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HEPA
High-efficiency particulate air (HEPA),[1] also
known as high-efficiency particulate absorbing and
high-efficiency particulate arrestance,[2] is an
efficiency standard of air filter.[3]

Filters meeting the HEPA standard must satisfy certain

levels of efficiency. Common standards require that a
HEPA air filter must remove—from the air that passes
through—at least 99.95% (European Standard)[4] or
99.97% (ASME, U.S. DOE)[5][6] of particles whose
diameter is equal to 0.3 μm; with the filtration efficiency
increasing for particle diameters both less than and
greater than 0.3 μm.[7]

HEPA was commercialized in the 1950s, and the original

term became a registered trademark and later a generic HEPA filter with functional description
[8]
term for highly efficient filters. HEPA filters are used
in applications that require contamination control, such
as the manufacturing of disk drives, medical devices, semiconductors, nuclear, food and pharmaceutical
products, as well as in hospitals,[9] homes and vehicles.

Contents
Mechanism
Diffusion
Interception
Impaction
Gas filtration
Pre-filter and HEPA filter
Specifications
Marketing
Safety
Applications
Biomedical
Vacuum cleaners
Heating, ventilation, and air conditioning
Vehicles
Airlines
Motor vehicles
History

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See also
References
Footnotes
Sources
External links

Mechanism
HEPA filters are composed of a mat of randomly arranged fibres.[10]
The fibers are typically composed of fiberglass with diameters
between 0.5 and 2.0 micrometers. Key factors affecting its functions
are fiber diameter, filter thickness, and face velocity. The air space
between HEPA filter fibers is typically much greater than 0.3 μm.
Unlike sieves or membrane filters, where particles smaller than
openings or pores can pass through, HEPA filters are designed to
target a range of particle sizes. These particles are trapped (they
stick to a fiber) through a combination of the following three
mechanisms:

Diffusion
An enhancing mechanism that is a result of the collision with The four primary filter collection
gas molecules by the smallest particles, especially those mechanisms: diffusion, interception,
below 0.1 μm in diameter, which are thereby impeded and inertial impaction, and electrostatic
delayed in their path through the filter; this behavior is similar attraction
to Brownian motion and raises the probability that a particle
will be stopped by either interception
or impaction; this mechanism
becomes dominant at lower air flow.

Interception
Particles following a line of flow in the
air stream come within one radius of
a fiber and adhere to it.

Impaction
Larger particles are unable to avoid Classic Collection Efficiency Curve with Filter Collection
fibers by following the curving Mechanisms
contours of the air stream and are
forced to embed in one of them
directly; this effect increases with diminishing fiber separation and higher air flow velocity.

Diffusion predominates below the 0.1 μm diameter particle size, whilst impaction and interception
predominate above 0.4 μm.[11] In between, near the most penetrating particle size (MPPS) 0.21 μm, both
diffusion and interception are comparatively inefficient.[12] Because this is the weakest point in the
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filter's performance, the HEPA specifications use the retention of particles near this size (0.3 μm) to
classify the filter.[11] However it is possible for particles smaller than the MPPS to not have filtering
efficiency greater than that of the MPPS. This is due to the fact that these particles can act as nucleation
sites for mostly condensation and form particles near the MPPS.[12]

Gas filtration

HEPA filters are designed to arrest very fine particles effectively, but they do not filter out gasses and
odor molecules. Circumstances requiring filtration of volatile organic compounds, chemical vapors, or
cigarette, pet or flatulence odors call for the use of an activated carbon (charcoal) or other type of filter
instead of or in addition to a HEPA filter.[13] Carbon cloth filters, claimed to be many times more
efficient than the granular activated carbon form at adsorption of gaseous pollutants, are known as High
Efficiency Gas Adsorption filters (HEGA) and were originally developed by the British military as a
defense against chemical warfare.[14][15]

Pre-filter and HEPA filter

A HEPA bag filter can used in conjunction with a pre-filter (usually carbon-activated) to extend the
usage life of the more expensive HEPA filter.[16] In such setup, the first stage in the filtration process is
made up of a pre-filter which removes most of the larger dust, hair, PM10 and pollen particles from the
air. The second stage high-quality HEPA filter removes the finer particles that escape from the pre-filter.
This is common in air handling units.

