EN ISO 15957:2015

Test dusts for evaluating air cleaning equipment (ISO 15957:2015)

ISO 15957:2015 defines the properties of load test dusts used for heating, ventilation, and air conditioning (HVAC) air filters as well as air cleaning equipment in laboratories. Test dusts used for evaluation of efficiency performance are not included.

Aufgabestäube zum Prüfen von Luftfilteranlagen (ISO 15957:2015)

Diese Norm legt die Eigenschaften für Aufgabeprüfstäube fest, die zum Prüfen der Luftfilteranlagen, jedoch nicht ausschließlich für HVAC-Luftfilter in Laboratorien, sowie zum Prüfen der Anforderungen bezüglich der Verteilung der Aufgabeprüfstäube genutzt werden. Aerosole zur Bestimmung des Wirkungsgrads sind hiervon ausgenommen.

Poussières d'essai pour l'évaluation des équipements d'épuration d'air (ISO 15957:2015)

L'ISO 15957:2015 définit les propriétés des poussières d'essai de colmatage utilisées pour les filtres à air pour le chauffage, la ventilation, et le conditionnement d'air (CVC) ainsi que pour les équipements d'épuration d'air en laboratoires. Les poussières d'essai utilisées pour l'évaluation de l'efficacité sont exclues.

Preskusni prahovi za ocenjevanje opreme za čiščenje zraka (ISO 15957:2015)

Plinska čistilna oprema zahteva preskus delovanja v prašnih pogojih. Čeprav imajo prahovi različen izvor, je treba določiti standardno nabiranje prahu, ki kar najbolj posnema obnašanje zbiranja prahu. V tem projektu se standardizira preskusne prahove pri uporabi zračnih filtrov za zbiranje atmosferskih delcev.

General Information

• Status: Published
• Publication Date: 03-Mar-2015
• Withdrawal Date: 29-Sep-2015
• ICS: 91.140.30 - Ventilation and air-conditioning systems
• Technical Committee: CEN/TC 195 - Air filters for general air cleaning
• Drafting Committee: CEN/TC 195/WG 1 - Particulate air filters for general ventilation
• Current Stage: 6060 - Definitive text made available (DAV) - Publishing
• Start Date: 04-Mar-2015
• Completion Date: 04-Mar-2015
• Ref Project: SIST EN ISO 15957:2015 - Test dusts for evaluating air cleaning equipment (ISO 15957:2015)

Relations

• Revised: FprEN ISO 15957 - Test dusts for evaluating air cleaning equipment (ISO/DIS 15957:2024)
• Effective Date: 28-Jan-2023

Overview

EN ISO 15957:2015 (ISO 15957:2015) specifies the properties of load test dusts used in laboratory evaluation of HVAC air filters and air cleaning equipment. The standard defines dust categories, particle size characteristics, chemical composition guidelines and generation/production requirements for test dusts intended to load filters in laboratory conditions. It does not cover test dusts used for determining filtration efficiency.

Keywords: ISO 15957, EN ISO 15957:2015, test dusts, load test dust, HVAC air filters, air cleaning equipment, particle size distribution.

Key Topics

• Test dust designation: Load test dusts are grouped into four categories (L1–L4) to represent different loading scenarios used in laboratory tests.
• Chemical composition: General requirements for the composition of load test dusts to ensure repeatability and representative behavior during filter loading.
• Particle size distribution: Requirements and target distributions (including references to common air particulate fractions such as PM10 and PM2.5) and procedures for particle size analysis.
• Particle size analysis procedures: Defined methods for measuring and reporting size distributions for each dust category (L1–L4).
• Production methods: Guidance on how to produce consistent load test dusts for each category to ensure comparable test results across laboratories.
• Properties and application: Specification of physical properties of dusts (e.g., agglomeration and median diameter considerations) and recommended uses for each category.
• Requirements for dust generation and distribution: Criteria for dust feeders and distribution systems to achieve reliable load testing.
• Safety and supporting information: Annexes include material safety, literature review of atmospheric aerosol size distributions, and comparisons of particle size distributions.

