The Importance of Air Scrubbers

Indoor air quality is becoming more critical than ever, especially as we emerge from the COVID-19 pandemic. Despite the increased awareness, many people don’t think about cleaning the air when they conduct their other cleaning tasks, making it a commonly glossed-over part of the cleaning process.

Some people believe an HVAC system is enough to filter out pollutants from the air. In industrial facilities, there are often too many contaminants for an HVAC unit to handle, causing strain that could cause costly damage to the system. Air scrubbers are an excellent solution to help you improve the air quality of your facility without putting unnecessary strain on your HVAC system.

What Is an Air Scrubber?

Air scrubbers work as an air purification system, removing particles from the air by drawing them into the scrubber and passing them through filters. There are three types of air scrubbers: wet, dry, and integrated. The methods used to eliminate particles from the air set them apart.

An air scrubber’s primary purpose is to improve the quality of the air by removing contaminants, such as pollutants, chemicals, gases, and fumes. Industrial and commercial facilities that produce pollutants or gasses require air scrubbers, as they reduce the risk of harm to employees from hazardous emissions and other contaminants. Besides cleaning the air, air scrubbers can also eliminate odors and create a fresh air supply.

How Does an Air Scrubber Work?

Air is drawn into the HVAC air scrubber and passes through various filters to eliminate airborne contaminants. There are between three and four different filters that air passes through in an air scrubber, including:

• Pre-filters: These filters are the first that the airflow comes into contact with. Depending on the size of the scrubber, there may be one or two pre-filters. These filters are often enough to remove a significant portion of contaminants, but smaller particles can still pass through. Depending on the removal process, these filters may need daily changing, or you may only need to change them at a predetermined interval based on your facility’s operations.
• Primary filters: These filters are high-efficiency particulate air (HEPA) rated, capturing the smallest air particles and doing most of the work. Primary filters are the second stage of the air scrubber process, capturing most of the particles that pass through the pre-filters.
• Carbon filters: Carbon filters aren’t always a standard part of air scrubbers. You can add a carbon filter in certain conditions or environments. Carbon filters are often used in specific situations to remove odors and smells caused by vapor or gas.
• Carbon bed filters: A carbon bed filter is sometimes the last part of the air scrubbing process. These filters remove organic particles from an inorganic fluid stream. Carbon bed filters are ideal when working in sensitive facilities that require an uncontaminated air supply, whether your facility works with food processing or pharmaceutical products. These filters are also ideal if your facility operations can leave oil in the air.

Once the air passes through the scrubber, it’s returned to the surrounding environment. The space you need to air scrub will determine how many air scrubbers you’ll need and what size.

Facility managers may choose to use an air scrubber if there is mold present since mold removal can allow spores to become airborne. Air scrubbers help reduce the risk of inhaled spores by workers and others inside the facility. Air scrubbers are also ideal if your facility works with harmful contaminants or pollutants.

The Importance of Air Scrubbers

Air contamination can happen in any facility, making the air toxic for workers, customers, and other visitors. Air scrubbers are essential because they eliminate contaminants, air pollution, fumes, and other harmful particles that could affect a person’s health and negatively affect the environment.

While some people may think that an air purifier is all they need for the job, air purifiers cannot handle all contaminants in the air. When comparing air scrubbers vs. air purifiers, air purifiers can only clean airborne particles while air scrubbers can remove them.

For example, during mold removal, spores can come loose and travel to previously unaffected areas, encouraging new growths or becoming inhaled by individuals. Mold can significantly impact a person’s health, making it essential to eliminate the spores. An air scrubber can help capture the spores that float into the air during mold remediation, reducing the risk to everyone in the area.

Air scrubbers for mold removal are just one of many applications for the system. Air scrubbers can help your facility comply with laws and reduce the risk of health problems among your workers, customers, or visitors. If you need to remove any air contaminant from your work environment, air scrubbers are a worthwhile investment.