Specifications
HEPA filters, as defined by the United States Department of Energy
(DOE) standard adopted by most American industries, remove at
least 99.97% of airborne particles 0.3 micrometers (μm) in diameter.
The filter's minimal resistance to airflow, or pressure drop, is usually
specified around 300 pascals (0.044 psi) at its nominal volumetric
flow rate.[6]

The specification used in the European Union: European Standard

EN 1822-1:2009, defines several classes of HEPA filters by their A portable HEPA filtration unit used
retention at the given most penetrating particle size (MPPS). The to clean air after a fire, or during
averaged efficiency of the filter is called "overall", and the efficiency manufacturing processes
at a specific point is called "local":[17]

Colour after use of a HEPA filter in

an extremely polluted city

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HEPA class Retention (averaged) Retention (spot)

E10 > 85% -
E11 > 95% -
E12 > 99.5% -
H13 > 99.95% > 99.75%
H14 > 99.995% > 99.975%
U15 > 99.9995% > 99.9975%
U16 > 99.99995% > 99.99975%
U17 > 99.999995% > 99.9999%

See also the different classes for air filters for comparison.

Today, a HEPA filter rating is applicable to any highly efficient air filter that can attain the same filter
efficiency performance standards as a minimum and is equivalent to the more recent National Institute
for Occupational Safety and Health N100 rating for respirator filters. The United States Department of
Energy (DOE) has specific requirements for HEPA filters in DOE-regulated applications.

Marketing

Some companies use a marketing term known as "True HEPA" to give consumers assurance that their
air filters meet the HEPA standard, although this term has no legal or scientific meaning.[18] Products
that are marketed to be "HEPA-type," "HEPA-like," "HEPA-style" or "99% HEPA" do not satisfy the
HEPA standard and may not have been tested in independent laboratories. Although such filters may
come reasonably close to HEPA standards, others fall significantly short.[19]

Safety
HEPA filtration works by mechanical means unlike the ionic and ozone filtration which use negative ions
and ozone gas respectively. So, the chances of potential pulmonary side-effects like asthma[20] and
allergies is much lower with HEPA purifiers.[21] To ensure that a HEPA filter is working efficiently, they
should be checked and changed at least every six months in commercial settings. In residential settings,
they can be changed every two to three years. Failing to change a HEPA filter in a timely fashion will
result in it putting stress on the machine or system and not removing particles from the air properly.[22]

Applications

Biomedical

HEPA filters are critical in the prevention of the spread of airborne bacterial and viral organisms and,
therefore, infection. Typically, medical use HEPA filtration systems also incorporate high-energy ultra-
violet light units or panels with anti-microbial coating to kill off the live bacteria and viruses trapped by
the filter media. Some of the best-rated HEPA units have an efficiency rating of 99.995%, which assures
a very high level of protection against airborne disease transmission.

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Vacuum cleaners

Many vacuum cleaners also use HEPA

filters as part of their filtration
systems. This is beneficial for asthma
and allergy sufferers, because the
HEPA filter traps the fine particles
(such as pollen and dust mite feces)
which trigger allergy and asthma
symptoms. For a HEPA filter in a
vacuum cleaner to be effective, the
HEPA original filter for Philips
vacuum cleaner must be designed so
FC87xx-series vacuum cleaners
that all the air drawn into the Hospital staff modelling a
machine is expelled through the filter, powered, air-purifying
with none of the air leaking past it. respirator (PAPR) fitted with a
This is often referred to as "Sealed HEPA" or sometimes the more vague HEPA filter, used to protect
"True HEPA". Vacuum cleaners simply labeled "HEPA" may have a HEPA from airborne or aerosolised
filter, but not all air necessarily passes through it. Finally, vacuum cleaner pathogens such as
filters marketed as "HEPA-like" will typically use a filter of a similar tuberculosis
construction to HEPA, but without the filtering efficiency. Because of the
extra density of a true HEPA filter, HEPA vacuum cleaners require more
powerful motors to provide adequate cleaning power.

