Life without information technology has become unthinkable today. Data centres are the pillars that guarantee the availability of the required data with minimal downtime.

Protection against particulate and gaseous contamination is a must. Unplanned technical failures often have catastrophic consequences. Established protection concepts and solutions with standard filter elements have proven their effectiveness in a wide range of applications.

However, they come at a double price. On the one hand, there are acquisition costs, and on the other hand, they require energy that is urgently needed elsewhere, thus incurring operating costs that exceed the acquisition costs many times over.

In the usual purchase-driven cost assessment, operating costs are often given insufficient consideration. Filter elements should be as inexpensive as possible and at the same time remain in use for a long time. However, on closer inspection, this approach, which seems reasonable at first glance, proves to be a misconception.

In addition to the tried-and-tested concepts, there are new developments to report. The innovative combination of ionisation of the particles in the air flow and permanent polarisation of the filter medium allows the filtration of the finest particles with lower flow resistance and constant filtration performance. This is an advantage that remains throughout the service life and can be integrated into existing filtration systems.

This contribution highlights successful and innovative filtration concepts, focuses on the total cost of ownership of filter equipment and its operation, and emphasises the need for a holistic approach to cost-effective operation.