Blog Tag: bars and restaurants cigarette smoke removal

Activated carbon has been used in a multitude of applications to reduce and/or remove odors and gaseous pollutants from organic and inorganic materials. Carbon pads or granular carbon is often included in water filtration systems as well as air filtration units in both residential and commercial applications.

Activated Carbon is usually made from cocoanut shells and then heated to high temperatures to expand the material to allow for a high capacity of adsorption of gases and odors. Carbon can usually adsorb ( with a d rather than a b ) 100 times its weight in gaseous pollutants and will eventually release these odors once it has reached its adsorption capacity. 

There are specific formulas that are used to determine how much carbon ( in lbs ) will be required to handle a level of gaseous pollutant at  cubic foot/minuet flow rate. The higher the flow rate in CFM ( ie:  500 CFM ) the larger the amount of carbon needed. It is also possible to determine the frequency of replacement of the carbon in time based on these calculations. 

Pure Air Systems has been making HEPA and Carbon fan powered, commercial grade air filtration systems since 1985 and offers seven different sizes and configurations that can include all Carbon media or a mixture of Carbon media and HEPA filtration. For more information on these units please go to our website at:  http://www.pureairsystems.com  or call use on our toll-free number at:  800-869-8025.

Carbon that is used for odor control if often made from expanded cocoanut shell carbon. This type of carbon has a high surface area and very high ratio of molecular adsorption to weight of carbon. This makes this material suitable for both adsorption of organic and inorganic odors and gaseous pollutants in both air and water applications.

For general odors found in most homes; typically pet, cooking and carpet odors, carbon filters placed in the HVAC system will be capable of removing about 50% of those odors with a replacement cycle of once every two months.

For commercial and industrial applications, it may be necessary to use large carbon beds, 10 – 20lb pads of carbon, to significantly reduce the the gaseous pollutants. And, in some cases, a catalytic material like zeolite may be required to enhance the adsorption of the gaseous pollutants. Depending upon the amount of pollutant being released it may be necessary to replace these carbon pads as often as once a week. 

Odors such those produced by cigarettes are some of the most difficult to remove as the nicotine smoke produces a sticky residue with adheres to almost any surface and releases that odor for long periods of time. Carbon can help in these cases but replacement of the carbon can be up to once a day.

For more information on carbon and other filtration processes please go to our website at: http://www.pureairsystems.com  or call us on our toll free number at:  800-869-8025.

Founded in 1985, Pure Air Systems was one of the first companies to introduce true, commercial grade, fan powered HEPA air filtration systems. The first unit, model 600H, was the base model using a standard 120 volt, 60Hz GE motor, Lau blowers, scanned HEPA filters, carbon media packs and ring panel pre-filters and switches and wire harnesses. All American made. 

Today, Pure Air Systems has 5 different models ranging from 50 CFM to 2000 CFM using the same metal housings, HEPA filters, carbon media packs but with the new variable speed 120/240 volt 50/60HZ motors, digital controllers and pressure gauges. Again, all of these components are currently being made in the USA. In addition, PAS is now one of only three companies in the world that manufacture these commercial grade HEPA air filtration systems.

Making products using US made components in today’s world creates some unusual issues. With most companies using components made in China or other overseas countries, competing with US made components is becoming more difficult. However, the Pure Air Systems units historically have a 15 to 20 year life cycle even in heavy duty operations. The cost may be higher but the performance is unmatched when comparing to similar products made in China.

For more information on the complete line of HEPA and Carbon based air filtration systems please go to our website at:  http://www.pureairsystems.com   or call us on our toll-free number. 800-869-8025.

Looking forpward to 2022 which is beginning to look at lot like 2021 …..again! It seems moving forward is much harder than it used to be. While change is usually constant there are some aspects of 2021 that continue to look more like 2020. Will 2022 actually look more like a new year and less like yesterday again? One can only hope.

For Pure Air Systems, our operation made a major change by moving into our own new facility south of Indianapolis and with more functional space to make our assembly process smoother and easier. We continue to see our business expand as more companies and individuals purchase our commercial grade, fan powered HEPA air filtration systems both in North America as well as overseas. Our new, programmable ECM, variable speed motors offer digital system control that can be customized for any application where accurate fan speed is required for the application with the ability to change air flow automatically or manually.

