Vehicle Air Filters With Medical-Grade Filtration

Webasto North America has introduced new high-efficiency air cleaners for vehicles where people share interior air, such as ambulances, school buses and work trucks. The HFT 300 and HFT 600 filters are lightweight, compact, cylindrical units that incorporate medical-grade HEPA-14 filtration media and can be installed almost anywhere inside the vehicle.

Webasto said that HEPA-14 filtration systems have typically been large and there were no retrofit units on the market that would universally fit existing ambulances, transit vehicles, school buses and crewed work trucks. With their high-velocity, twin-axial fan motors, Webasto’s new air cleaners have rapid air exchange rates that can meet or exceed WHO, CDC and ECDC guidelines for ambulances, the company said. The HFT 300 is designed to deliver up to 5 m3 meters of purified air per minute or 300 m3 per hour. The HFT 600 is engineered to process and clean up to 10 m3 meters of air per minute or 600 m3 per hour.

With their high-efficiency HEPA-14 filters, the HFT 300 and HFT 600 remove 99.995% of airborne particles equal to or greater than 0.3 microns, the company said. A single intake port is located on one end of the unit and decontaminated air is released in all directions, around its circumference. Each unit’s filter monitoring feature senses when its filter needs to be changed and an LED light alerts users when it’s time for maintenance. Most filters should be expected to last between 6 to 12 months, Webasto said.

The filters can be easily changed, the company said, and a filter-handling tool provided with each replacement filter helps isolate and contain contaminants during filter replacement and disposal. The air cleaners have integrated mounting brackets and were designed for ease of retrofitting. Both models are compatible with 12 and 24 V electrical systems and optional wire harness kits, including mating connectors, fuse, fuse holder and ring terminals, are also available.

“Webasto’s HFT 300 and HFT 600 high-efficiency air cleaners provide fleet operators with a practical, immediate and reliable solution for vehicles in service and on the road today,” said Matt Wheeler, head of HVAC Light & Medium Duty for Webasto North America. “Our HFT units don’t impact a vehicle’s existing HVAC system and can complement other pathogen mitigation systems that come up short in meeting CDC, WHO and ECDC air-change recommendations. Their compact size, quiet operation, robust design and ease of installation enables them to be rapidly deployed, providing prophylactic air purification protection for large populations of vehicles – today.”