Control of Respirable Particles in Indoor Air with Portable AirCleaners

Eleven portable air cleaning devices have been evaluated for control of indoor concentrations of respirable particles using in situ chamber decay tests. Following injection of cigarette smoke in a room-size chamber, decay rates for particle concentrations were obtained for total number concentration and for number concentration by particle size with and without air cleaner operation. The size distribution of the tobacco smoke particles was log normal with a count median diameter of 0.15 {micro}m and a geometric standard deviation of 2.0. Without air cleaner operation, the natural mass-averaged surface deposition rate of particles was observed to be 0.1 h{sup -1}. Air cleaning rates for particles were found to be negligible for several small panel-filter devices, a residential-sized ion-generator, and a pair of mixing fans. Electrostatic precipitators and extended surface filters removed particles at substantial rates, and a HEPA-type filter was the most efficient air cleaner studied