ebm-papst and MANN+HUMMEL develop a flexible air filter system in record time

In record-breaking time, Tri-Dim and ebm-papst jointly developed the portable Tri-Kleen 500UV vacuum air filtration system.

With the help of overtime and weekend work, it was possible to deliver the first fans along with the metal housings within two weeks.

The RadiCal radial fan from ebm-papst generates the airflow for the necessary negative pressure in the treatment room within the air purifier.

In the fight against the Corona virus, the American filtration experts from MANN+HUMMEL's subsidiary Tri-Dim teamed up with the fan specialists from ebm-papst in the USA. Together, they developed the portable Tri-Kleen 500UV negative pressure air filtration system in a record-breaking short time.

When the first wave of the Corona virus reached the USA, Tri-Dim received numerous inquiries from clinics, health authorities, and medical practices across the country for a flexible air filtration solution. A product had to be delivered quickly.

It all started with a Skype meeting

The core idea was a portable air filtration system that creates a negative pressure in any closed treatment or examination room to prevent the overflow of virus-laden air into adjacent rooms. There were already business relationships between the German locations of MANN+HUMMEL and ebm-papst, so the choice quickly fell on ebm-papst fans. The project began on a Saturday in March with a Skype meeting. The ebm-papst branch in Farmington, USA, was to supply not only the fan but also the metal housing of the Tri-Kleen 500 UV. And that worked: with the help of overtime and weekend work, ebm-papst managed to deliver the first fans along with the metal housings within two weeks.

Perfect cooperation between fan and filter

The volume flow needed to generate the negative pressure in the treatment room is produced by the ebm-papst RadiCal radial fan. It is particularly quiet and features an optional flange. This allows a flexible duct to be connected, through which the system exhausts a larger volume of air from the room than is supplied to it. Due to the resulting negative pressure differential, contaminated air cannot escape from the room. Both the supply and exhaust air pass through the filter system. The heart of the air purification system is a MERV 9 pre-filter and a cylindrical HEPA filter. This high-performance filter guarantees, with the help of a micro-glass medium, the removal of 99.97 percent of all particles up to 0.3 µm in size. The filtration effectiveness is enhanced by the combination of the HEPA filter with a UV lamp, whose light kills germs, bacteria, and viruses.

Preparation for Europe

So far, nearly 1,000 units of the air filtration system have been delivered, with more to follow. Customer feedback has been consistently positive. Currently, the Tri-Kleen 500UV is only available on the US market, but there have already been initial inquiries from Europe, and preparations for the production of 230-volt models are already underway. While this cannot stop the virus completely, it can help contain it to some extent.