* We independently evaluate all recommended products and services. If you click on links we provide, we may receive compensation.
Air purifiers are devices that filter out dangerous particles in the air. They remove pollen, dust, and other pollutants hazardous to human health. Air purifiers are known to improve air quality, making them an essential element in the house. You stay in your house longer than you remain outdoors, so your home's air quality might significantly affect your health.
Asides from filtering the air, air purifiers sanitize and make the air safer for the lungs. These devices also remove allergy-triggering elements in the air. Pollen and pollutants are removed from the air so that you can breathe cleaner air. You can understand what does an air purifier do in the house when you look at how it works.
Working principles of air purifiers
There are different ways to how does an air purifier work. Researches show that some air purifiers work by trapping particles, while others work by neutralizing the toxin in the air. After neutralizing the dangerous particles, these air purifiers would filter the pollutants. Some air purifiers also come with a sanitizing feature, which keeps the air clean after filtration. This is an excellent feature for people with health conditions, such as Asthma.
Air purifiers make the air cleaner and safer by following two steps.
- Suck air in for purification process: air moves inside the machine with the help of a fan in the device. This ensures that air repeatedly circulates into the air purifier to keep the environment safe.
- Purification and absorption phase: this is the purification process. Most air purifiers have filter screens that remove particles in the air. They remove dust, pollens, smoke, gases, and other pollutants from the air in your house. Another way some air purifiers remove air particles is by being negative ion emitting devices. This would help them absorb positive ion particles in the air.
Air purifiers work by being absorbers and filterers. The air pumped into the device is filtered by different processes. Air purifiers that use screen filters are mechanical, while others use electrostatic purification processes. It’s safe to note that the air filter's quality is essential for the filtration system. Before the air can be filtered, it has to be in motion to allow the device to separate it from contaminants. Air in motion would enable the air purifier to filter pollutants easily.
Step-by-step process of how does an air purifier work
An air purifier follows a basic pattern to ensure the air is free from pollutants. However, before an air purifier begins its filtration process, it creates airflow. The purifier needs air to flow in and out of its system to release cleaner air. The air purifiers cannot function adequately without creating air movement in the house.
1. Creation of airflow
The first process of filtration is making air move. Most air purifiers have big fans to ensure air moves from every angle of where you place them. You can determine how fast you want the fan to move by altering its settings. With this, you can control your fan's speed. It’s safe to note that proper filtration works with fan speed. The device needs to suck in air to ensure the process. On what does an air purifier do? It creates airflow at an impressive rate. Most air purifiers come with a minimum airflow of 100 CPM. When creating heavy airflow, you should understand the filtration system's capacity. The device's filtration system limits the quantity of air it can filter at a point. Some filters can only work with 300 CPM at a go, so creating airflow above that capacity would make filtration difficult. Every filter screen's filtration capacity is measured by Clean Air Delivery Rate (CADR).
2. Air enters air purifier
After the machine creates airflow, the air enters into the device to start the purification process. The atmosphere is a combination of pollutants and clean air, which means that the air purifier would absorb the impurities to release clean air. There are different ways filters purify the air, and this is because there are different types of air purifiers. However, we would be looking at how does an air purifier work using a mechanical filter. Mechanical filters are widespread due to their affordability and efficiency.
3. Screening the air from pollutants
HEPA filters are one of the most used mechanical filters due to their efficiency over the years. These filters are also called mechanical filters due to their purification process. The HEPA filters screen out anything larger than 0.3 microns. This would allow the filter to screen out many pollutants in the air. Most mechanical filters can only remove large particles, such as pollen, dust, bacteria, and others. The filter will not screen particles smaller than 0.3 microns. Many air purifiers come with multiple filtration systems, making a combination of mechanical and electrostatic purification. After the mechanical filter removes the larger particles, the electrostatic filter charges the pollutants. After which, clean air can flow freely after absorbing the contaminants.
4. Release of clean air
After the filtration, the device releases clean air for human consumption. The pollutants have been removed and neutralized by the filtration system. This is the final step of the purification process, which is also the most critical part of the process. In knowing how does an air purifier work, it safe to conclude that air purifiers are mainly fans and filters. The device has a simple system, which is easily understood. The device continues the purification process until the air in your house has been screened for inhalation. This would make your home a safer place against traffic smoke, gases, allergy-triggering elements, and other pollutants.
Cleaning air purifiers frequently is important, you can also read another article about how to clean a humidifier.
Conclusion
Many people know about air purifiers but don't understand what does an air purifier do. An air purifier is a crucial addition to your house as it keeps your air safe from dangerous and harmful elements. Researches have also shown that it helps people with medical conditions, such as Covid-19 and Asthma. The air purifier's system achieves maximum efficiency by using numerous filter screens to remove dirt from the air. You are safer using high-quality air purifiers with different filtration methods.