Some newer models claim to be better than the earlier ones with the inclusion of "washable" filters.
Generally, washable true HEPA filters are expensive. A high-quality HEPA filter that can trap 99.97% of
dust particles that are 0.3 microns in diameter. For comparison's sake, a human hair is about 50 to 150
microns in diameter. So, a true HEPA filter is effectively trapping particles several hundred time smaller
than the width of a human hair.[23] Some manufacturers claim filter standards such as "HEPA 4,"
without explaining the meaning behind them. This refers to their Minimum Efficiency Reporting Value
(MERV) rating. These ratings are used to rate the ability of an air cleaner filter to remove dust from the
air as it passes through the filter. MERV is a standard used to measure the overall efficiency of a filter.
The MERV scale ranges from 1 to 20, and measures a filter's ability to remove particles from 10 to 0.3
micrometer in size. Filters with higher ratings not only remove more particles from the air, they also
remove smaller particles.

Heating, ventilation, and air conditioning

Heating, ventilation, and air conditioning (HVAC)[24] is the technology of indoor and vehicular
environmental comfort, use air filter for remove polluted outside and inside (smoke, viruses, powders...).
The HEPA filter is very useful in polluted cities for maintaining health.

Vehicles

Airlines

Modern airliners use HEPA filters to reduce the spread of airborne pathogens in recirculated air. Critics
have expressed concern about the effectiveness and state of repair of air filtering systems, since they
think that much of the air in an airplane cabin is recirculated. Almost all of the air in a pressurized
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aircraft is, in fact, brought in from the outside, circulated through

the cabin and then exhausted through outflow valves in the rear of
the aircraft.[25] About 40 percent of the cabin's air goes through a
HEPA filter and the other 60 percent is comes from outside the
plane. Certified air filters block and capture 99.97 percent of
airborne particles.[26]

Motor vehicles

In 2016, it was announced that the Tesla Model X would have the
HEPA filter effect inside home HVAC
world's first HEPA-grade filter.[27] Following the release of the
system: without (OUTdoor) and with
Model X, Tesla has updated the Model S to also have an optional filter (INdoor)
HEPA air filter.[28]

History
The idea behind the development of the HEPA filter was born from gas masks worn by soldiers fighting
in World War II. A piece of paper found inserted into a German gas mask had a remarkably high capture
efficiency for chemical smoke. The British Army Chemical Corps duplicated this and began to
manufacture it in large quantities for their own service gas masks. They needed another solution for
operational headquarters, where individual gas masks were impractical. The Army Chemical Corps
developed a combination mechanical blower and air purifier unit, which incorporated cellulose-asbestos
paper in a deeply-pleated form with spacers between the pleats. It was referred to as an "absolute" air
filter and laid the groundwork for further research to come in developing the HEPA filter.[29]

The next phase of the HEPA filter was designed in the 1940s and was used in the Manhattan Project to
prevent the spread of airborne radioactive contaminants.[30] The US Army Chemical Corps and National
Defense Research Committee needed to develop a filter suitable for removing radioactive materials from
the air. The Army Chemical Corps asked Nobel Laureate Irving Langmuir to recommend filter test
methods and other general recommendations for creating the material to filter out these radioactive
particles. He identified 0.3 micron size particles to be the "most penetrating size" - the most difficult and
concerning.[31]

It was commercialized in the 1950s, and the original term became a registered trademark and later a
generic term for highly efficient filters.[8]

Over the decades filters have evolved to satisfy the higher and higher demands for air quality in various
high technology industries, such as aerospace, pharmaceutical drug processing, hospitals, health care,
nuclear fuels, nuclear power, and integrated circuit fabrication.

