Clean Air Solutions: October 2021

Wednesday, October 27, 2021

Press Release: Camfil Announces Groundbreaking for New Jonesboro Manufacturing Facility

JONESBORO, Ark., October 27, 2021— Camfil Air Pollution Control (APC), manufacturer of industrial dust, fume and mist collection systems for industrial processes, announces the groundbreaking for its new manufacturing and office facility. The event will take place at Craighead Technical Park in Jonesboro on November 4, 2021, beginning at 11:00 a.m. central time. Camfil plans to invest more than $37 million in the facility, which will add about 67 new jobs within five years to an existing workforce of 237 people. Camfil Announces Groundbreaking for New Jonesboro Manufacturing Facility

“We extend our most sincere thanks to everyone who has supported our plans to develop this new facility,” said Armando Brunetti, President of Camfil Americas. “The people of Jonesboro have been key to the success of Camfil APC, and we are honored to continue to thrive here and to contribute to local economic growth.”

Camfil APC has been headquartered in Jonesboro for more than 20 years. In early 2020, the company was already planning to develop a new manufacturing site when a tornado destroyed their facility. Since then, Camfil has been operating out of three separate leased locations throughout the city. The new 290,000-square-foot facility will occupy 34 acres and is scheduled to open in Fall 2022. In addition to space for manufacturing industrial dust collectors and filter cartridges, the facility will also house sales offices, warehousing and shipping.

“This is a company that was already enjoying a momentum in business even before recent events led to an increased awareness in clean air safety,” said Gov. Asa Hutchinson. “We are fortunate to have such a value-added company here in Arkansas that invests in its customers, its employees and its community.”

“Camfil has been a strong community partner for two decades, and we are excited to be a part of their success as they continue to grow with innovative products and services that make us all breathe a little easier,” said Secretary of Commerce Mike Preston. “I am looking forward to working with them in the future as they complete this new expansion.”

“Camfil’s dedication to its employees and the City of Jonesboro are on full display today,” said Mark Young, President of Jonesboro Unlimited. “The reinvestment Camfil is making in a new facility and the hiring of additional employees in Jonesboro speaks volumes to the relationships they have built here and their continued commitment to our city.”

For more information about Camfil APC call 1-800-479-6801 or 1-870-933-8048, email filterman@camfil.com, or visit www.camfilapc.com.

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About Camfil

Camfil APC is an industry leading global manufacturer of dust, fume and mist collection equipment for challenging industrial applications, with production facilities around the world including the Americas, Europe and Southeast Asia. It specializes in filtration systems that keep air clean and safe in manufacturing and processing facilities. The company’s flagship product is the Gold Series X-Flo (GSX) dust collection system that handles all types of toxic and combustible dusts and fumes, including fine, fibrous and heavy dust loads.

Camfil APC is a part of Camfil, headquartered in Stockholm, Sweden, and has 30 manufacturing sites, six R&D centers, local sales offices in 30 countries, and 4,800 employees and growing. For more than half a century, Camfil has been helping people breathe cleaner air. As a leading manufacturer of premium clean air solutions, it provides commercial and industrial systems for air filtration and air pollution control that improve worker and equipment productivity, minimize energy use, and benefit human health and the environment.

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The company firmly believes that the best solutions for its customers are the best solutions for the planet, too. That’s why every step of the way – from design to delivery and across the product life cycle – it considers the impact of what it does on people and on the world. Through a fresh approach to problem-solving, innovative design, precise process control and a strong customer focus, Camfil aims to conserve more, use less and find better ways – so we can all breathe easier.

For information or to contact a local representative, call 1-800-479-6801 or 1-870-933-8048; email filterman@camfil.com; or visit www.camfilapc.com.

Media Contacts

Veronica Heatherly Camfil APC 1-501-507-8526 veronica.heatherly@camfil.com

Lisa Goetz Schubert b2b 1-610-269-2100 x244 lgoetz@schubertb2b.com

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Thursday, October 21, 2021

How to Calculate Air Changes Per Hour

In this article, air filtration experts from Camfil explain the importance of air ventilation within a room and how to calculate air changes per hour (ACH).

What Does Air Changes Per Hour (ACH) Mean in Air Filtration?

Air changes per hour, which is often abbreviated as ACH, is a calculation of how many times per hour the entire volume of air in a given space is replaced with supply and/or recirculated air. It is also sometimes referred to as “air change rate” or “air exchange rate.”

Why Do You Need to Calculate ACH?

Air changes per hour are important in determining if a space is getting adequate ventilation. Additionally, if you have chosen to implement air purifiers to improve air quality and lower the risk of COVID-19, ACH will help you determine which devices are appropriate for your application, as well as how many you need.

