HEPA

High-efficiency particulate air or HEPA is a type of air filter. Filters meeting the HEPA standard have many applications, including use in medical facilities and aircraft. The filter must satisfy certain standards of efficiency such as those set by the United States Department of Energy (DOE). To qualify as HEPA by US government standards, an air filter must remove (from the air that passes through) 99.97% of 0.3 µm particles. This size constitutes the Most Penetrating Particle Size (MPPS), which is the most difficult size of particle to filter. Smaller and larger particles are filtered at even greater efficiency. A filter that is qualified as HEPA is also subject to interior classifications. HEPA filter vacuum cleaners trap the particles and don't allow them back into the environment thereby rendering the area safer for allergy and asthma sufferers and the general public.

The original HEPA filter was designed in the 1940s and was used in the Manhattan Project to prevent the spread of airborne radioactive contaminants. It was commercialized in the 1950s, and the original term became a registered trademark and a generic term for highly efficient filters. 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 processing, hospitals, health care, hotels, nuclear fuels, nuclear power, and electronic microcircuitry (computer chips).

The KIRBY Sentria 2 vacuum cleaner model is a high grade HEPA rated vacuum that uses disposable filter bags. The Carpet and Rug Institute of America (CRI) awarded the Sentria model its Gold Level Seal of Approval for meeting the organization's requirements for soil removal, dust containment and appearance retention.

Filters