See also
Air purifier
Clean air delivery rate
Cleanroom – Room with is used for industrial or research processes that do not tolerate dust
Electrostatic precipitator – trap particles with high voltage
Hypoallergenic vacuum cleaner – vacuum cleaner with high efficiency air filter
Minimum efficiency reporting value – Measurement scale for the effectiveness of air filters (MERV)
Respirator – Device worn to protect the user from inhaling contaminants
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ULPA – Removes 99.999% of dust, pollen, mold, bacteria, and particles larger than 120 nm
(0.12 μm)
Ultraviolet germicidal irradiation – Disinfection method using ultraviolet light

References

Footnotes
1. HEPA Company glossary of terms (https://www.hepa.com/glossary)
2. Originally 'High Efficiency Particulate Arrestment - see thefreedictionary.com (http://www.thefreedictio
nary.com/HEPA)
3. "Efficiency of the HEPA air filter: HEPA filter quality and bypassing" (http://www.air-purifier-power.co
m/hepa-air-filter.html). www.air-purifier-power.com. Retrieved 2019-06-05.
4. European Standard EN 1822-1:2009, "High efficiency air filters (EPA, HEPA and ULPA)", 2009
5. American Society of Mechanical Engineers, ASME AG-1a–2004, "Addenda to ASME AG-1–2003
Code on Nuclear Air and Gas Treatment", 2004
6. Barnette, Sonya. "Specification for HEPA Filters Used by DOE Contractors — DOE Technical
Standards Program" (https://www.standards.doe.gov/standards-documents/3000/3020-astd-2015).
www.standards.doe.gov. Retrieved 2019-06-05.
7. Guidance for Filtration and Air-Cleaning Systems to Protect Building Environments from Airborne
Chemical, Biological, or Radiological Attacks (https://www.cdc.gov/niosh/docs/2003-136/pdfs/2003-1
36.pdf?id=10.26616/NIOSHPUB2003136) (PDF). Cincinnati, OH: National Institute for Occupational
Safety and Health. April 2003. pp. 8–12. doi:10.26616/NIOSHPUB2003136 (https://doi.org/10.2661
6%2FNIOSHPUB2003136). Retrieved February 9, 2020.
8. Gantz, Carroll (2012-09-21). The Vacuum Cleaner: A History (https://books.google.com/books?id=Q
SNfCrpcSCAC&q=HEPA+filter+registered+trademark&pg=PA128). McFarland. p. 128.
ISBN 9780786493210.
9. "About HEPA" (http://hepa.com/about-us-overview). hepa.com. Retrieved 2019-06-05.
10. Gupta (2007). Modern Trends in Planning and Designing of Hospitals: Principles and Practice.
Jaypee Brothers Medical Publishers (P) Ltd. p. 199. ISBN 978-8180619120.
11. Woodford, Chris. "HEPA Filters" (http://www.explainthatstuff.com/hepafilters.html). Explain That Stuff.
Retrieved 30 July 2016.
12. Roza, R. A. (1982-12-01), Particle size for greatest penetration of HEPA filters - and their true
efficiency, California: Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, OSTI 6241348 (https://www.osti.gov/
biblio/6241348), 6241348
13. Khan, Faisal I; Kr. Ghoshal, Aloke (November 2000). "Removal of Volatile Organic Compounds from
polluted air" (http://www.chem.uw.edu.pl/people/AMyslinski/nowy/zarzadzanie_01/literature_HWW/0
2.pdf) (PDF). Journal of Loss Prevention in the Process Industries. 13 (6): 527–545.
doi:10.1016/S0950-4230(00)00007-3 (https://doi.org/10.1016%2FS0950-4230%2800%2900007-3).
Retrieved 30 July 2016.
14. Glover, N. J. (2002). "Countering chemical and biological terrorism". Civil Engineering. 72 (5): 62.
ProQuest 228557557 (https://search.proquest.com/docview/228557557).
15. "Air Purifier Acronyms – Stripping Out The Tech Jargon" (https://www.airenhancing.com/air-purifiers-
acronyms-explained/#HEGA_8211_High-Efficiency_Gas_Assistance_or_High-Efficiency_Gas_Absor
ption_or_High-Efficiency_Gas_Adsorption). AirEnhancing.
16. "Air Purifier Pre-Filter Replacement: The Prefilter Experiments" (http://www.air-purifier-power.com/re
placementprefilter.html). www.air-purifier-power.com. Retrieved 2019-06-05.