Different Types of Air Scrubbers

Air scrubber technology is quickly evolving, and there’s more than one type of air scrubber. You can choose from different types to fit your unique work environment, conditions or waste removal needs. Some air scrubbers target specific contaminants from individual industries, while others can remove multiple contaminants from the air. In general, there are three different types of air scrubbers:

• Wet scrubbers
• Dry scrubbers
• Integrated scrubbers

Manufacturers have made different air scrubbers to meet various industry needs. Below, you’ll learn more about the different types of air scrubbers made for specific instances so you can choose the one that would work best for your business.

1. Dry or wet electrostatic precipitators: These air scrubbers use electrical energy to eliminate dust and other particles from gas. There are dry and wet electrostatic precipitators to help catch specific pollutants and particles.
2. Plate precipitator: These air scrubbers are the most basic and are ideal for removing simple containments in a facility.
3. Tubular electrostatic precipitator: A tubular electrostatic precipitator can easily capture large dust particles, removing them from the air.
4. Portable air scrubbers: Some industries utilize portable air scrubbers when addressing contamination in a specific area of a facility. These air scrubbers are also ideal for portable use when contaminants enter different work environments.
5. Negative air scrubbers: These air scrubbers use negative air pressure to collect contaminants and prevent them from exiting the work area. Negative air scrubbers are standard in old facilities getting renovated since asbestos is an old, now illegal building material that should be contained when possible.
6. Packed bed scrubbers: These wet scrubbers help capture gasses and other chemicals your facility may create or work with.
7. Cyclone spray chambers: These air scrubbers comprise a spray and cyclone tower. While these air scrubbers are highly efficient, they require more power than other models due to their working pressure.
8. Venturi air scrubbers: These air scrubbers use water jets to clean the air stream, eliminating dust and other contaminants until the air is clean.
9. Chemical-specific air scrubbers: Different manufacturing processes utilize various chemicals and contaminants, requiring a specific type of air scrubber to clean the air. Manufacturers make chemical-specific air scrubbers to eliminate these chemicals and pollutants from the air, including dust, chlorine, ammonia, and other materials.

Understanding the differences between these air purifiers and the types of contaminants they can reduce can help you determine the best type for your facility, allowing you to clean the air and protect your workers efficiently.

Benefits of an Air Scrubber

Investing in an air scrubber can have many benefits for your facility. Continue reading to learn about how an air scrubber can benefit your business.

Removes Airborne Contaminants

Airborne contaminants are common in enclosed spaces, making it potentially dangerous to breathe in the air. Air scrubbers provide an ideal solution to remove toxins, pollutants, and contaminants from the air, improving indoor air quality. Many commercial operations utilize air scrubbers to protect workers and visitors from inhaling potentially dangerous pollutants.

Compliance With the Law

Amendments to the Clean Air Act were established in 1990 to help reduce major environmental threats, including toxic air pollution. Every year, more chemicals are added to the list of substances you must control to comply with these amendments.

As environmental concerns grow, more methods have been created to help prevent and control emissions that could cause damage to air quality and the ozone layer. Air scrubbers are one reliable solution that can help reduce emissions and create a cleaner environment. Air scrubbers can also help businesses comply with the law, reducing the risk of being cited and receiving fines.

Air Freshening

Air fresheners are marketed as items that can help remove odors while improving the air’s scent. Many air fresheners contain chemicals that can contaminate the air, causing more damage than they do good.

Air scrubbers are an excellent alternative to freshen the air without adding harmful contaminants to the environment. Air scrubbers utilize charged ions to eliminate chemicals, pollutants, toxins, odors, and bacteria that can cause unpleasant smells, helping reduce odors without adding additional toxins to the air. Once the air in the environment is filtered through the air scrubber, it’s released as fresh, uncontaminated air.

Power

Many businesses and facilities rely on their HVAC unit to clean the air and reduce the spread of contaminants. While HVAC systems have good airflow, they don’t compare to the strength and power of an air scrubber.

Air scrubbers are designed for the sole purpose of cleaning the air and controlling or eliminating toxic fumes and other contaminants. Compared to HVAC systems, air scrubbers have far more power and capabilities regarding air filtration and cleaning.

