Is activated carbon the right choice of air cleaning device for your LEV or GV System ?
Is the overused activated carbon doing its magic for your ventilation system?
ONE
Activated.carbon is not an universal air cleaning device for every type of airborne contaminant removal from chimney emission or even on a ductless fume hood discharge. Activated carbon alone cannot remove ammonia, nitrite, nitrate, acid gaseous and etc, from air. It definitely can remove elements of Volatile Organics Compounds (VOCs} efficiently but not every other airborne chemicals being emitted during processes.
TWO
There has to be an adequate amount of dwelling time and face velocity for air borne contaminant to be adsorbed by the carbon media. Fixing a panel carbon filter is not gonna do magic in removing the contaminant if the volume of generation is big. Ask your system installer to guarantee removal of the airborne contamination it is cleaning up to very specific amount of concentration to be achieved. For instance set Action Level of Permissible Exposure Limit (PEL) as commissioning target for any type of engineering control systems managing exposure of occupational airborne hazards.
THREE
Activated carbon air cleaning device performance cannot be gauged by a differential pressure gauge. A differential pressure gauge measures the resistance buildup across filters via static pressure variance along the ventilation system. If the airborne contaminant has both organic vapour and aerosol, then adding aerosol filters will be the most feasible choice. A differential pressure gauge can be added across the aerosol filter as the deposition of the aerosol on the filter will increase resistance for air to permeate through.