We hope you have a joyful and prosperous New Year….which ever year shows up. For more information on the complete line of our HEPA and Carbon filter systems, please go to our website at: http://www.pureairsystems.com   our call us on our toll-free number at: 800-869-8025,

In the 60’s Eric Burton of the rock group The Animals sang a song about a lost soul. The name of the song was Tobacco Road. The animals and song went on to become an iconic part of early rock and roll. Along the same lines the product tobacco had also become one the most influential soft drugs in the US and around the world. Nicotine, one of the main components of cigarettes and other tobacco related products, is also one of the most addictive compounds legally allowed in every country in the world.

In addition to the nicotine that is harmful to the user, the cotinine that is released as a result of burning the nicotine is a sticky material that sticks to everything it touches and releases an odor that lingers for a long period of time. Attempting to remove this airborne gaseous compound is difficult as it requires both carbon for adsorption of the odor as well as filter media ( usually HEPA filters) to capture the very fine airborne particulates that are released by the cigarette.

Because of the nature of the two emissions both the carbon and media filters ( HEPA ) need to be changed frequently making it very expensive and challenging to remove cigarette smoke in a room or enclosed area. This is one of the major reasons whey smoking is now prohibited in almost every public building and most restaurants.

For more information on the complete line of HEPA and Carbon air filtration systems please go to our website at: http://www.pureairsystems.com   or call us on our toll-free number at: 800-869-8025.

As everyone knows, being around smoke from a forest fire is extremely difficult and dangerous as smoke inhalation can be deadly. For California this past year, the forest fires have been nothing short of horrific. Many homes were lost and smoke hung in the air for weeks in many areas of California.

Pure Air Systems, an Indiana based company, has been making fan powered, HEPA based air filtration systems since 1985. Their systems are capable of being used either in conjunction with an existing HVAC system or as stand alone units. The partial by-pass configuration of the units allow for complete filtration of the home environment while also adding the ability to introduce outside, filtered fresh air to pressurize the home.

A homeowner in the San Francisco area purchased a PAS Model 600HS HEPA Plus system to do just that. His ability to bring in outside air through the 600HS unit and pressurize his home allowed him to stay inside and almost eliminate any smoke or odor from coming into his home. In fact, many of his neighbors also came to his house to escape from the smoke that was everywhere in the SF Bay area.

The 600HS unit has three filters. A dual layer ring panel filter to capture large particles and keep the HEPA clean, a 10 lb carbon filter to remove odors and a scanned 99.99% commercial grade HEPA filter to remove sub micron particulate. Pure Air Systems also makes larger versions of this filtration system ranging from 50 CFM to 2,000 CFM. These systems have been on the market for over 34 years and are the best performing HEPA based air filtration systems on the market today.

For more information on the complete line of HEPA and Carbon based air filtration systems please go to our website at:   https://www.pureairsystems.com    or call us on our toll-free number at 800-869-8025.

I am not a huge fan of the band Metallica, but I do happen to like their song, Enter Sandman. It is different than most of their Very heavy metal music and actually tells a story and your  can understand the lyrics. There are other bands whom I don’t follow very much but they, like Metallica, have one or two great songs that get lots of air time on the radio and are on my iPod.

Like my selective choice for music, when I am purchasing certain items I usually go to a certain brick and motor store or shop online where I will purchase that item. The stores may hundreds of other items but I only purchase those select, one or two, items every time.

Many companies that are in the manufacturing business may offer a number of items both standard and custom for customers. However, they often have 80% of their  business derived from 20% of their product line and while they often consider paring down their product line they find customers like the ability to option shop.

Pure Air Systems opened their doors in 1985. They introduced the first high performance, fan powered, certified HEPA air filtration systems for residential, commercial, institutional, medical and industrial application for removal of airborne allergens, pathogens, particulates and odors. Initially PAS only offered one system, the 600H unit. It became a very popular product in the U. S. market and led to the development of 6 more HEPA based systems.

