Week 6 - Competition is Met, Why We Stand Out

If the design goal was met and the filter was actually created, the filter would be put into the market for consumers to buy. However, there are many other individuals who use nanofibers to create their own specific types of filters to accomplish the same exact design goals we have! So what sets this apart from large companies such as United Air Specialists Inc., Calibex, or even Donaldson [15]?

Figure 18. Filters used to trap smoke and allergens [3]

United Air Specialists mainly focus on nanofibers spun implemented in filters for domestic usage. The company provides solutions to air quality problems ranging from welding smoke, oil mist and process dusts in factories to indoor air quality concerns like cigarette smoke and allergens in offices, bars and homes [15]. The product that we are creating will focus on molecular substances that cause disease on the nanoscale level. United Air Specialists have very large filters used to trap macromolecules. The picture on the right shows the size of the filters and the design. The central core is put into a rotating device so the molecules that are trapped by the filter are evenly spread out through the cylindrical surface. The filter that will be inside of the core and there will be several layers of patterned fibers that will trap the bacteria. The chosen design is the best choice because it completes the overall design goal in preventing bacteria to stay in the water flow.

Figure 19. Calibex fibers (1 micron) [1]

Calibex and Donaldson are similar in the sense that they deal with a wide range of filters. Some types of filters are: electronic, digital, mechanical, optical, and of course fibrous. Calibex filters that are made from nanofibers are similar to the fibers that we will be using in our theoretical filter. There are only two major differences. One deals with the fiber size. Calibex fibers are 1 μm in diameter which is about 15 times larger than our filters; however, our diameter is really inconsistent. The other difference is the usage of the filter.the function it is being used for is water treatment, but the filters that Calibex makes are mostly for oil particle absorption and smoke filtering. Donaldson uses smaller diameter fibers ranging from 100 nm to 150 nm [15]. Their design is similar to ours in the sense that they use the fibers in layers to create a filter. However, they have no specific design and randomize the fiber layout. The plan is to create a filter that also has many layers of fibers but are in a specific pattern (square-like shape).

Figure 20. Donaldson fibers 100 nm [2]

This filter is the best choice because the shape is what distinguishes it from the other types of filters and brands. The prices of the filters above ranged from $50.00 to $179.99 [15]. There is no specific price of the completed electrospun filter for the time being, but theoretically, it should fall in that range.