Journal of the Air Pollution Control Association

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Odor Control with Activated Charcoal

Norman R. Rowe

To cite this article: Norman R. Rowe (1963) Odor Control with Activated Charcoal, Journal of the
Air Pollution Control Association, 13:4, 150-153, DOI: 10.1080/00022470.1963.10468157

To link to this article: https://doi.org/10.1080/00022470.1963.10468157

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ODOR CONTROL with ACTIVATED CHARCOAL
Wrganic vapors are a major
source of atmospheric pollution. They
are directly responsible for a multitude
of odors, and they can also supply to
the atmosphere material that may react
to form even less desirable components,
such as smog.
An odor is truly an elusive thing.
You can't see it, even with the strongest
microscope, and its weight can be
measured only by complicated means.
It requires only a very small amount of
vapor of certain chemical compounds in
the air to produce an odor. The order
of one part of vapor per million of air is
typical.
The quantity of vapor that is just
barely perceptible as odor is called the
odor threshold. Ordinarily, it requires
about 10 times that concentration to
give a definite sensation of odor, and
another 10-fold increase before the odor
is considered strong. Many odiferous
gases and vapors are poisonous, and
there is a limit to the concentrations that
the human body can tolerate under long
exposure. Tables of maximum allow-
able concentrations are found in the
ASHRAE Guide, Table II, page 126 of
the 1961 edition, as well as other
ventilating manuals.
Most organic vapors—including
industrial solvents, vent gases, and
process fumes—can be eliminated and,
in many cases, recovered for sale or reuse
by adsorption in activated charcoal. A
typical good quality activated charcoal
can trap up to 50% of its own weight in
odors, fumes, noxious gases, radioactive
vapors. The use of activated charcoal
applies the well-known gas-mask
principle to odor problems.
Control Methods
A system using activated charcoal
can be highly efficient where employed
in either of two basic control methods.
The pollutants can be removed as they
are exhausted from an industrial plant
or processing area into the atmosphere,
or they can be removed from con-
taminated air as it passes into intakes or
ventilating systems at the point of air
use. A third method is now being field
* Presented at the 55th Annual Meeting
of APCA, Sheraton-Chicago Hotel, Mav
20-24, 1962, Chicago, Illinois.
150
NORMAN R. ROWE, Barnebey-Cheney Company, Columbus, Ohio
tested—purifying the open air. In some odor is by an adsorption, usually hy
fruit groves, tests are currently being means of activated charcoal. A good
conducted to demonstrate the feasibility grade of activated charcoal adsorbs most
of using activated charcoal to remove of the organic vapors which comprise the
pollutants from the atmosphere in and worst odors, without difficulty."
around entire orchards.
Air pollution can be caused by (1) Scentometer
particulate matter, such as dust; (2) At the 52nd annual meeting of the
vapor or gas, such as organic solvent APCA (Los Angeles, 1959) a paper was
vapors; or (3) a combination of vapor presented on odor determination
and particles, such as smoke. Activated techniques for pollution control. It
charcoal may be used to remove the described an instrument being
vapor component of polluted air. Ad- developed at the time, called a Scen-
sorption is not in itself a method of tometer. Recently this instrument has
disposal, but a means of concentration— been perfected and is now commercially
so that the contaminants removed will available. The Scentometer can be used
be in a form that will facilitate disposal. to determine the order of magnitude of
Methods of final disposal for organic the concentration, discernible in free
vapors are reuse (or sale), burning, or air, of an odiferous vapor. The instru-
discharge into a sewer. ment is essentially a rectangular
Use of activated charcoal for odor plastic box containing two chambers of
control permits one or more of the activated charcoal with odorous air
following results: (1) purification of out- inlets connected to mixing chambers
side air used for inside ventilation or and nasal outlets (Fig. 1.) The principle
pressurizing; (2) recovery of values from of operation is that air is drawn through
vapors present in the exhausts; (3) the two activated charcoal beds, making
increased safety by removing com- it odor free, and then mixed with
bustible or toxic vapors from exhaust contaminated air, so as to produce a
air; (4) prevention of atmospheric threshold concentration of the offending
pollution by removing contaminants odor. The odorous air inlet that has to
before exhausting to atmosphere, there- be used to produce this dilution indicates
by promoting better public relations; the approximate concentration of the
and (5) prevention of restrictions of odor being determined.
industrial operations by local pollution
ordinances.
The bureau of standards has issued a
circular (No. 491) on control of odors.
This is a good general summary and is
as follows:
"Beyond question the most important
method of gas analysis employed is the
sense of smell. One compact but
amazingly intricate apparatus for the
purpose is possessed by every human
being. Although smelling has impor-
tant limitations, the chief of which is
that it is never quantitative, it has many
advantages over other means of analysis.
The apparatus is nearly always in
position to obtain the sample of greatest
immediate interest to the analyst. The
sampling is automatic, and the analysis
is capable of distinguishing between and
correctly reporting the large variety of
chemical substances by a single
operation.
"Except in a few cases, the most
practicable method of concentrating the Fig. 1.
Journal of the Air Pollution Control Association

