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HEPA Filter Testing

HEPA filters are used where extremely high levels of cleanliness or purity are required, such as in environments with airborne particles or organisms. Mil-Std-282 is the standard test for HEPA filter efficiency using dioctyl phthalate (DOP), an oil that produces monodisperse 0.3 micron particles for testing. DOP testing equipment carefully controls temperatures, air flow rates, and mixing to generate a narrow particle distribution for consistent efficiency measurements above the minimum 99.97% required for HEPA filters. Field testing can use polydisperse "cold" DOP aerosols for leak checks but requires particle counters and statistical significance of 0.3 micron particles to determine efficiency according to other standards

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Tomas Khun
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91 views

HEPA Filter Testing

HEPA filters are used where extremely high levels of cleanliness or purity are required, such as in environments with airborne particles or organisms. Mil-Std-282 is the standard test for HEPA filter efficiency using dioctyl phthalate (DOP), an oil that produces monodisperse 0.3 micron particles for testing. DOP testing equipment carefully controls temperatures, air flow rates, and mixing to generate a narrow particle distribution for consistent efficiency measurements above the minimum 99.97% required for HEPA filters. Field testing can use polydisperse "cold" DOP aerosols for leak checks but requires particle counters and statistical significance of 0.3 micron particles to determine efficiency according to other standards

Uploaded by

Tomas Khun
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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THE BASICS OF HEPA FILTRATION: < HO ME >

Why Buy C -vac? DOP Testing:

C-vac PRODUCTS: HEPA filters are no rm ally used only where a n e xtrem ely high leve l of cleanline ss or
HEP A Filters purity is required. T he requirem ent m ay be due to proble m s cause d by the
Filter C olle ction Bags presence o f particulate s o r physiolo gical pro blem s caused by viable airborne
Pre filters organism s. In any event, the e fficiency of eve ry filter is o f param ount im portance
and m ust be m ea sure d in a n a ppropriate way.
VA CUUM BRA ND:
Euro clean Mil-Std-282 is recognized as the sta nda rd fo r "ho t" DO P e fficie ncy te sting a nd is
Maste rcra ft use d for com pliance with m a ny HEPA filter spe cifica tions. It is a lso recognized as
Minutem an be ing "m o nodisperse 0.3 m icron particles"
Nikro as referenced in EPA and O SHA de finitions
Nilfisk fo r HEP A filters.
Pullm a n-Ho lt
Torna do DO P (dioctylpthala te) is an oil co m m only
Kent use d with vinyl resins to m ak e so ft vinyl
pla stics. It is a lso used by air filte r
QUICK SEA RCH: m anufa cture rs a nd vario us testing
agencie s to m ake an ae ro sol to test the
effectivene ss of air filters. O ther oil-like
Find It m ate ria ls, lik e DO S, can be substituted
with sim ila r results.

HEPA TECHNOLOGY: The DO P ae roso l use d to challenge HEP A


History filters to te st for efficie ncy by this sta nda rd is k nown a s "ho t" or "the rm ally
Efficie ncy ge nerated" DO P because it is derived fro m he ate d dioctylptha late oil. So phisticate d
Co nstructio n equipm e nt is use d for care fully co ntrolling o il and a ir tem pe rature s, a ir flow ra tes
Testing and m ix ing co nditions. T his "ho t" DO P a erosol has a ve ry narrow pa rticle size
Principles of Filtra tion distribution (m onodis perse). Because the only
Particle Sizes way to determ ine the efficie ncy of a filter on a
specific particle size (fra ctiona l efficiency) is to
OTHER: test with particle s of that size, DO P is use d to
Cross Re ference Inde x produce a high co ncentra tion of 0.3 m icro n
Term s of Use particles - that which theo ry indicate s and has
Letter of C ertificatio n histo rically been cons idered to be the m ost
Links pene trating o f filter m edia.
Co nta ct C -vac
Fo r e ach test, the ave rage a ero sol concentration
is m e asured bo th ups tre am and downstream o f
the filter with a pho to m e ter. T he inefficiency or
pene tratio n in pe rcent can there fore be
dete rm ine d a nd recorde d o n the filte r la be l. Fo r
e xam ple, a filter with a pene tra tion of .008%
would m ea n it wa s 99.992% e fficient, we ll above
the m inim um of 99.97% fo r HEPA efficiency.

DO P ae roso l can be ge nerate d in the field but


the equipm ent used, while rela tively sim ple and
portable, ca nno t produce truly "hot" DO P that is
m onodisperse. The DO P genera ted by such
e quipm ent is "cold" DO P which ha ving a bro ad
particle size distributio n is polydisperse. Such
an ae ro sol is useful for fie ld testing for lea ks a nd ensuring the inte grity o f a n
installa tion, howe ver, witho ut the ability to particle count the 0.3 m icro n size
pa rticle s, "cold" DO P doe s not pro vide the ultim ate te st o f filte r e fficiency.
The pene tratio n o r e fficiency of a filte r is
strongly a ffe cted by the pa rticle size o f
the cha llenge aerosol. A sm all cha nge in
pa rticle size ca n have a significa nt effect
on pe ne tra tion. T he sm aller the particle ,
the lo we r the efficie ncy until the
m axim um penetrating particle size is
re ached.

As indica ted ea rlier, "cold" DO P ha s a


broad particle size with la rge r a vera ge
size tha n "hot" DO P. Efficiencies are ,
there fo re, higher with "cold" DO P than
with "ho t" DO P. The control o f
te m peratures and flo w rates with the
equipm e nt is critical to m aintaining a
consistently tight pa rticle distribution
which a llows for consistent a nd reproducible efficiency m ea surem ents.

W here "cold" DO P can be use ful in dete rm ining HEPA filter efficiency is whe n testing
in acco rdance with IEST-R P-C C007.1. For ea ch te st, particle co unters are calibrated
to sim ula neo usly count the num ber of 0.3 m icro n particle s both upstre am a nd
do wnstre am of the filter. Pro viding the "cold" DO P challa nge a ero sol contains a
sta tistica lly significant num ber of 0.3 particles, the ine fficie ncy or pe netration in
pe rcent can de term ined. In this test, the po lydispe rse na ture o f "cold" DO P is
irrelave nt be ca use the o the r particle size s are not m e asured.

< R eturn to the T op >

His tory / Efficie ncy / C onstruction / DO P T esting / P rinciples / P article Sizes

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