Applications

• Filter loading tests in laboratories to simulate real-world dust accumulation on HVAC filters and air cleaners.
• Performance comparison of filters under standardized loading conditions for product development and quality control.
• Estimating lifecycle impacts: Test results inform filter classification, energy consumption estimates, Life Cycle Cost (LCC) and Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) analyses.
• Inter-laboratory consistency: Provides a framework to reduce variability between test laboratories by standardizing dust properties and generation methods.

Who uses this standard

• HVAC and air filter manufacturers
• Independent test laboratories and certification bodies
• Product developers and R&D teams
• Building-services and indoor-air-quality consultants
• Procurement and compliance officers specifying filter test protocols

Related Standards

• ISO 12103-1 - Road vehicles - Test dust for filter evaluation - Part 1: Arizona test dust
• ISO/TS 21220 - Particulate air filters for general ventilation - Determination of filtration performance

EN ISO 15957:2015 supports reproducible, comparable filter loading tests by standardizing load dust characteristics and generation-key for reliable HVAC filter evaluation and product development.

Standards Content (Sample)

SLOVENSKI STANDARD
01-maj-2015
3UHVNXVQLSUDKRYL]DRFHQMHYDQMHRSUHPH]DþLãþHQMH]UDND,62
Test dusts for evaluating air cleaning equipment (ISO 15957:2015)
Aufgabestäube zum Prüfen von Luftfilteranlagen (ISO 15957:2015)
Poussières d'essai pour l'évaluation des équipements d'épuration d'air (ISO 15957:2015)
Ta slovenski standard je istoveten z: EN ISO 15957:2015
ICS:
91.140.30 3UH]UDþHYDOQLLQNOLPDWVNL Ventilation and air-
VLVWHPL conditioning
2003-01.Slovenski inštitut za standardizacijo. Razmnoževanje celote ali delov tega standarda ni dovoljeno.

EUROPEAN STANDARD
EN ISO 15957
NORME EUROPÉENNE
EUROPÄISCHE NORM
March 2015
ICS 91.140.30
English Version
Test dusts for evaluating air cleaning equipment (ISO
15957:2015)
Poussières d'essai pour l'évaluation des équipements Aufgabestäube zum Prüfen von Luftfilteranlagen (ISO
d'épuration d'air (ISO 15957:2015) 15957:2015)
This European Standard was approved by CEN on 12 December 2014.

CEN members are bound to comply with the CEN/CENELEC Internal Regulations which stipulate the conditions for giving this European
Standard the status of a national standard without any alteration. Up-to-date lists and bibliographical references concerning such national
standards may be obtained on application to the CEN-CENELEC Management Centre or to any CEN member.

This European Standard exists in three official versions (English, French, German). A version in any other language made by translation
under the responsibility of a CEN member into its own language and notified to the CEN-CENELEC Management Centre has the same
status as the official versions.

CEN members are the national standards bodies of Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Croatia, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia,
Finland, Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Iceland, Ireland, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania,
Luxembourg, Malta, Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Turkey and United
Kingdom.
EUROPEAN COMMITTEE FOR STANDARDIZATION
COMITÉ EUROPÉEN DE NORMALISATION

EUROPÄISCHES KOMITEE FÜR NORMUNG

CEN-CENELEC Management Centre: Avenue Marnix 17, B-1000 Brussels
© 2015 CEN All rights of exploitation in any form and by any means reserved Ref. No. EN ISO 15957:2015 E
worldwide for CEN national Members.

