High-Efficiency Mini-Pleat Panel Filter (Partitionless)

This is a high-efficiency partitionless mini-pleat panel filter from Oltaven — a frameless-separator HEPA/ULPA panel built around glass fibre or PTFE media and held in an anodised aluminium or stainless steel frame with hot-melt adhesive as the pleat separator. It removes micron-scale particles from supply air, and is used in cleanrooms, GMP workshops, operating theatres, FFU units and high-end HVAC systems. It is intended for facility engineers, cleanroom contractors and equipment OEMs who need a finished, tested filter rather than loose media, with efficiency grades from M6 to U16.

From Media to Finished Filter

Filter media sets the ceiling of what a filter can do. The finished filter decides how much of that ceiling you actually get. A glass fibre or PTFE sheet can hold a very high efficiency on a laboratory bench, yet the same sheet placed in a poorly formed panel will leak at the frame, shed adhesive into the airstream or collapse its pleats under pressure. That is why Oltaven sells finished filters: the media is one input, and pleating, framing and sealing are the steps that turn it into a predictable component.

Pleating is the first transformation. The media is folded into a tight mini-pleat pack, which packs a large filtration area into a shallow 50 mm or 70 mm depth. More pleats mean more area, and more area means lower face velocity at a given airflow. Because resistance rises steeply with velocity, a well-formed pleat pack keeps initial resistance low and dust-holding capacity high. Form the pleats too tightly, or crush them during handling, and the air finds short paths with high velocity and the pressure drop climbs.

Separating the pleats is the second decision. In this partitionless design, hot-melt adhesive beads run across the pleat tips instead of aluminium or paper separators. The adhesive holds the pleat spacing open, so air passes evenly through every fold. It also removes the metal or paper divider that would otherwise obstruct part of the media and add weight. The result is a thinner, lighter panel that uses the full media area.

Framing and sealing close the loop. The pleat pack is bonded into an anodised aluminium profile or a stainless steel frame, and the bond line must be continuous around the whole perimeter. A filter is only as efficient as its weakest seam: a pinhole at the frame edge lets unfiltered air bypass the media entirely, and the measured efficiency of the unit falls even though the media itself is unchanged. That is why every Oltaven panel is scan-tested before it leaves the plant.

What Decides Finished Performance

Efficiency, resistance and capacity are decided together, and the levers interact.

• Media grade. Glass fibre and PTFE are available across M6 to U16. Higher-grade media captures finer particles but generally costs more resistance at the same airflow.
• Pleat density and depth. A 50 mm deep pack suits compact installations; a 70 mm deep pack carries more media area for high-airflow units such as the 1170 × 1170 mm size rated at 3600 CMH.
• Adhesive separation. Even hot-melt spacing prevents pleat collapse and channeling, keeping airflow distributed across the full pack.
• Frame and bond integrity. Anodised aluminium and stainless steel frames hold their shape under pressure; a continuous bond line prevents bypass.
• Seal and finish quality. Consistent pleat height and clean edges keep the filter within its rated resistance band.

The practical consequence is that two filters of identical outside dimensions can behave very differently. A denser pleat pack with a continuous frame bond will show lower resistance and longer service life than a loosely formed panel of the same footprint, because the air is spread across more media and cannot escape around the edges.

Applications

Because the platform covers M6 through U16, one panel family serves several duty levels.

• Semiconductor and microelectronics: FFU units, clean booths and terminal supply in Class 10 to Class 10000 cleanrooms, including wafer fab and packaging and test areas.
• Pharmaceutical and food processing: GMP workshops where supply air must be controlled and documented.
• Healthcare: hospital operating theatres and similar controlled spaces.
• Commercial HVAC: high-end building air systems that need high-efficiency final filtration in a shallow depth.
• Industrial and energy settings: automotive and machinery manufacturing, energy and metal smelting, and energy-storage facilities.
• Data centres: AI computing and data centre air handling, where low resistance supports energy saving.

The shallow 50 mm and 70 mm depths make the panel a fit for retrofit work where deeper filter housings are not available.

Technical Specifications

The Oltaven Factory and Certifications

Oltaven is built around OEM/ODM work. Over more than 20 years of filter development and manufacturing we have accumulated more than 1,000 developed filtration solutions, and we customise size, structure, media grade, frame material, logo and packaging for customers who sell under their own name.

Production runs in a 50,000 m² plant in Zhongshan, Guangdong, China, which includes six cleanrooms totalling 20,000 m². Our own laboratory is CNAS-accredited and can issue test reports covering filtration efficiency, dust-holding capacity and resistance.

The quality system holds ISO 9001, ISO 14001 and ISO 45001 certification, and in 2024 we added IATF 16949 certification for the automotive sector. Products meet REACH and RoHS requirements, and compliance documents can be supplied. We have exported to Europe, the United States, Japan and Korea for more than 20 years.

OEM/ODM Workflow

1. Requirements review. You share the device or housing dimensions, target efficiency class, airflow and operating conditions.
2. Proposal and drawing. We confirm media, frame, separator and depth, and issue a drawing for your approval.
3. Sampling. Sample panels are produced and tested for resistance and efficiency at the agreed airflow.
4. Validation. You fit the sample and confirm the match; we adjust if needed.
5. Production. Approved specifications move to automated lines, with IQC, IPQC and OQC checks through the run.
6. Testing and packing. Finished filters are tested and packed to the agreed labelling and packaging standard.
7. Delivery and repeat supply. Batch records are kept so repeat orders match the approved sample.

Start a Custom Project

To quote accurately we need a few details: the device or vehicle model, the size or a drawing, the airflow or water flow the filter must handle, the operating conditions, and the quantity you expect per order. Send these through our contact page and our team will respond with a proposal. We welcome long-term OEM/ODM partnerships and sample orders for evaluation.