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Ionizer Air Filters/Cleaners

Ionizer Air Filters/Cleaners

         I have a bad habit of playing games on my tablet.  Why is it bad?  Because I've lost the ability to write meaningful stories and poems.  I'm beginning to structure my day bay better to devote an hour to reading at least one chapter in book.  Right now I just started The Mote In God's Eye, by Larry Niven &  Jerry Pournelle.  It was published in 1974, I read it while on an FBM Patrol once.  The sad thing is, I remember very little of it, which tells me I read it pretty fast.  I know it's been 51 years since being published, but I feel I should remember more of it.

         In playing games on my tablet though, I see a lot of ads.  One of the most recent ones is about an Ionic Air Purifier by Lab Charge.  The big claim is that you can smell the freshness in the air.  I don't know about that, but I'll let that go.

         Y'see, Nuclear Submarines have used this same technology since the beginning of time.  Well, since the late 50's to early 60's let's say.  It was called an Electrostatics Precipitator and it was my division's responsibility to clean them.  The Precipitator contained had 2 sections, an Ionizer, and a Collector, or Collector Plates.  The ionizer operated at 16,000 Volts!  The Collector operated at about 8000 Volts.  The Precipitator sat in a vent duct so air would flow over it.  As the air flowed past the thin wires of the ionizer, it would give particles a negative static charge (smoke, dust, and fumes (hydraulic oil, Amine, etc) from the air stream).  This is how the Ionic Air Purifier by Lab Charge (and other manufacturers operate) that you can buy works.  But here's the difference.  In a Submarine, the air then flows across a Collector plate that is Positively Charged.  The ions created by the Ionizer at attracted to those positive plates, purifying and cleaning the air.  (It was a HUGE Pain In The 'You Know What' to clean too!).  The 'new' Ionic Air Purifiers do not have any type of Collector.  If you pay attention to the ad on the tablet, or read the company's literature about it, it will tell you that "Ionizing the air causes the particles to become too heavy to float, and they fall to the floor" (or any horizontal surface).

         So yes, you are purifying the air in your house, and in the process, you are creating dust.  Oh yeah, if that dust gets disturbed in some way, it can become airborne, and may end up being ionized again!  This doesn't sound like a solution to me.  It removes dust, dirt, and odors from the air, and creates dust in your house.  I'm sorry, my house has enough dust in it already....