CleanAir has equipped all Biological safety workbenches and Flow benches with a pre-filter. What exactly is the advantage of using a pre-filter and why have we been using this technique for years and what does this yield for you?
The pre-filter filters all incoming air and prevents dust, dirt and particles from the sucked in air from accumulating in the interior of the bench. If dust, dirt and particles accumulate in the workbench, the disinfectant that is supposed to clean the cabinet will have much more difficulty reaching all the nooks and crannies of the workbench. After all, it must first penetrate all the contamination. It is then less certain that the entire cabinet has been disinfected. This poses a potential risk to the user, your product/research, the service technicians who have to maintain the workbench and the environment. The pre-filter prevents this accumulation of dirt.
The pre-filter also ensures that the HEPA filter has to process less pollution over time. Most coarse dirt is already filtered by the pre-filter. This ensures that the valuable HEPA filter has a longer lifespan because the resistance of the filter gradually increases over a longer period due to the collection of dust, which means that replacement is only necessary in the longer term. On average, a HEPA filter without the use of a pre-filter lasts about 5 to 6 years. We dare to say (and this has also been proven) that a HEPA filter with pre-filter in a CleanAir bank lasts at least twice as long. In fact; a lifespan of 12 to 15 years is no exception.
A pre-filter also has an advantage in terms of costs. You can replace a pre-filter from the workbench yourself. A HEPA filter must be replaced by a service technician, which in turn entails costs. These are not only the costs of an external service technician, but also the outgassing and the extra long downtime entail costs. An instructional video for replacing a pre-filter can be found on our website.
The story that a pre-filter would actually give more resistance is not entirely correct. The initial resistance will initially be higher. But because the pre-filter is replaced on a regular basis, the total resistance of both filters together will be lower after replacing the pre-filter than with a safety workbench without a pre-filter. That is also the reason that the HEPA filters last longer when using a pre-filter.
Want to know more about using pre-filters in a safety workbench? Let us know!
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