Contents Page
Foreword .3
Foreword
This document (EN ISO 15957:2015) has been prepared by Technical Committee ISO/TC 142 “Cleaning
equipment for air and other gases” in collaboration with Technical Committee CEN/TC 195 “Air filters for
general air cleaning” the secretariat of which is held by UNI.
This European Standard shall be given the status of a national standard, either by publication of an identical
text or by endorsement, at the latest by September 2015, and conflicting national standards shall be
withdrawn at the latest by September 2015.
Attention is drawn to the possibility that some of the elements of this document may be the subject of patent
rights. CEN [and/or CENELEC] shall not be held responsible for identifying any or all such patent rights.
According to the CEN-CENELEC Internal Regulations, the national standards organizations of the following
countries are bound to implement this European Standard: Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Croatia, Cyprus, Czech
Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, France, Germany, Greece,
Hungary, Iceland, Ireland, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal,
Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Turkey and the United Kingdom.
Endorsement notice
The text of ISO 15957:2015 has been approved by CEN as EN ISO 15957:2015 without any modification.

INTERNATIONAL ISO
STANDARD 15957
First edition
2015-03-01
Test dusts for evaluating air cleaning
equipment
Poussières d’essai pour l’évaluation des équipements d’épuration d’air
Reference number
ISO 15957:2015(E)
©
ISO 2015
ISO 15957:2015(E)
© ISO 2015
All rights reserved. Unless otherwise specified, no part of this publication may be reproduced or utilized otherwise in any form
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ii © ISO 2015 – All rights reserved

ISO 15957:2015(E)
Contents Page
Foreword .iv
Introduction .v
1 Scope . 1
2 Normative references . 1
3 Terms and definitions . 1
4 Test dusts designation . 2
5 Chemical composition . 2
6 Particle size distribution . 2
7 Particle size analysis procedure . 3
7.1 L1 test dust . 3
7.2 L2 test dust . 3
7.3 L3 test dust . 3
7.4 L4 test dust . 3
8 Production methods . 3
8.1 L1 test dust . 3
8.2 L2 test dust . 3
8.3 L3 test dust . 3
8.4 L4 test dust . 4
9 Properties . 4
9.1 L1 test dust . 4
9.2 L2 test dust . 4
9.3 L3 test dust . 4
9.4 L4 test dust . 4
10 Application . 4
10.1 General . 4
10.2 L1 test dust . 4
10.3 L2 test dust . 4
10.4 L3 test dust . 4
10.5 L4 test dust . 4
11 Related standards. 5
11.1 L1 test dust . 5
11.2 L2 test dust . 5
11.3 L3 test dust . 5
11.4 L4 test dust . 5
12 Requirements for load test dust distribution . 5
Annex A (normative) Material safety . 6
Annex B (informative) Literature review of mass size distribution of atmospheric
aerosol particles . 7
Annex C (informative) Comparison of particle size distributions . 8
Bibliography . 9
ISO 15957:2015(E)
Foreword
ISO (the International Organization for Standardization) is a worldwide federation of national standards
bodies (ISO member bodies). The work of preparing International Standards is normally carried out
through ISO technical committees. Each member body interested in a subject for which a technical
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electrotechnical standardization.
The procedures used to develop this document and those intended for its further maintenance are
described in the ISO/IEC Directives, Part 1. In particular the different approval criteria needed for the
different types of ISO documents should be noted. This document was drafted in accordance with the
editorial rules of the ISO/IEC Directives, Part 2 (see www.iso.org/directives).
Attention is drawn to the possibility that some of the elements of this document may be the subject of
patent rights. ISO shall not be held responsible for identifying any or all such patent rights. Details of
any patent rights identified during the development of the document will be in the Introduction and/or
on the ISO list of patent declarations received (see www.iso.org/patents).
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assessment, as well as information about ISO’s adherence to the WTO principles in the Technical Barriers
to Trade (TBT) see the following URL: Foreword - Supplementary information
The committee responsible for this document is ISO/TC 142, Cleaning equipment for air and other gases.
iv © ISO 2015 – All rights reserved

ISO 15957:2015(E)
Introduction
Filters are subjected to evaluation of their initial performance and dust-loaded performance in
laboratory tests using specified test dusts. The results are to reflect the performance of the filter as
installed in a building. However, since the properties of atmospheric aerosols vary to a large extent
regionally, seasonally, and according to weather conditions, test data obtained with a given
...