dradam
Well-Known Member
Really looking forward to your findings. THXI work for a company that manufactures the equipment that challenges filter media (used by DoE, DoD, for Pharmaceutical Lab compliance, BioSafety cabinets, NIOSH filters, N95, N99, and N100 masks, and so on). A lot of those are regulated and require 100% testing of every filter produced (which is where our equipment comes in). Most even require periodic RE-testing to validate filters continue to perform and don't develop leakage (especially 'Classed' clean rooms).
This thread has piqued my interest, so I'm working with our PhD Applications Engineer to run some tests on available aftermarket filters, and I'll compare them to Rivian's OEM. We should be able to validate whether these are 1- in fact HEPA grade, 2- what the flow rate is THROUGH the filter media (which can be used to somewhat compare pressure drop) and 3- whether there's seal leakage around the edges of the filter (bypassing it, and making it a moot point whether the filters themselves are adequate).
I don't know for a fact (one way or another) if all Automotive filters are tested. I DO know Ford tests theirs--I'd literally met a few of Ford's filtration Engineers when I attended the University of Minnesota's Aerosol and Particulate course 2 summers ago.
The challenge is developing a proper test fixture. So, I'll do that for funsies.
That said, this won't be a fast process. So, don't get excited. Give me about 4-6 weeks to put it all together and I should be able to provide some input.
My up front hesitation is to sort of... take the marketing with a grain of salt. Most VOCs and organics that might be problematic fall within the range that the HEPA grade filter would capture anyway. So activated charcoal is sort of a party trick marketing gimmick in most cases. I'm sure there are exceptions (I don't know everything), but from a marketing standpoint, it doesn't make sense to me. Especially when you consider those HEPA and ULPA grade BIO Lab filters do not include carbon activated filters, because there's no point. And those are meant to capture 100% of potentially problematic CBRNE threats (both from getting IN and from getting OUT).
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