Fresh-Aire UV® Introduces PLP-LED Air Filtration for HVAC Systems

Fresh-Aire UV®, Jupiter, Fla., a leading manufacturer of indoor air quality (IAQ) products, introduces the Purity Low Profile LED (PLP-LED) the HVAC industry’s first one-inch-thick (24-mm) replaceable filter that combines biological contaminant disinfection, VOC removal and particulate capture. The PLP-LED offers high efficiency filtration with minimal static pressure loss and is designed to fit the most common one-inch filtration rack sizes in residential and commercial air handlers.

The PLP-LED is the 2020 Air Conditioning Heating and Refrigeration (AHR) Expo Innovation Award winner in the IAQ category. Fresh-Aire UV also won the same award in 2011 for its APCO® combination UV, carbon-media and photocatalytic oxidation air purifier.

The PLP-LED is a three-stage filter using mini LED light arrays, advanced photocatalytic-coated reactive chemical adsorption media, and polarization technology to disinfect biological contaminants, remove VOCs and collect particulates, respectively.

The PLD-LED consists of three filter layers held together inside a corrosion-resistant, latched aluminum framework/mesh grill clamshell. The top and bottom blue layers are a particulate-capturing, UV reactive fiberglass media treated with Nanotech™ antimicrobial and photocatalytic coatings. They’re sandwiched between a black carbon core for improved VOC removal. The frame’s grill, which includes two UV LED disinfecting arrays, opens easily for quick media replacement every four to six months. The PLP-LED also employs low-voltage negative and positive polarization to charge, attract, impinge and agglomerate particulates into the fiberglass media.

The three stages are:

• The UV-reactive media adsorbs household odors from chlorine, acetones, formaldehyde cooking odors, pet smells and other VOCs from the air.
• The polarized media capture 97-percent of particulates as small as 0.3-microns (.00001-inch). The polarization, activated by a 24V connection or optional plug-in transformer, electrically charges particulates so they attract to polar opposite counterparts and agglomerate in the fiberglass media. Unlike electrostatic technology where collector plates need periodic cleaning to continually attract contaminants, the PLP-LED polarized media requires only replacement.
• The LED disinfecting light field, the first in the HVAC industry to appear on a one-inch polarized filter, disinfects biological contaminants, such as viruses, bacteria, mold and mildew, that agglomerate into the fiberglass media.

The PLP-LED performance can be enhanced with an optional installation of a Fresh-Aire UV’s renowned Blue-Tube UV® or APCO system for keeping the evaporator coil, air handler interior surfaces and airstream free of mold and other biological contaminants. Other PLP-LED features include:

• Doesn’t create ozone, which has been defined by ASHRAE, UL-Spot.com, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), California Air Resources Board (CARB) and other organizations as harmful to human respiratory systems.
• Fresh-Aire UV’s LED array methodology has been found effective in 2017 for surface sanitizing efficacy according to test standard ASTM E1153 “Test Method for Efficacy of Sanitizers Recommended for Inanimate Non-Food Contact Surfaces” administered by third-party lab, Microchem Laboratory, Round Rock, Texas.
• Lifetime warranty. LED arrays are replaced every five years;
• Unlike other carbon-based filters, VOC adsorption media is replaced and disposed cleanly without loose particles falling into the air stream channel, because its sandwiched between the two fiberglass media;
• Air handler requires no modifications;
• Functions similar to a high efficiency filter, but with the static pressure loss of a conventional filter.

Fresh-Aire UV has been a leader in biological and VOC removal for nearly 20 years; now the third segment of IAQ–particulate collection–gives a comprehensive air cleaning option for residential and commercial spaces.

The PLP-LED will be available at most HVAC wholesale distributors in the first quarter of 2020.