Big Quiet Air Purifier

Effectively removes particles of ALL sizes, including viruses, bacteria, dust, and pollen.
Lower net cost per cubic meter of clean air than any other machine in the world, at the same noise level, by a factor of several, indeed by about 3-12x, when compared to the next best machines.
Quieter for the same clean air delivery rate than any other machine in the world, by far.
Wifi/Internet control, integrated filter health/clogging detection.
Designed to last for decades.
Direct result of an open source research project to produce a superior fan, and, using that, a superior air purifier.
$800 CAD plus tax for beta testers.Not really for sale any more unfortunately.

The Big Quiet Air Purifier is a machine that is built to make low cost air purification of particulate pollution at low noise levels viable at a large scale. We are currently in a pilot project stage to prove all stages of manufacture and sale of the machines at relatively low user-facing prices. (I am now focussing primarily on mass producing the fan, air purifier production may resume another day.) Each machine is currently hand made and may vary in appearance.

Filtration helps with many things, including allergies and PM2.5, smoke etc, but the main focus is reducing airborne disease transmission.

How much does it help prevent disease transmission? Using the epidemiologist-designed Airwareness simulator, in a scenario of a normal classroom sized room, with 20 people in it for for 8 hours, the machine at 1050 CFM Clean Air Delivery Rate (CADR) can reduce airborne disease transmission of airborne disease, such as Sars-Cov-2 (COVID-19), by approximately 85%. At the current rate of 1 in 134 people being infected, and assuming the Omicron strain, this averages about 0.65 infections prevented per day. This is very approximate, and only meant to give a general idea, like a Fermi calculation.

The total cost of ownership of the machine, including amortized capital cost, electricity, filters and maintenance, is about 18.6 cents per 8 hours of operation at 1050 CFM CADR. Therefore it costs about 27 cents per infection prevented if the above scenario is encountered, for this particular disease alone. 10% to 20% ofSars-Cov-2 infections are now thought to lead to Long Covid (PACS), defined as functional disability for at least 6 months. We can reasonably expect to prevent this for only a few dollars.

Transmission of other airborne diseases, which include Colds, Flu, RSV, Measles, Tuberculosis, and Whooping cough, are also reduced in parallel.

This kind of background prevention can also preempt the next pandemic, eliminating the wait/spread that can occur as we develop a vaccine. Vaccines are amazing but they are slow to develop and get out there, and they only work for one disease each.

The BQAP removes pollen, dust, dust mites, mold spores, smoke, virus containing particles, bacteria, PM2.5 particles and all other particulates. No matter how small, we trap them all. The filter uses micro-scale electrostatic forces to trap even the smallest particles, not mechanical sieving in which particles smaller than the gaps between fibers could pass through.
This machine is quieter by far than any other comparable machine in the world at the same CADR, producing less noise than the background noise in a quiet house - about 43.5 dBa (~0.2 Sone) at the 1050 CFM CADR setting.
It is assembled without glue or other methods that make repair impractical. Repair and maintenance is always possible, for decades to come. Motor bearings are replaceable.
It may be hung from a ceiling, with hooks and chains. This saves floor space and gives tamper resistance.
Filters are expected to last approximately 3 years between replacements. Standard furnace filters are used to ensure continued availability. A replacement set costs about $125.
Maximal-power CADR varies from 750 to 1100 CFM, depending on the prototype.
It is 60 cm across and 105 cm tall, and consumes 37 W at maximal power.
Open source, MIT license.

The actual CADR has now been tested with the same type of procedure used in the AHAM protocol (exponential decay of particulates).

Lastly, the machine is produced in an interesting way, and with different priorities - not profit for a small number of people at the top as king, and not cosmetics as king. It is also not a non-profit undertaking, though. It's a hybrid, an exploration of making a living doing good and useful things. The amount of capital used in the development process is relatively small, and there are a few other differences. Although open source, it was not a community project unfortunately, however it may become one in the future. I also want to form a coop, not a conventional business, to produce them in the future. There may be a crowdfunding campaign involved.

Contact: Adouglas@openerv.ca

I prefer to sell to people in Montreal to simplify things, but they can be dismantled, packed and shipped.

The calculations used to make these graphics can be found here.