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Air Filtration Testing and Evaluation

May 14, 2024, Tuesday

8:00am-10:00am, ET Canada & US

$USD 350

$USD 175 (Member Only)

Air Filtration Testing and Evaluation

Course Objective

This course is intended to provide a broad understanding of the test methodologies and techniques used in developing non-woven air filtration media and manufactured end products. Specific focus is given to a wide variety of application driven developments and covers HVAC, automotive, industrial, clean spaces and medical applications, among others.


The course will also cover elements concerning the use and abuse of published testing protocols and how they interact with global market needs. Additionally, emphasis will be given on how the data quality must be assessed and utilized for meaningful project outcomes.


The Panel will discuss new developments in testing and assessing indoor air quality, such as new ASHRAE Standard 185.3, 241, etc.

Course Outline

1. Fundamentals of air filter testing methods

  • General concepts/basic objectives

  • Specific assessment of testing dynamics (Flow rate/velocity/permeability)

  • Important Basic air filtration product development steps

2. Air Filtration testing methodologies and published test protocols

  • Summary of global test methods

  • Interaction and standards development processes

  • Product performance criteria and characterization

3. Important terms, definitions and technical issues

4. Data quality and validation techniques

5. New developments in testing and assessing indoor air quality

  • New ASHRAE Standard 185.3

  • New ASHRAE Standard 241

  • Q&A, New Developments and Opportunities

Instructor Biography

Air Filtration Testing and Evaluation

Mr. Bob Burkhead

Instructor

Mr. Burkhead is the “President Emeritus” of Blue Heaven Technologies, an IAQ and filtration product testing laboratory, located in Louisville, Kentucky, USA. He has 47 years of experience in filtration product design and performance testing. He is heavily involved in ASHRAE technical, standards and society level committees. He is a past chairman of the filter testing protocol committee, ASHRAE SSPC 52.2 as well as Technical Committees TC 2.4 and TC 5.4. He also participates in global indoor air quality (IAQ) standards writing via ISO/IEC and has been a member of the U. S. technical advisory group for ISO TC 142 for 26 years. He is a well-recognized leading expert in the global air filtration industry for test standard development, professional testing and educational services about various air filtration and IAQ products. Although retired, Bob continues to impart his knowledge as a consultant and technical advisor, benefiting numerous colleagues and organizations with his wealth of experience. He received a Bachelor of Science in mechanical engineering technology from Western Kentucky University in 1977. His enduring impact on the air filtration industry and his ongoing commitment to improving IAQ standards globally make him a leading expert and a valued resource in both national and international arenas.

Air Filtration Testing and Evaluation

Dr. R. Vijayakumar

Panelist

Dr. Vijayakumar is a globally recognized expert and mentor in contamination control and filtration. He is the founder and head of AERFIL, a consulting company devoted to providing technical and business solutions and services for the filtration and contamination control industry around the world.  In addition to being a Distinguished Visiting Professor at the Chinese Academy of Building Research, he has been on the faculty of the short course on air and gas filtration at the University of Minnesota since its inception and one of the founding faculty for ASHRAE’s Cleanroom Certification Program. He is a Fellow and was a Distinguished Lecturer of ASHRAE. He has taught courses in cleanroom design for ASHRAE, and has lectured around the world for them on various aspects of filtration, aerosol mechanics and cleanroom designs. He has recently published an iBook on Aerosol Mechanics for the general user and is also a coauthor for the ASHRAE Cleanroom Design Guide. He is a Fellow and past President of the IEST, the premiere contamination control organization in the US. Currently, he chairs standards development committees at the ISO and in the US writing standards for high efficiency filtration and filter media used in cleanrooms, hospitals, and indoor environments.Panel Experts.

Air Filtration Testing and Evaluation

Dr. Jenny Berens

Panelist

Dr. Berens  is Filter Engineering Manager of North America,  Freudenberg Filtration Technologies. She is is a Chemical Engineer with a M.Sc. in Heat and Mass Transfer from Kungliga Tekniska Högskolan, Stockholm, Sweden and a Ph.D. in Nanotechnology from the University of Kentucky, USA.

Dr. Berens has 20 years of experience in R&D working for various Fortune 500 companies in roles such as hardware component owner, materials expert, laboratory and quality engineering process developer, and as team and project leader.

In early 2017, Dr. Berens was recruited by Freudenberg Filtration Technologies, headquartered in Weinheim, Germany with a corporate office in Hopkinsville, KY as a Project Segment Engineer. Shortly thereafter she was promoted to the Industrial Filtration Filter Engineering Manager of North America. Within this position, Dr. Berens is responsible for regional product development, product & application engineering, VA/VE efforts, and internal and well as public education regarding filter science.

Dr. Berens is a voting member on and the Secretary of the ASHRAE SSPC 52.2 committee, among other ASHRAE memberships and functions. She is also involved in the global filtration science community as a voting member representing filter producers in the US TAG to ISO/TC 142 on Advisory Panels 3, 4, and 7. Additionally, she supports the research carried out under ISO/CD 10121-3.


