Filterless Air Purifiers

Air purifiers are the devices that purify the air. They are also known as air cleaners because of their function. They work effectively against air pollution. Air inside your residence may contain infinite dirt particles, bacteria and other impurities like airborne particles, allergens, odors, chemical traces, gaseous pollutants smoke particles and volatile organic compounds (VOCs) etc. Breathing in contaminated air can pose a serious risk to your health. Air purifiers remove contamination from the polluted air and improve the air quality. There are home air filters, which work effectively even without a filter.

Air purifiers that do not have filters are called filterless air purifiers. Filterless air purifiers are as effective as the air purifiers with filters. Most of these air purifiers do not use fans. They work on different technologies. Using filterless air purifiers is beneficial, because they save your money that you may have to spend on buying or replacing the air filters. They are divided into four major types, according to the techniques used.

Ionic Filterless Air Purifier
These air filters work on the basis of a technique called corona discharge, which is analogous to the one, used to generate static electricity. These ionic air purifiers emit negatively charged ions in the air, which collide with the dust particles. The dust particles also become negatively charged after the collision and get attracted to the positively charged metal plate of the purifier, which traps the dust particles. However, effectiveness of ionic air purifiers is limited only to some specific particles. Ionic air purifiers are often mistaken for ozone generators. People suffering from asthma should not use this air purifier.

Electrostatic Filterless Air Purifier
In these air purifiers, dust particles are drawn inside the purifier by fans. These particles are later charged with some high voltage wires, which later get attracted to electrically charged electrostatic metal plates. Many of these air purifiers produce ozone as a byproduct.

Photocatalytic Filterless Air Purifier
There are no filter or fans in the photocatalytic air purifiers. They look like a single coated fluorescent light bulb. In the photocatalytic air purifier, ultra violet light causes metal semiconductors to produce oxidants. These oxidants are capable breaking the molecular bonds, that exist in the micro-organisms. They remove even tiny dust particles, chemicals, and odors present in the air. They are also called UV air filters.

Ozone Generator Filterless Air Purifier
The ionizers in the air filter emit both positively and negatively charged ozone ions within an acceptable level for humans. With the strong oxidizing agent like ozone produced, it destroys particles and inactivates the microorganisms by a natural chemical process. Most airborne particles, including bacteria, viruses, mold spores, fungi, cigarette particles, gases and other odors get destroyed using this technique.

Plasmacluster Ions Filterless Air Purifier
Plasmacluster ions air purifiers are based on the plasma discharge technology. An alternating plasma discharge is used to split water molecules into oppositely charged hydrogen and oxygen ions. Alternate emission of plasma disunite water molecules into oppositely charged oxygen and hydrogen ions. Air contaminants draw these electrically charged hydrogen and oxygen ions. These ions, along with air contaminants form hydroxyl radicals, which further result in the destruction of the contaminants. It is an effective technology for destroying airborne biological, chemical contaminants, and other pollutants.

Drawbacks of Filterless Air Purifiers
The main drawback of filterless air purifiers is that they are not as efficient as the air purifiers with filter. Even the most efficient model of the filterless air purifier attains about 80% of efficiency. This efficiency decreases rapidly with time. These filters also require regular cleaning and maintenance. Some air purifiers like ionic air purifiers cause ion depositions on the surface of the walls, furniture etc. They cover comparatively less area. There is even conflict about ozone generation technology, because ozone itself is considered as an air pollutant. Therefore, in spite of its advantages, many people prefer using air purifiers with filters.

However filterless air purifiers are cost-effective and don't cause a loud noise. They are very easy to use and save your time and money, you may have to spend on changing filters.