Fig. 2.
Properties of Activated Charcoal activation of ordinary charcoal. The
capillary passages of the active material
Activated charcoal is electrically contain an almost unbelievable amount
nonpolar and, consequently is capable of surface area. One cubic foot of a
of adsorbing organic, as well as in- typical activated charcoal of good
organic, vapors and gases. It has an quality contains approximately 200
internal submicroscopic structure con- million square feet of adsorptive surface.
sisting of tiny capillary passages not Activated charcoal can be used to
greatly larger than the size of the remove gases and vapors that have be-
molecules that are adsorbed. This come radioactive, although not because
structure is created in the manufacture they are radioactive as such. Tests by
of the adsorbent by burning out part of government agencies have shown, for
the charred substances to form the example, that good quality activated
internal surface. This is the process of charcoal will remove absolutely 100%
Fig. 3.
April 1963 / Volume 13, No. 4
of radioactive iodine in the entire con-
centration range tested.
Typical Activated Charcoal Systems
In many cases, the best system for
odor control includes a combination of
some type of pretrcatment unit and
then an activated charcoal adsorption
filter. As an example, in the rendering
plant application, a system for odor
control would consist ideally of a bank
of good quality grease-trap filters, an
alkaline-liquid scrubber, and then
finally, an activated charcoal adsorptive
unit. With a system composed of these
parts properly designed and sized for
the application, the odor emanating
from a rendering plant can be eliminated
or controlled. In other applications,
such as at air terminals, charcoal alone
will do the job. For example, at O'Hare
International Airport (Chicago), strong
kerosene and burnt-hydrocarbon odors
exhausted from the jet engines as they
start up or shut off is almost over-
powering to anyone standing outside on
the ramp. In the terminal building, or
loading "fingers," however, the air has
no odor, because all of the ventilating
air has been passed through activated
charcoal filters, which remove all of the
organic vapors coming from the jet
engines.
A company in Fremont, Ohio, had a
labor problem and low efficiency of
operation in its silk-screen printing
department because of the effects on
the employees of strong vapors from
solvents used in the inks. The in-
stallation of an exhaust system would
only have altered the problem and
would have required large amounts of
heat in the winter and cooling in the
summer to condition the air. The
humidity of the air had to be controlled,
as well as the temperature. Exhausting
the solvent vapors to the outside would
have created an atmosphere pollution
problem. A solvent-recovery unit was
installed to purify the air so that it could
be returned to the working area and used
again for ventilation (Fig. 2). The
recovered value of the air, together with
the increased worker efficiency, paid
for the installation in a short time.
The recovered solvent was used for
clean-up purposes around the plant.
This is an example of removing the
pollutant at its point of use.
A modern soybean extraction plant
in Bloomington, 111., uses an activated-
charcoal solvent-recovery system to
capture hexane vapors that would
otherwise be discharged to the
atmosphere through condenser vents.
This eliminates an organic-vapor dis-
charge, recovers solvents (which are
reused in the process), and makes the
plant safer to operate. This system,
shown in Fig. 3, is typical of any small
manually operated solvent recovery
plant and is another example of control
151