Panelists


Ms. Kathleen Owen, ASHRAE Fellow and Distinguished Lecturer, USA

Ms. Owen is an expert in air filter/cleaner filtration efficiency and test method development. She is ASHRAE Standard 241 & EHC member, Chair of SPC 185.5, Past Chair of ASHRAE 52.2,  SPCC 145 and SPC 185.5.  She has more than 30 years in air cleaner testing and method development as well as several areas of IAQ and aerosol research. She also developed chamber test methods for gases and bioaerosols based, in large part, on the Association of Home Appliance Manufacturers (AHAM) CADR test method.She ran the air cleaner testing lab at RTI for over 20 years and is now a consultant. Her BS in chemical engineering is from North Carolina State University, and her MS in Air Pollution Control Engineering is from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.


Mr. Jon Douglas, Director of Healthy Buildings, Johnson Control, USA

Mr. Douglas is the Director of Healthy Buildings Services and Solutions at Johnson Controls. Throughout his 30-year career in the HVAC&R industry, he has established a reputation as an innovator. Jon has 42 patents issued and numerous others in process. He has a broad range of HVAC&R experience; residential, light commercial RTUs, supermarket refrigeration, and large BAS systems. During the COVID outbreak, Jon studied the fundamentals of infection control in buildings and became JCI’s leading technical expert in clean air strategies for buildings. Jon is an active member of ASHRAE 241 and 62.1 Standards committees. He received his MSME from Purdue University, USA.


Mr. Al Vatine, President, LMS Technologies, USA

Mr. Vatine is a globally well-recognized expert in various air filter testing and evaluation. He studied biology at Macalester College and graduated in Pathology at the University of Minnesota, USA. He started LMS Technologies in 1996 in response to the increasing demand from the industry for filter measurement. Al has over 35 years of experience in comprehensive air filtration testing, test equipment design, research and development. The company is establishing the core facility for fiberization, filtration, nozzle design, and filtration research and development. They have successfully designed the largest test system with a capacity of 25,000 CFM and built-in back pulse, rain, sand storm, ice pulse removal, 99% humidity, and saltwater migration testing capability. This system provides realistic test data for gas turbines and large engine intake filters used in the aerospace and defense industry.


Mr. Tobias  Zimmer, Vice President Global Product Management and International Standards, Camfil, Germany

Mr. Zimmer is an experienced air filter specialist with more than 20 years of experience in the international ventilation industry. Since 2009 Mr. Zimmer has been employed by Camfil, an industry leading air filter manufacturer based in Sweden. He has held various positions within the Camfil Group and his current position is Vice President Global Product Management and International Standards. Mr. Zimmer serves actively in numerous working groups of several international standard committees including ISO TC142 (Cleaning equipment for air and other gases), CEN TC195 (Air filters for general air cleaning), CEN TC156 (Ventilation for buildings). Mr Zimmer is the convenor of the WG7, Environmental product declarations for air cleaning equipment in CEN TC 195 as well as Vice Chairman of PC-Fil at Eurovent Certification and an advisory board member of the Waterloo Filtration Institute.  In addition, he is active in various international ventilation & engineering industry associations and committees including Eurovent, REHVA, Eurovent Middle East, Eurovent International, VDMA and EHEDG. In this context, Mr. Zimmer co-authored several guidebooks and technical guidelines related to air filtration and ventilation.


Dr. Iyad Al-Attar, WFI Strategic Director, Visiting Academia Fellow, Cranfield University, UK.

Dr. Al-Attar is a mechanical engineer and an independent air filtration consultant. He is also a Visiting Academic Fellow in the School of Aerospace, Transport, and Manufacturing at Cranfield University, consulting for air quality and filter performance relevant to land-based gas turbines. Dr. Al-Attar is the strategic director, instructor, and advisory board member of the Waterloo Filtration Institute. In 2020, EUROVENT Middle East appointed Dr. Al-Attar as the first associated consultant for air filtration affairs. Dr. Al-Attar received his engineering degrees (BSc, MSc, Ph.D.) from the University of Toronto (Canada), Kuwait University, and Loughborough University (UK), respectively.

Dr. Al-Attar’s area of expertise focuses on designing and performing high-efficiency filters for HVAC and land-based gas turbine applications, particularly on the chemical and physical characterization of airborne particles. Dr. Al-Attar is a columnist in the EUROVENT Middle East newsletter, Climate Control Middle East Magazine, ES Engineering, USA, and Caloryfrio Magazine, Spain. He has authored many articles on air quality, filter design, performance, particle characterization, and climate change, which were translated into Arabic and Spanish. Dr. Al-Attar is an editorial member/referee in the Filtration Society (UK) and the Journal of Cleaner Production.

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