Health

Many workers struggle with allergies due to pollutants in the air. Pollutants like pollen cause reactions like coughing, sneezing, and sniffing. Other workers may have more severe respiratory conditions that flare up when exposed to allergens. Many standard HVAC systems cannot filter out all pollutants that affect a person’s respiratory health and allergies because they’re not equipped to filter out tiny particles.

An air scrubber can remove small particles from the air that contribute to allergies and respiratory flare-ups. It can even remove the smallest particles from the air, improving air quality and easing allergy symptoms for those in the area.

HVAC Improvements

As your HVAC system works to create the ideal interior temperature and collect pollutants, it causes a strain on the system. The more contaminants there are in the air, the more likely the system will have a shorter life span.

Installing an air scrubber can help reduce the strain on your HVAC system, extending its life while improving your air quality. The air scrubber will take on the brunt of the cleaning work, improving air quality. Clean air is easier for your HVAC system to cool and circulate within your facility. You can find an HVAC and air scrubber combination that works for your business.

Cost Savings

Some businesses may not invest in an air scrubber after seeing the prices of some top-of-the-line models. While the purchase and installation may cost more, installing an air scrubber can boost your savings by reducing how much you have to pay for maintenance with your HVAC system.

Since your air scrubber will do most of the work regarding cleansing the air and your HVAC system will experience significantly less strain, you’ll save on electricity, maintenance, and cleaning costs. You also won’t have to worry about replacing your HVAC system too soon.

You’ll also have fewer costs for disease and illness since the air scrubber will help eliminate contaminants that could harm your workers’ health.

Material Removal

Many contaminants could invade the air, including pollen, mold, mildew, dirt, and various chemicals. Many of these contaminants pose a health risk to your employees, so it’s essential to have them removed.

An HVAC system can only do so much to remove contaminants. Your HVAC’s systems primary job is to help your facility’s interior reach an ideal temperature. While these systems have filtering capabilities, they can’t compare to air scrubbers. An air scrubber can help you eliminate most airborne contaminants, improving the health and safety of the work environment more than just an HVAC system could.

Why Your Facility Should Use ActivePure Technology

ActivePure Technology utilizes surface and air purification technology to help reduce contaminants in a given space. This technology can be used in portable and HVAC air scrubbers to help eliminate mold, bacteria, viruses, and fungi that may reside in the air in your facility. This technology is ideal for facilities that experience mold contamination or work with sensitive materials. Removing these contaminants in the air is also ideal for worker health.

Service by Medallion offers two types of air scrubbers that utilize this technology to help keep the air quality in your facility as clean as possible:

• Aerus Pure & Clean: This portable air scrubber can help reduce surface microbial populations, odors, and visible smoke that may contaminate your facility. The ActivePure technology utilizes UV light and a catalytic process to destroy contaminants in the air and on surfaces. Aerus Pure & Clean is portable, making it easy to move to different impacted locations in your facility so you can address air contamination concerns and protect your worker’s health.
• Aerus PureCloud: This air treatment system works alongside your existing HVAC system to filter particles from the air, reducing the strain on your HVAC system to extend its life span. Like the Aerus Pure & Clean, the Aerus PureCloud uses the same ActivePure technology to destroy contaminants that are airborne or on surfaces at your facility.

Utilizing air scrubbers with ActivePure technology can make a significant difference in the air quality of your facility. Removing more contaminants creates a safer workspace for your employees and reduces your impact on the environment. This technology can also help you stay compliant with the law and save your overall costs by keeping your workers and HVAC in good health. You can contact Service by Medallion to learn more about these products and the benefits for your business.

Create a Clean Work Environment With Service by Medallion

Service by Medallion offers many commercial cleaning services, including air treatment to help improve your indoor air quality. Our goal is to help our clients achieve a safe, clean, and healthy work environment to enhance the safety of their workspace. We also offer other services, such as janitorial services and workplace repairs, to help you achieve our goals. You can browse our list of award-winning services to determine which would work best for your business.

We respond quickly to inquiries and service requests, making us a partner you can rely on. With over 40 years of experience, we have the expertise to help you find comprehensive solutions that help you achieve a clean, workable environment. Contact us today to learn more about our services and how we can help you achieve a safe and clean working environment!