Performance testing of HEPA filters: Progress towards a European standard procedure

Proposals for a future European testing procedure for 'High Efficiency Particulate Air Filters (HEPA and ULPA)' are being developed by CEN (Comite Europeen de Normalisation). The new standard will be given the status of national standard in participating countries, conflicting national standards being withdrawn. The standard will comprise 5 parts covering the grouping and classification of HEPA and ULPA filters according to their efficiency, fundamental principles of testing, marking etc (in part 1). Part 2 will cover aerosol production, measurement principles, counting equipment and statistics. Parts 3-5 will cover testing flat sheet media, leak testing of filter elements and the efficiency testing of filter elements respectively. The efficiency test methods allow the use of either homogeneous monodisperse or polydisperse aerosols for the determination of particulate filtration efficiencies as a function of particle size. The particle size at which maximum penetration occurs is first determined in flat sheet media tests; tests on filter elements (constructed using the same filter medium) may be carried out using either a homogeneous monodisperse aerosol of the size at which maximum penetration occurs (MPPS) or a polydisperse aerosol whose median size is close to the MPPS. Tests with monodisperse aerosols may be conducted using condensation nucleus counting equipment; tests using polydisperse test aerosols require the use of optical sizing particle counters. When determining the efficiency of filter elements the downstream aerosol concentrations may be determined from air samples obtained using either an overall method (single point sampling after mixing) or a scan method. The scan method also allows 'local' efficiency values to be determined. 1 ref., 1 fig., 1 tab