positive pressure.

A building or any enclosed room or structure can become negative when the air handling (heating/cooling) system has a design flaw where more return air is being pulled to the air handler than supply air.

This can happen mechanically for a number of reasons but suffice it to say that when this in-balance of air occurs any opening, crack, or communication point in the structure will draw in air, dust, dirt and any small airborne particulate from the outside or an adjoining space.

The opposite in-balance can also occur where there is more supply air than return air creating a positive pressure environment. In this case the room or enclosure maintains a much cleaner environment since the positive pressure prevents any outside contaminants from entering the room.

For applications such as surgery rooms and micro-chip manufacturing, the rooms must not only be HEPA filtered but be under constant positive pressure.

When a patient is in surgery and the body cavity is open the possibility for infection from any airborne pathogen is extreme. Even with all the air being HEPA filtered, if the room itself was not under positive pressure the ability for small, sub-micron contaminants to enter the room is great.

Micro-chip manufacturing has a similar problem. The micro-chips are actually layers upon layers of silica and if even a tiny, sub-micron particle falls in between the layers, the chip is ruined. Again, positive pressure is required in this application.

In applications where a harmful contaminants, highly infectious bacteria and viruses or harmful gases are present, negative pressure systems are applied to keep the contaminants from leaving the room or enclosed area.

Pure Air Systems HEPA filtration units are powerful and can be used to make a room negative or positive by themselves. They can also be used in conjunction with any HVAC system to accomplish this goal. The ability to both provide HEPA filtered air and produce the desired pressure in the room for the specific application make these systems unique in the market place today.

For more information on positive and negative pressure and the overall capabilities of the HEPA systems go to: www.pureairsystems.com