In the simplest terms, an air scrubber is a portable filtration system. It draws in air from the surrounding environment and passes it through a series of filters. These filters efficiently remove particles from the air to help improve indoor air quality.

 

Air scrubber or negative air machine? Often the terms "air scrubber" and "negative air machine" are used interchangeably. However, the two terms refer to very different applications.

 

• An air scrubber stands alone in the center of a room without any ducting attached. The air it filters is recirculated to the surrounding area. An air scrubber application helps improve the general air quality of the jobsite.

 

• A negative air machine uses ducting to remove contaminated air from a sealed containment area. The filtered air is exhausted outside of the containment. This creates negative air pressure (a slight vacuum effect) inside the containment relative to surrounding areas. A negative air machine application helps limit the spread of contaminants to other areas inside the structure.

 

Many air scrubbers can also be used as a negative air machine, but this requires additional features:

 

• Ductable in and ductable out

• Sealed housing

• Precise airflow adjustment

• A blower motor with variable speed to maintain containment