Patent ID: 7860662

Claim:
A method for determining a service life of a filter, the method comprising: obtaining exposure data from a sensor, the exposure data representative of one or more ambient conditions to which the filter currently is exposed; calculating a service life estimate based on the exposure data, the service life estimate representative of an estimated time period that the filter can be exposed to the ambient conditions to which the filter currently is exposed before a contaminant passes through the filter at a breakthrough concentration; obtaining environmental data from an input that differs from the sensor, the environmental data including at least one of a previous condition to which the filter has been exposed and an expected condition to which the filter is exposed; establishing a service life prediction based on the environmental data, the service life prediction representative of a predicted time period that the filter can be exposed to conditions represented by the environmental data before the contaminant passes through the filter at the breakthrough concentration; and using a computer processor for determining a service life of the filter based on a comparison of the service life estimate and the service life prediction.