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Clean Air Solutions for Dust & Mist Processes

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IMPELLER: Another term for fan “wheel”. The rotating portion of the fan designed to increase the energy level of the gas stream.

IMPELLER DIAMETER: The maximum diameter measured over the impeller blade.

IMPINGEMENT: When air flows through a filter, it changes direction as it passes around each fiber. Larger dust particles, however, cannot follow the abrupt changes in direction because of their inertia. As a result, they do not follow the air stream and collide with a fiber.

INCH OF WATER: A unit of pressure equal to the pressure exerted by a column of water, one inch high at a standard temperature. (407” WG = 14.7 PSI)

INCHES WG (INCHES OF WATER GAUGE): See Inch of Water.

INCINERATOR: A device that burns household, industrial, pathological or hazardous solid, liquid or gaseous wastes under controlled conditions.

INCLINED MANOMETER: A testing instrument using a liquid column, set at an incline to increase reading accuracy, to measure pressure. Normally used to read velocity pressure.

INDUCED DRAFT: How air is provided in a process, such as a combustion process; where air is drawn or pulled through a process. Also see Forced Draft.

INDUCTION: The production of an electric current in a conductor in a changing magnetic field.

INERTIA: Tendency of an object to remain in the state it is in. See WR2.

INERTIAL SEPARATORS: Air pollution control equipment that uses the principle of inertia to remove particulate matter from a stream of air or gas. See mechanical and cyclone collectors.

INLET DIFFUSER PLENUM: Air transition chamber between high-velocity ductwork and an air cleaner. The purpose of the inlet plenum is to slow the incoming airstream down to the collector velocity and provide even air distribution across the face of the air cleaner.

INLET-VANE DAMPER: Round multiblade damper mounted to the inlet of a fan to vary the airflow.

INSTABILITY: The point of operation at which a fan or system will “hunt” or pulse. Common in FC fans and some other fan types where the point of operation is left of the peak of the static-pressure curve.

INSULATION: Any method which will retard the flow of heat through a wall. In baghouses, it is commonly a lightweight fiberglass mat.

INTERCEPTION: A special case of impingement where a particle is small enough to move with the air stream but, because its size is very small in relation to the fiber, makes contact with a fiber while following the tortuous airflow path of the filter. The contact is not dependent on inertia and the particle is retained on the fiber because of the inherent adhesive forces that exist between the particle and fiber. These forces, called van der Waals forces, enable a fiber to trap a particle without the use of inertia.

INTERSTICES: The openings between the interlacings of the warp and filling yarns, such as the voids.

INVERSION: An atmospheric condition caused by a layer of warm air preventing the rise of cooling air trapped beneath it. This prevents the rise of pollutants that might otherwise be dispersed and results in a concentration of the air pollution.

INTERSTITIAL VELOCITY: The apparent velocity of a gas as it passes by a filter bag matrix. It is found by dividing the collector gas volume by the cross sectional area, after the cross sectional of the bags have been subtracted from the collector cross sectional area.

IONIZER: Set of fine wires suspended between grounded plates in SMOG-HOG electrostatic precipitators where particle charging occurs.