Webasto filters help keep air clean for bus fleets
Air conditioning specialist Webasto has described some of the advantages of employing air filtration technology in transport settings, in the wake of increased awareness of disease transmission risk following the Covid-19 pandemic.
A fleet of school buses was among the first to install Webasto HEPA filtration systems in its vehicles, in order to help ensure the safety of its passengers and staff.
The operator, from Virginia, USA, adopted the HEPA filters, which are designed to filter the air in the entire vehicle, remove 99.995 per cent particulates corresponding to SARS/Covid-19 virus sizes (0.1 micrometres) and effectively reduce the risk of infection.
“We were looking at filter solutions for other public transportation vehicles such as ambulances and fire trucks,” said Dustin Nase, the district’s transportation director.
“That’s how we came across Webasto and their air filtration system for ambulances.”
It could fit in buses, too, Nase thought, and in no time, mechanics were installing Webasto HEPA systems in all of the district’s 119 school buses.
The advantage of this particular air filter system, says Webasto, is that it can be operated independently from the bus’s air conditioning system on a 12V power source. This simplifies and speeds up installation. In addition, it can be mounted vertically or horizontally in the interior of the school bus, meaning space is not a restriction.
“The unit moves a very high volume of air at a high pressure drop,” explained Webasto’s David Stafford, commercial manager, Webasto UK.
“It is this combination of a high volume of air with a high pressure drop that is needed to remove, for example, Covid-19 particles in a single ventilation pass. This is hugely important because otherwise the contaminated air would circulate in the vehicles for too long,“ he added.
“There are enormous differences in the filtering effect of HEPA filters. With our HEPA filter of class H14, 99.995 percent of particles with a size of up to 0.3 μm can be filtered. This actually meets the requirements in sterile medical rooms such as operating theatres or even ambulances.”
The technology can easily be retrofitted in all types of minibuses and PTS vehicles, says Webasto, meaning the transportation industry can rest assured that drivers and passengers can be kept as safe as possible whilst travelling.
More information about Webasto HEPA Air Filtration Systems is available via the website.
