A method and system of determining a filter life are disclosed. In examples, a method comprises capturing aerosol particles on a filter and measuring absorbance spectra of the aerosol particles captured on the filter. The method further comprises identifying one or more aerosol particle types based on the measured absorbance spectra and determining a mass accumulation of each of the one or more aerosol particle types based on the measured absorbance spectra and the aerosol particle type. The method further comprises determining a median particle size of each of the one or more aerosol particle types based on the measured absorbance spectra and the aerosol particle type and determining a filter life based on the determined mass accumulation and the determined median particle size of each of the one or more aerosol particle types.

Apparatus and methods are disclosed which are capable of being used to determine filtration efficiency of a filter body even in a clean state. Methods of determining a filtration efficiency of a filter including forcing an inlet flow comprised of a gas (such as air) flow into the inlet end of the filter at a set flow rate, introducing particles such as smoke particles into the inlet flow, and optically counting the number of particles entering and exiting the filter during a sampling event, such as with diffraction based optical particle counters positioned upstream and downstream of the filter. Preferably the gas flow is a soot-free flow stream which does not load the honeycomb filter body with contaminants that need to be removed or burned out. The filter body can thus remain in an essentially clean state even after testing its filtration efficiency.

A method and apparatus for filter testing for use within an air handling system. The air handling system may include one or more scan assemblies. The scan assembly may include a track system using one or more magnetic arrays.

A particulate filter having a porous ceramic honeycomb structure with a first end, a second end, and a plurality of walls having wall surfaces defining a plurality of inner channels. Filtration material deposits are disposed on one or more of the wall surfaces of the honeycomb body. The highly porous deposits provide durable high clean filtration efficiency with small impact on pressure drop through the filter.

A process for predicting and adjusting particle removal efficiency of fiber-based filter media based on quantification of disorder. An order parameter may be extracted through Raman spectroscopy or scanning electron microscopy. Production processes may be adjusted to change (e.g., increase) the particle removal efficiency of fiber-based filter media utilizing a predefined correlation between order parameter and particle removal efficiency. The filter media may be utilized in masks, filters, and other applications.

A vacuum cleaner that includes a suction source configured to generate a suction airflow, a dirt collector in fluid communication with the suction source and configured to separate debris from the suction airflow and the dirt collector is configured to store the debris separated from the suction airflow. The vacuum further includes an infrared sensor operable to output a signal corresponding to a distance to an amount of debris stored in the dirt collector, a controller that receives the signal, and the controller is operable to determine a fill level stored in the dirt collector based on the signal. A visual display displays the fill level stored in the dirt collector.

A filter apparatus and method having a test port member in combination with a filter media. The test port member may be positioned adjacent the outer periphery of the outer peripheral frame and may be attached to a truncated portion of the filter media. One or more scrim layers may be disposed across one or more sides of the test port member and/or the truncated portion of the filter media. A plug may be inserted into a through port of the test port member.

An air filter for a ventilation system of a motor vehicle may include a plate-shaped filter body of a folded filter material and at least one sealing strip secured to a lateral edge of the filter body. Adjacent folds of the filter body may be connected to one another via a seam, may follow one another in a longitudinal filter direction, and may extend in a transverse filter direction. The at least one sealing strip may have at least one removal opening penetrating the at least one sealing strip. At least one removal nozzle for removing air flowing through the air filter may be securable to the at least one removal opening.

A method to predict the lifespan of an air filter including providing pressure sensors in a device having an air filter and a fan to drive air through the air filter, one pressure sensor located on an intake side of the fan and one pressure sensor located on an outflow side of the fan, periodically calculating a static pressure drop across the fan, storing the static pressure drop daily; calculating an average pressure drop, calculating a cumulative particle loading on the filter, comparing the cumulative particle loading with a pre-determined maximum particle loading for the filter, and determining if the filter needs to be changed is provided.

A method of reducing resource utilization for sterile filter validation includes obtaining historical datasets that each include respective values of a plurality of parameters associated with a respective sterile filtration process for a respective protein molecule, and generating, by processing the plurality of historical datasets, a PCA model. Vectors of the PCA model correspond to differently weighted combinations of the plurality of parameters, and collectively define a model space. The method also includes obtaining a target dataset that corresponds to a sterile filtration process for a target protein molecule, and includes target values of the plurality of parameters. The method also includes mapping the target values onto the model space, determining whether the mapped target values fall within a normal operating region of the model and error space, and causing sterile filter validation to be selectively bypassed or not bypassed accordingly.