Filter Produces Major Cleanroom Energy
Savings, Extends Life of Final Filters

Background:

Camfil Farr is the world’s leading supplier of filtration for cleanrooms,
from pre-filters to HEPA/ ULPA filters, to final filters for biocontainment
areas and VLS production - where particulate contamination must be
controlled to 0.1 micrometer.

Now, a new filter technology has proved to substantially extend the
productive service life of high-efficiency filters used in microelectronics
and other cleanroom environments.

Equally Important Now:

this new filter technology immediately reduces
the most costly item in the operations budget: ENERGY.

Camfil-Farr, a world leader in pre and final filtration products, has introduced the first true MERV 8*(ASHRAE 52.2-2007) “30/30”
air filter.

The 30/30® is a high-efficiency radial pleat panel filter engineered
to deliver substantial energy savings for cleanroom air handling
units.  It has very low initial resistance, low maintained resistance
to airflow, and the lowest average pressure drop of any MERV 8 filter. 
This translates immediately into optimum “alpha efficiency,”
and energy savings that are measurable, and significant –
typically 15% and higher.

The MERV 8 30/30 filter is distinctive in having earned five stars
on the ECI (Energy Cost Index+) – the best-possible performance
ranking.  It was designed to deliver the greatest overall value in
medium efficiency filtration for clean rooms. 

The Camfil Farr MERV 8 30/30 has a distinctive design that
provides full use of the media for maximum dust holding capacity. 
Tests show the 30/30 has 30% higher dust holding capacity than conventional MERV 8 filters.  This means a longer service life,
less-frequent change-outs and lessened potential for contaminant migration.  

The 30/30 has proved highly effective for a broad range of areas
served by make-up air handling units in cleanroom areas and
support spaces.  The media for the 30/30 filter is all-mechanical,
rather than electrostatic, and maintains consistent, high removal
efficiency throughout the filter’s life.  In contrast, other MERV 8s
are made with electrostatically charged media, whose efficiency
plummets as particulate loads.  (Buyers of electrostatic media
filtration for clean rooms are advised to obtain the “discharged
MERV” rating, in order to determine the actual, in-service
performance level of the product, to make valid comparisons.) 

A related consideration:  The 30/30 is not subject to diminishment
of collection efficiency that results from charge decay – always a
factor with charged media. 

The Camfil Farr Performance Guarantee Program assures that
the 30/30 will maintain its efficiency over time, and will last
longer than any pleated panel filter.  It also has very high structural integrity.  The radial media pleats on the 30/30 are secured by a
welded wire grid, spot-welded on one-inch centers.  The grid is
treated for extended corrosion protection and is bonded to the
media to prevent oscillation. 

A high wet strength beverage board frame creates a stable,
non-yielding media pack.  The media pack is bonded to the frame,
and diagonal support members are bonded to each pleat to enhance
rigidity through bridge-style engineering.  Filter bypass is virtually eliminated. This is a critical point, because filters that fail often
do so not because media is defective, but because there’s a flaw
at the interface between the frame and media.   

The Camfil Farr MERV 8 30/30 is guaranteed to 2.0” w.g. without
media pack failure.   It is well-suited to the higher filter face
velocities common in cleanroom environments. 

The MERV 8 30/30 is a UL Class 2 or 1 filter, and is available in
2” and 4” configurations.  Its unique combination of energy
savings and enhanced service life for final filters makes it ideal
for environments where production is continuous, and scheduling
downtime for recertification and revalidation is costly and disruptive.

The Camfil Farr 30/30 may be used to meet requirements of the
U.S. Green Building Council (“LEED”) in terms of efficiency,
energy savings and reduced disposal impact.  Detailed data from
beta tests of the 30/30 technology at two US pharmaceutical
facilities can be made available to qualified inquirers.

*MERV, Minimum Efficiency Reporting Value, is a number from 1 to 16 that is relative
to an air filter’s efficiency, according to a universal filtration standard. The higher the MERV,
the more efficient the air filter is at removing particles .