Autors: Atanasova, R. P., Dimchev, I. N., Panchev, M. T. Title: A Study on Sustainable Solutions for Air Filtration in HVAC Systems Keywords: air filters, circular economy, HVAC systems, sustainabilityAbstract: The presented study deals with sustainable solutions for air filtration. A panel pleated air filter has been reconstructed, developing a new modular filter design and using recyclable textile material for the filter mat. The proposed detachable design allows replacement of only the filter core, instead of disposing the entire filter. The polyester needle-punched textile material used can be obtained from recycled fibers, and at the same time is also recyclable. The initial pressure drop deviation is 5 to 20% lower compared to conventional HVAC filters of the same class. The results of the development help break the widespread negative practice of discarding HVAC systems filters after a single use. The operational life of air filters is extended with saving valuable raw materials and energy. Since coarse and medium efficiency filters have an average lifespan of six months, the new modular filter system design is expected to use 13,4 times less galvanized steel for the metal housing over a 10-year period. When using the prototype, the initial investment is reduced by 17% compared to filters available on the market. In addition, over a ten-year period, the savings from ongoing maintenance costs would amount to approximately 36,3% amounted to EUR 26354. References - https://www.who.int/news-room/fact-sheets/detail/ambient-(outdoor)air-quality-and-health, last visited 20.05.2025.
- M. Vassilev and B. Stankov, "Soiling and Dust Deposition on Solar Panels- Technical Review", 5th International Conference on Communications, Information, Electronic and Energy Systems (CIEES), Veliko Tarnovo, Bulgaria, 2024, pp. 1-10, CIEES 2024, Veliko Tarnovo, November 2024.
- https://environment.ec.europa.eu/topics/air_en, last visited 20.05.2025.
- A. Terziev and M. Ivanov, "Design and control of warehouse indoor air quality via numerical modeling", E3S Web of Conferences, Volume 55117, July 2024, Article number 01004, 3rd International Conference on Electronics, Engineering Physics and Earth Science, EEPES 2024, Kavala, June 2024.
- T. Sparks T. and G. Chase, "Filters and Filtration Handbook", Elsevier Ltd., 2015.
- G. Liu, M. Xiao, X. Zhang, C. Gal, X. Chen, L. Liu, S. Pan, J. Wu, L. Tang, L. and D. Clements-Croom, "A review of air filtration technologies for sustainable and healthy building ventilation", Sustainable Cities and Society, 32, 375-396, 2017.
- EUROVENT guidebook, "Air filters for general ventilation", Belgium, 2017.
- P. Zlateva, A. Terziev, N. Mileva, "Sustainable Solutions for Energy Production from Biomass Materials", Sustainability (Switzerland), Volume 16, Issue 17, Article number 7732 September 2024.
- Z. Karchangi, N. Nazarnezhad, and J. Labidi, "Production of cellulose-based porous air filters for efficient particulate matter capture", Journal of Porous Materials, 2025.
- S. Debnath, V. Chauhan and J. Singh, "Air permeability of needle-punched filter media—virgin and recycled polyester", The Journal of the Textile Institute, 111(8), 1159–1165, 2019.
- D. Bonfim, F. Cruz, V. Guerra and M. Aguiar, "Development of Filter Media by Electrospinning for Air Filtration of Nanoparticles from PET Bottles", Membranes, 11, 293, 2021.
- A. Gergely, N. Hodgyai, and R. Farmos, "Recycled PET nanofiber membranes for air filtration", IEEE 22nd International Symposium on Computational Intelligence and Informatics and 8th IEEE International Conference on Recent Achievements in Mechatronics, Automation, Computer Science and Robotics, 2022.
- K. Ashish and S. Sinha-Ray, "Ultrafine nanofiber-based high efficiency air filter from waste cigarette butts", Polymer, Vol. 255, 125121, 2022.
- M. Munir, M. Adrian, M. Burhanuddin and F. Iskandar, "Fabrication and structure optimization of expanded polystyrene (EPS) waste fiber for high-performance air filtration", Powder Technology, Vol. 402, 117357, 2022.
- F. Lima, A. Honorato, G. Medeiros, P. Chagas, E. Silva, A. Vieira, W. Oliveira, M. Aguiar, and V. Guerra, "Analysis of recycled polystyrene electrospinning process: Fiber diameter, morphology, and filtration applications", Journal of Environmental Chemical Engineering, Vol. 13, Issue 2, 115435, 2025.
- M. Hossain, and M. Shahid, "Hybrid structured silk-rPET nanotechnical cloth for advanced air purification", Discover Applied Sciences 6, 296, 2024.
- W. Fan, P. Hui, W. Tu, Y. Li, H. Xu, G. Zhou, K. Zhang, W. Liu and Q. Jiang, "A sustainable and low pollutive strategy for the recycling of waste hot-gas filter bags: The development of filter reinforced epoxy composites", Waste Management, Vol. 168, 63-73, 2023.
- M. El Messiry, A. Al‑Oufy, and M. Elmor, "Investigations of the recycling of airbag filters from the cement industry into fabric/polymer or fabric/cement composite materials", Discover Applied Sciences 6, 42, 2024.
- European Committee for Standardization, EN 16798-1:2019 – Energy performance of buildings – Ventilation for buildings – Part 1: Indoor environmental input parameters for design and assessment of energy performance of buildings addressing indoor air quality, thermal environment, lighting and acoustics – Module M1-6, Brussels, Belgium: CEN, 2019.
Issue
| 12th International Conference on Energy and Environment 2025: Towards Future Energy, CIEM 2025, 2026, Romania, https://doi.org/10.1109/CIEM67454.2025.11284662 |
|