These other units were more powerful and had larger CFM volume capacities and all eventually were fitted with the new ECM variable speed drive 120/240 50/60 Hz digital speed control motors. While the larger systems pushed PAS into the commercial market faster the model 600HS ( now with ECM motor ) was and still is the primary unit sold by Pure Air Systems.

For more information on the complete product line offered by PAS please go to our website at: https://www.pureairsystems.com or call us on our toll-free number at: 800-869-8025.

The reduction/removal of airborne particulate is usually accomplished by the use of air filters or filtration systems. The filters may be installed in a ducted heating/cooling systems return air grill or as a stand alone unit that circulates the air in a specific room or building. These types of filter systems are the most effective as they allow for circulation of the air within the room and while keeping the room temperature and humidity levels constant.

On the other side of the equation is the use of pressurization to reduce particle levels and/or maintain a higher degree of fresh air in a room, building or environment. To pressurize any room or space you simply need to draw in or pull in enough air from an outside source to change the pressure gradient in the room from either negative or static to a positive pressure room. We can all identify with positive or negative pressure as seen when we enter a large building or office and when opening the door the air blows out into your face ( positive pressure) or you have some difficulty opening the door ( as it seems to be pulled away from you) and overcoming negative pressure.  Another way to identify positive or negative pressure in a room is to open the main door about 1″ and take some smoke or a piece of tissue paper and place it at the door opening. If the smoke or paper moves toward the opening the room is negative, if it moves out toward you the room is positive.

The use of positive pressure as a means of filtration or “room cleaning,” has some major drawbacks. First, the air you bring into the room would probably be from an outside source. Although in a large building you could pull air from any space in the building and pressurize the room but that air may be just as dirty as the air in the room you are attempting to clean. Therefore, using an outside air source for pressurization is usually better but is comes with some costs.

Unless you live in a part of the country or world where the daily average temperature is around 70 degrees fahrenheit  and the humidity is 40% or less, bringing in outside air to pressurize a room will substantially alter the temperature and humidity in the pressurized environment.  In order to use pressurization effectively you would need to introduce at least 30% outside air as it relates to the amount of air being heated or cooled in the room.  For example is you have a room that circulates and conditions 600 CFM through its heating/cooling system you would need to introduce at least 180 CFM of outside air to remove some of the  airborne particulates or contaminants.

This process is often used in smoking areas in bars and lounges and in locations where odors, gases or fumes are being generated and dilution by introduction of outside air is the least expensive alternate. The amount of air introduced from the outside would vary depending upon the type of contaminant as just mentioned. It may be that up to 50% dilution is required to effectively reduce the levels of contaminants, however, this large amount of air will displace half the air in the room so some form of vent is needed to allow the fresher air to come into the room and push the contaminated air out of the room. It will also significantly impact the heating/cooling/humidity levels in the room or space.

For more information on pressurization, filtration and alternate methods of contaminant reduction please contact Pure Air Systems at: https://www.pureairsystems.com. You can also contact them directly at: 800-869-8025.

There is a small smoking phenomenon hitting the markets worldwide…e-cigarettes or electronic cigarettes. The electronic cigarette was developed in China in 2004 and has now become one of the more popular concepts in removing yourself from smoking nicotine filled tobacco and eventually quitting smoking altogether. However, for many people the act of smoking while drinking or the habit of just having something in their hands to keep busy is enough to make them full-time users and that is because you can now control the amount of nicotine.

An electronic cigarette, also known as an e-cigarette, personal vaporizer or PV, is an electronic inhaler that vaporizes a liquid solution into an aerosol mist, simulating the act of tobacco smoking. Electronic cigarettes are no longer marketed as smoking cessation aids or tobacco replacement in most countries. There may be similarities between conventional and some electronic cigarettes in the physical design and the nicotine release can also be chosen by the user, with some people choosing no nicotine at all.

The benefits and risks of electronic cigarette use are a subject of uncertainty among health organizations and researchers. Limited controlled studies are available due to the relatively recent invention of the device. Laws vary widely concerning the use and sale of electronic cigarettes and accompanying liquid solutions, with pending legislation and ongoing debate in many regions. But the challenge to the tobacco industry is very big. Once someone switches to the electronic cigarette version, they seldom go back to the original design.