Fig. 4.
at the source.
A laminated plastics manufacturer in
Cincinnati had been discharging alcohol
vapors and phenolic resin fumes into the
air, creating a neighborhood nuisance
and losing 1000 gallons of ethyl alcohol
per day. To solve this problem, air
from the plant is scrubbed with an
alkaline solution to remove the phenolic
compounds and then passed through
activated charcoal adsorbers in parallel
to adsorb the alcohol vapors. Periodi-
cally, one adsorber, upon becoming
saturated, is desorbed with steam, and
the one just regenerated is put back on
Fig. 5.
152
adsorption service. In this way, two
adsorbers are treating the air stream
while one is being steamed to recover the
alcohol. This automatically operated
system is shown in Fig. 4.
A citrus products plant near Los
Angeles discharged isopropyl alcohol
into the air, causing atmospheric pollu-
tion and a fire hazard, in addition to the
economic loss of the solvent itself. For
the solution of this problem, an auto-
matic solvent-recovery system was in-
stalled. This system has paid for itself
in recovered solvent. In this installation
(Fig. 5) the air is scrubbed with an
alkaline solution to eliminate some
acidic contaminants and then passed
through activated charcoal adsorbers
to remove the alcohol vapors.
Determination of System Capacity
There are three main steps in applying
activated charcoal to the control of
odors in a specific application: (1)
determination of the amount and type
of odor, (2) analysis of the cost of
activated charcoal purification and the
benefits to be received, and (8) settling
the details of the application, including
air flow, amount of activated charcoal,
and installation details.
The amount of activated charcoal
needed to remove odors for a given
application depends upon the types of
contaminants, the amount of con-
taminant, and the type of activated
charcoal used. Each odor control
situation requires a certain adsorption
capacity to satisfactorily do the job.
Frequently, the most difficult problem
in applying any type of odor-removal
equipment is a determination of the
quantity and type of contaminants that
must be removed. One of the best ways
of measuring the concentration and
composition of organic vapor mixtures
is the standard freeze-out method.
This involves passing a metered
quantity of air through a container kept
at dry ice temperatures so that the con-
taminants liquefy and drop out of the air
stream so they can be measured and
analyzed. With this information at
hand, a grade and quantity of activated
charcoal can be determined easily.
Often a short cut can be taken that
combines both the type of contaminants
and their concentration into one step.
Four methods of doing this, one or more
of which are applicable to every situa-
tion, are discussed below.
Determination of Odor-Causing
Vapors, Amounts, and Sources
This calls for knowledge of the
operations going on within the area. If
the odors are from manufacturing
process or a similar operation, it may be
possible to establish the types of vapors
given off, their concentration, and the
quantity that must be removed. In
other cases, this information can be
obtained by analytical procedures. An
odor inventory for the situation under
consideration should be prepared by
listing the known sources and types of
contaminants and their amounts. The
amount of air or gas carrying the odor
contaminants must be determined.
This can be done by measurement or by
examining the air-moving equipment.
In connection with many chemical
processes, coating operations, and other
situations where large amounts of
volatile compounds are given off, it is
possible that it would be practical to
regenerate the activated charcoal in
Journal of the Air Pollution Control Association
place by steaming or other suitable
treatment. In a typical situation, the
activated charcoal might be desorbed
and reused 8000 times in one year. For
some types of odor-control applications,
however, it is not feasible or necessary
to use in-place regeneration.
Odor Removal Test Using a
Small Portable Unit
A test can be made with a small unit
to duplicate, with a portion of the air,
the type of treatment that can be
expected with activated charcoal. This
test requires only a small equipment
investment and is often the simplest
approach to complicated odor control
problems. The test should be mounted
in the area under consideration and
operated so that the air being treated
by it will represent that to be handled
by a complete installation. By smelling
the air discharged, the experimenter
can determine whether the odors are
being satisfactorily removed. This
type of test may take several hours or
days. After the test unit has operated
for a given time, it may then be possible
to determine analytically the degree to
which activated charcoal capacity has
been depleted and give an estimate of
the adequacy of charcoal treatment for
the purpose. It is sometimes possible
to desorb the odor from the charcoal
and determine the main types of
chemical compounds involved, that is,
whether they are organic compounds
or inorganic materials and whether the
major constituent is alcohol, an ester, an
aldehyde, etc. An exact analysis of the
quantities of different individual odor-
causing constituents is ordinarily
difficult. There are many different