Ventilation is important for the indoor air quality (IAQ) inside a building. Improper ventilation can lead to a buildup of pollutants in indoor spaces, which is detrimental to the health of building inhabitants. According to the EPA (1), negative health effects of poor indoor air quality include:

Irritation of the eyes, nose, and throat.
Headaches, dizziness, and fatigue.
Respiratory diseases, heart disease, and cancer.

Polluted air also leads to moodiness and decreased productivity for employees and reduced learning for students in school.

Additionally, the EPA asserts that increasing ventilation is an important strategy for decreasing the spread of COVID-19 in public spaces (2).

What Is the Formula for Calculating Air Changes per Hour?

To calculate air changes per hour, you will need to find two numbers.

CFM – First, the volume of air in CFM (cubic feet per minute) currently delivered to the room in question by the building’s air handling unit or when evaluating an air purifier, the CFM of the unit with the air filters installed.

ROOM VOLUME – Secondly, you will need to find the volume of the room in cubic feet, which is calculated by finding the height, length, and width of the room in feet and multiplying these numbers together.

From there, the calculation to find air changes per hour is simple:

Multiply the CFM by 60. This number will tell you how many cubic feet of air your device moves per hour.
Divide the number you get by the room’s volume in cubic feet. You now have a number telling you how many times per hour the device moves the total volume of the room. This number is your air changes per hour, or ACH.

ACH Example Calculation

Let’s look at an example of this calculation in action.

For this example, we’ll be calculating how many air changes per hour a premium air purifier can deliver in a classroom.

An average U.S. elementary school classroom is recommended to be a minimum 900 square feet (2). In New Jersey, classrooms must have an average ceiling height of 9.5 feet (3). The volume of a classroom with these dimensions would be 8550 cubic feet.

Camfil’s City M air purifier circulates air through its certified HEPA filters at 256 CFM.

Therefore, ACH would be calculated as follows:

The City M air purifier would deliver an additional 1.8 air changes per hour to a classroom with these dimensions.

ASHRAE recommends six air changes per hour for classrooms. Measuring the actual ACH delivered by the building’s HVAC system to individual classrooms may require an HVAC professional with airflow measurement equipment. Once you have that figure, it is a simple calculation to determine how many air purifiers are required to make up the difference and achieve the recommended ACH for the classroom.

For guidance in determining the correct air filtration solutions for your situation, contact your local Camfil representative.

About Camfil Clean Air Solutions

For more than half a century, Camfil has been helping people breathe cleaner air. As a leading manufacturer of premium clean air solutions, we provide commercial and industrial systems for air filtration and air pollution control that improve worker and equipment productivity, minimize energy use, and benefit human health and the environment. We firmly believe that the best solutions for our customers are the best solutions for our planet, too. That’s why every step of the way – from design to delivery and across the product life cycle – we consider the impact of what we do on people and on the world around us. Through a fresh approach to problem-solving, innovative design, precise process control, and a strong customer focus we aim to conserve more, use less and find better ways – so we can all breathe easier.

The Camfil Group is headquartered in Stockholm, Sweden, and has 33 manufacturing sites, six R&D centers, local sales offices in 30 countries, and about 4,800 employees and growing. We proudly serve and support customers in a wide variety of industries and in communities across the world. To discover how Camfil can help you to protect people, processes and the environment, visit us at www.camfil.com/en-us/.

Sources:

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Thursday, October 14, 2021

What Are MERV Ratings? MERV vs MERV-A Filter Efficiency Ratings Explained

In the last year, the term “MERV-13” has been circulating in the news and on the Internet as a result of several widely recognized organizations, such as The CDC, OSHA and ASHRAE recommending MERV-13 air filters as the minimum filter efficiency. Some local jurisdictions have even required MERV-13 rated air filters to prevent the spread of COVID-19 in public buildings, such as shopping malls, schools, and office buildings.

In this article, Camfil’s air filtration experts explain what air filter MERV ratings mean.

MERV Ratings Explained

MERV is an acronym for minimum efficiency reporting value. The MERV rating and testing standard was first designed by the American Society of Heating, Refrigeration, and Air Conditioning Engineers (ASHRAE) in 1999 and is updated periodically, the last being in 2017. . . The MERV value represents the particle capture efficiency of a filter at specific size ranges.

The higher a filter’s MERV value, the better that filter is at capturing smaller particles.

To calculate a filter’s MERV value, test dirt with specific sized dirt particles are drawn through a test duct onto a filter. The particles are divided into three broad size ranges known as E1, E2 and E3. How efficient the filter is against all three size ranges is compared against a MERV chart and the final MERV value is the highest value where the filter meets all three requirements of MERV.

For example, in order to achieve a MERV 13 value, the tested filter must be at least 50% efficient on dirt particles in the E1 range, at least 85% on E2 range and at least 90% on E3.