From a health issue stand point, the vapor produced by the e-cigarettes is considered somewhat benign. However, having any type of nicotine added to the liquid quickly changes the second-hand liability of the device. The other issue is the potential use of these new devices in restaurants, bars, public buildings, medical facilities, etc., where traditional cigarettes are now banned. Not to be facetious, but this is a possible smoking gun. Since no one really knows the true chemical make up of the vapor produced by these e-cigarettes it is difficult to make any health determinations. These issues will come up and there are already groups who support the e-cig movement asking to be allowed to smoke in now no smoking areas.

Removing cigarette and cigar smoke has always been a challenge, even for companies like Pure Air Systems who have been making commercial grade HEPA filtration systems since 1985. Removal of fine, airborne particulate generated by traditional cigarettes is difficult. Much of the smoke goes into a vapor phase, much like the vapor produced by the e-cigarettes. In cigarette smoke as in vapor smoke, it is not what you see that hurts you…it’s the small, tiny, sub-micron particles that are inhaled into the lung linings and mucus membranes and tend to stay there. Over long periods of time these particles can create a wide variety of respiratory dysfunctions and lung cancer is one of them.This movement toward an electronic smoking system will eventually take a big bite out of the tobacco industry and look for these traditional cigarette companies to get into the e-cigarette market soon.

For more information on the complete line of HEPA and Carbon based air filtration systems manufactured by PAS, go to their website at: https://www.pureairsystems.com or follow them on Twitter @pureairsystems or call them anytime on their toll-free number at: 800-869-8025.

In 1954 Alfred Hitchcock directed the movie “Dial M For Murder” starring Ray Miland, Grace Kelly and Robert Cummings.  The story is about a husband who carefully plans to have his wife murdered. If the plot goes as planned the wife is gone and the husband is never suspected. As with many ideas, controlling all aspects of the concept often is seldom accomplished.

In the world where air pollution and airborne contaminants are a common occurrence, it is interesting to see how many individuals, maintenance companies, contractors and IAQ professionals under estimate the ability to control the levels of these contaminants. The initial plan often include using the least expensive filters or filtration device as many mistakenly believe one type of air filter is as good as another. This is seldom true.

One of the common mistakes is to only look at the particles we can see with the naked eye as the harmful contaminants. The irony is that particles you can see with the naked eye are about 20 microns or larger. Most of the particles that are harmful or that are aspirated into the lungs are less than 10 microns in size. These tiny particles are not easily trapped in general duty filter media, which are typically the type used when attempting to provide a cleaner environment.

Most HVAC systems use filter racks located in return air grills. These are normally the place for standard pleated media or ring panel filters and typically have a low MERV rating. (usually  MERV 5 to 7) These air filters will capture almost all of the 20 micron particles but their efficiency drops off dramatically as the size of the particles gets smaller. The other variable to take into consideration is the resistance of the filters relative to their overall efficiency.

The standard air filters used in most HVAC systems have a lower efficiency but also a lower pressure drop or resistance. This is important in the scheme of things as putting in a more resistant filter would reduce the air flow. On the up side though, they would be more effective in removing the harmful airborne contaminants.

HEPA filters are extremely effective at removing very high percentages of extremely small particles, those particles that are truly harmful. Their standard efficiency is 99.97% at o.3 microns. For comparison, the standard air filters used in most HVAC systems are approximately 15% to 20% effective at removing these tiny particles and that only takes place close to the time they have to be replaced.

Because of the design of HEPA filters, they are normally part of a system or package that also includes another blower/motor assembly to assist in moving the air across the HEPA as well as picking up the additional resistance across the filter. For this reason most HEPA filter systems are attached in a partial bypass mode to the HVAC ducting systems so no additional resistance is added to the entire air handling unit.

Pure Air Systems has been making HEPA and Carbon based air filtration systems for over 26 years. They have a HEPA system that will work for any type of environment and any kind of HVAC system. Even for areas where no ventilation systems exist. For more information on their complete line of HEPA and Carbon based units please go to their website at: www.pureairsystems.com or on Twitter @pureairsystems. You can also call them on their toll free line. 800-869-8025.