chemical compounds which make up the
average odor mixture, and many of
these are changed in composition on
being removed from the charcoal.
Survey Based on Smell Using
the Scentometer
Odor perception varies from person
to person and also depends upon
temperature, humidity, and air velocity.
Further, a single individual's varying
odor perceptibility is sufficient so that
on different days one detects odor
substantially to a different degree.
The Scentometer previously described
can help determine the vapor con-
centration, when used with a vapor-
threshold table.
Rules of Thumb and Experience
A person experienced in odor-control
problems and the use of activated
charcoal can ordinarily make a reason-
able selection of equipment based on
rather meager information. The more
information that is available the more
accurate can be the selection. It is
possible to make a rough determination
of odor concentration by smell. An
April 1963 / Volume 13, No. 4
expert in odor control may be able to
recommend the type of purification and
equipment to use, based on an examina-
tion of the situation by using his sense of
smell. Wherever possible, this should
be checked by one of the other methods.
Wide experience of odor control permits
an expert to make recommendations
based on knowledge of the performance
of successful installations. He knows
what type of equipment gave satis-
factory results for similar problems.
Except in a few cases, the most
practicable method of concentrating the
odor is by an adsorption, usually by
means of activated charcoal. It is
necessary only to force the air between a
bed of fresh adsorbent big enough to
insure intimate contact between the
solid charcoal and all of the air to obtain
this odor removal.
Conclusion
The type of activated-charcoal odor-
control system to use depends upon how
the odor is released, the arrangement of
the exhaust system, and similar factors.
The rate of odor release is a factor in
determining the activated charcoal
required. To be effective in any given
situation, the odors must reach the
charcoal by some means so that they
can be adsorbed, and this is a function of
the type of exhaust or air-intake system,
placement of the activated charcoal, and
related factors. The air after purifica-
tion can be discharged to the atmosphere
without fear of pollution or be reused in
the ventilation of the buildings. Where
the concentrations are high, thicker
beds of activated charcoal should be
used. An activated charcoal bed an
inch thick might have an average re-
moval efficiency during its useful life of
about 98%. It might start out at
above 99% and drop to as low as 90%
just before the charcoal is changed.
Everything else being equal, the service
life and resistance are proportional to
the thickness of the activated charcoal
bed.
The over-all efficiency of the pollution
control system, as well as the economics
of the solution, often dictate the kind to
be installed. But whether the system is
composed of a combination of types of
equipment or activated charcoal alone,
the activated charcoal, where properly
used, will eliminate or control the odors.
Preprints Available
$1.00 @ for Members
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overseas.
ATKISSON TELLS NEED
FOR BETTER PROGRAM
IN STATE AP CONTROL
Arthur A. Atkisson, Los Angeles
County Assistant Chief Deputy Air
Pollution Control Officer, in the keynote
address to the Fifth Conference on
Methods in Air Pollution Studies, said
the state's present air monitoring sys-
tem is inadequate, and called for a
firmly co-ordinated and adequately
financed state air pollution control pro-
gram to correct without delay what he
charged are "glaring weaknesses."
He urged that a 26 to 30 station air
monitoring sj-stem be developed and
financed by the state.
"Such a network should not rely on
local charity," the speaker said.
Mr. Atkisson emphasized the need for
a state network so that air quality trends
can be determined as the state-ad-
ministered motor vehicle contaminant
control program gets started.
State action should also ba under-
taken, he said, to develop improved
methods for monitoring airborne con-
taminant levels, to provide a central air
pollution data processing center to assist
local control districts, and to develop
better means for measuring vehicle
contaminant emissions. He said an
intensive vehicle inspection system
probably will be necessary in California,
and that reliable inspection and enforce-
ment methods must be developed by the
state.
Mr. Atkisson described improvement
in air pollution monitoring and measur-
ing methods as essential to progress in
solving the state and nation's air pollu-
tion problems. "The final decisions on
vehicle exhaust control," he declared,
"will involve a 10 year cost not far
from the initial costs of the Feather
River project. Our decisions had
better be right, our methods of measure-
ment and control had better be reliable,
for we probably will not be given another
chance."
JACKSON & MORELAND, INC.
Engineers and Consultants
Air Pollution Evaluation and Control
Services for Utilities and Industrials
. DESIGN, SPECIFICATION, AND EVALU-
ATION OF SYSTEMS AND EQUIPMENT
SUPERVISION OF CONSTRUCTION
AND OPERATION
AIR SAMPLING SURVEYS
. PUBLIC RELATIONS
Boston—Washington—New York
153