For publicly accessible buildings, air filters with a value less than MERV 7 should not be considered.

Is a Higher MERV Rating Always Better?

What is the Difference Between MERV and MERV-A?

. While the MERV 13 recommendations and mandates by various organizations have certainly brought the term MERV into the limelight, there is a critical component of MERV that is not being discussed nearly enough.

Air filters can be produced with an electrostatic charge which acts much like a magnet and temporarily increases the particle capture efficiency on the three size ranges. This results in a higher MERV value assigned to the filter. However, as the filter begins to load with dirt, the charge can no longer attract particles and the MERV value drops.

A MERV-13 filter, for example, can drop to a particle capture efficiency equivalent to that of a MERV-8 filter within a short period of time, leaving people and equipment less protected than had the filter remained as a MERV 13.

ASHRAE’s testing standards specify an optional testing method for determining filter efficiency without electrostatic charge. The values determined from this test are MERV-A values. An easy way to remember the distinction between MERV and MERV-A is to think of the “A” as standing for “actual,” so a filter’s MERV-A rating represents its “actual” efficiency.

What MERV Rating Do I Need for COVID-19?

Some areas have recommended a MERV-13 filter for a building’s HVAC system as a minimum standard to reduce the risk of building inhabitants from COVID-19. Where possible, buildings should choose filters rated MERV-13A for long-lasting risk mitigation against the respiratory particles that spread the COVID-19 virus.

However, constraints such as the HVAC system’s filter capacity may make it impossible to implement MERV-13A rated filters. In this case, choose the highest MERV-A rated filter that your HVAC system can accommodate. For example, Camfil’s 30/30 Dual 9 panel filter is a MERV 9/9A guaranteed to maintain its rated efficiency for the duration of its service life which is 9 to 12 months. In addition to being the longest lasting panel filter on the market, the Dual 9 is available in filter depths of 1-inch, 2-inches, and 4-inches, making it an appropriate choice for most commercial HVAC systems.

Buildings may also choose to supplement their HVAC system’s filtration with an in-room air purifying unit, such as the City M by Camfil, which delivers 99.995% HEPA level filtration and moves air at a volume of 256 cubic feet per minute.

About Camfil Clean Air Solutions

The Camfil Group is headquartered in Stockholm, Sweden, and has 33 manufacturing sites, six R&D centers, local sales offices in 30 countries, and about 4,800 employees and growing. We proudly serve and support customers in a wide variety of industries and in communities across the world. To discover how Camfil Canada can help you to protect people, processes and the environment, visit us at www.camfil.com/en-us/.

Sources:

https://www.epa.gov/indoor-air-quality-iaq/what-merv-rating-1

https://www.ashrae.org/File%20Library/Technical%20Resources/Technical%20FAQs/TC-02.04-FAQ-112.pdf

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Wednesday, October 6, 2021

Indoor Air Pollution Environmental Risks

New resource by air filtration industry leaders from Camfil US explains the growing health threat of indoor air pollution and how to improve indoor air quality.

Indoor Air Pollution is Among the Top Five Environmental Risks and One of the Greatest Risks to Human Health, According to the EPA — Air Filtration Experts from Camfil Weigh in on Solutions

Riverdale, NJ — In 2021, it is common knowledge indoor and outdoor air pollution pose significant risks to human health. A growing body of scientific literature however shows the threat of indoor air pollution may be worse than originally believed.

In a new educational resource by Camfil US, air filtration experts explain the scope of the threat in simple terms and describe the process of finding the right high efficiency air filter for your facility. Camfil is a global leader in air filtration manufacturing and engineering, having made significant technological contributions and innovations to air filtration in the healthcare sector during the ongoing global crisis.

Camfil’s Manager of Marketing and Technical Materials, Mark Davidson, explains that high levels of indoor air pollution are linked to symptoms such as respiratory tract irritation, congestion, fatigue, headaches, coughing, sneezing, dizziness, and nausea, as well as worsening and sometimes triggering the onset of respiratory conditions such as asthma.

“Air quality monitoring technology has come a long, long way in the last few years,” says Mr. Davidson, “With improved technology, researchers are finding pollutants like formaldehyde, asbestos, radon, and even pesticides in higher levels than ever before. What this suggests is that the real threat of IAQ (indoor air quality) might be worse than we thought.”

Experts from Camfil provide advice on the following topics:

What the EPA has learned about the threat of indoor air pollution in recent years.
The truth about commercial and residential air filtration.
Health threats associated with indoor air pollution.
The impact of poor indoor air quality on school children.
The differences between fiberglass furnace filters and pleated air filters.
Tips for determining the right air filtration solution for your commercial facility or residential building.

Read Camfil’s full article for more information about reducing the threat of indoor air pollution with high-efficiency air filtration.

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