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17. "INTERNATIONAL ISO STANDARD 29463-1—High-efficiency filters and filter media for removing
particles in air" (https://www.sis.se/api/document/preview/913826/). International Organization for
Standardization. October 15, 2011. Retrieved April 5, 2020.
18. Hyde, Ethan. "Air Conditioners HEPA Filters And Airborne Allergens" (https://www.pulseelectrical.co
m.au/air-conditioners-hepa-filters-and-airborne-allergens/). Pulse Electrical.
19. "HEPA-type filter: The Great Pretender" (http://www.air-purifier-power.com/hepatypefilter.html).
www.air-purifier-power.com. Retrieved 2019-06-05.
20. "HEPA Filter Benefits for Allergy Relief" (http://www.webmd.com/allergies/hepa-filters-for-allergies).
Retrieved 2016-08-12.
21. Ryback, Emily (12 August 2016). "Guide to HEPA Air Purifiers" (http://www.pureairhub.com/guide-he
pa-air-purifiers/). Pure Air Hub. Kurt Morgan.
22. "How Often Should A HEPA Filter Be Changed | Janitized" (https://www.janitized.com/how-often-sho
uld-a-hepa-filter-be-changed/). Janitized Vacuum Cleaner Bag Manufacturer. 2018-03-14. Retrieved
2018-07-31.
23. "HEPA Air Filtration System for Home & Office - Types of HEPA Filter" (https://www.honeywellsmarth
omes.com/blog/hepa-air-filtration-system-for-home-and-office/). www.honeywellsmarthomes.com.
Retrieved 2017-09-04.
24. "HVAC". Merriam–Webster Dictionary (http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/hvac).
25. "The truth about cabin air" (https://www.askthepilot.com/questionanswers/cabin-air-quality/). Ask The
Pilot.
26. "How clean is the air on planes?" (https://www.nationalgeographic.com/travel/2020/08/how-clean-is-t
he-air-on-your-airplane-coronavirus-cvd/). Travel. 2020-08-28. Retrieved 2020-10-15.
27. "Putting the Tesla HEPA Filter and Bioweapon Defense Mode to the Test" (https://www.tesla.com/en_
CA/blog/putting-tesla-hepa-filter-and-bioweapon-defense-mode-to-the-test). Tesla Canada.
Retrieved 19 November 2019.
28. John Voelcker (12 April 2016). "2016 Tesla Model S gets styling update, 48-amp charger, new
interior options, $1,500 price increase (updated)" (http://www.greencarreports.com/news/1103380_2
016-tesla-model-s-gets-styling-update-48-amp-charger-new-interior-options). Green Car Reports.
Retrieved 14 April 2016.
29. First, Melvin W. (1998). "HEPA Filters". Journal of the American Biological Safety Association. 3 (1):
33. doi:10.1177/109135059800300111 (https://doi.org/10.1177%2F109135059800300111).
S2CID 207941359 (https://api.semanticscholar.org/CorpusID:207941359).
30. Ogunseitan, Oladele (2011-05-03). Green Health: An A-to-Z Guide (https://books.google.com/books?
id=XtXJzogLCecC&q=HEPA+filter+manhattan&pg=PA13). SAGE. p. 13. ISBN 9781412996884.
31. "The History of HEPA Filters" (https://www.apcfilters.com/the-history-of-hepa-filters/). APC Filtration
Inc. Retrieved 9 December 2019.

Sources
TSI Application Note ITI-041: Mechanisms of Filtration for High Efficiency Fibrous Filters (https://web.
archive.org/web/20170829125133/http://www.tsi.com/uploadedFiles/Product_Information/Literature/
Application_Notes/ITI-041.pdf)

External links
Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=HEPA&oldid=997227441"

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