If you own a business where the public gathers, you know that second hand smoke or environmental tobacco smoke is a major concern.  The American Cancer Society reports that there are over 4,000 individual chemicals present in tobacco smoke, with more than 60 being known carcinogens (cancer-causing agents).   Chances are you probably have already invested in a commercial air purifier to combat this problem. There are several traditional ways to solve odor problems: using filters with activated carbon, potassium permanganate, zeolite, ozone, masking agents, essential oils and many others.  What you may not know is that in many commercial environments, using an air purifier with activated carbon or other gas phase media will be expensive because the filters will have to be replaced regularly to be effective.

The harmful ingredients in tobacco are separated into 2 types: airborne particles and gas molecules.  When using a smokeeater, the particles are collected, usually removing between 20-25% of the odor.  The remaining 75-80% is harmful gas molecules such as carbon monoxide, sulfides, diamines, lactones and other carbons.  These remaining gas molecules can be fought with our intelligently designed odor control cartridges that neutralize odor at the molecular level.  This odor control system works by releasing non-toxic, volatile aromatic molecules that react with the gas molecules from the smoke.  This reaction results in a neutralizing effect on the smoke odor.

These innovative odor neutralizing cartridges are ideal for bars, restaurants, bowling centers, bingo halls and casinos.  These cartridges, developed from our own proprietary formula, are inexpensive, easy to use, highly effective and environmentally friendly.  The cartridges can be easily installed into any of our quality line of commercial air purifiers and also feature inexpensive replacement refills.

Not only do these cartridges do the job, they can help you save lots of money on costly replacement filters.  If you are currently using an air purifier that has traditional gas phase media filters, you could spend between $200-$400 per unit, per year on replacement costs.  By using our odor neutralizing cartridge, your replacement costs can be as low as $5 a month!

The AQE CM11 Everclear DeLuxe Smoke Eater boasts of having 44 pounds of activated carbon. Unfortunately, many consumers have absolutely no idea what this means.  Let’s take a look at the science of activated carbon as a medium for adsorbing various types of chemicals and odors.

Activated carbon, also referred to as  activated charcoal, is an amorphous form of carbon.  Carbon is found in all organic life and is the sixth most common element in the universe.  Carbon is present as carbon dioxide in the atmosphere and is dissolved in all natural waters. "Non-activated"carbon is soot or charcoal.  

Activated carbon is carbon that has been treated with oxygen to open up millions of tiny pores between the carbon atoms.  The carbon source for activated carbon usually comes from materials such as peanut shells, coconut shells, wood, coal or even peach pits.   The raw carbon is heated without air to produce a high carbon material.  The carbon is activated by passing oxygen gases through the material at very high temperatures.  This activation process produces millions of pores that result in high adsorbtion properties. These activated carbons adsorb odorous substances from gases or liquid vapors,including smoke.  Activated carbon adsorbs odors by attaching to it by chemical attraction.  Many people confuse adsorbtion with absorbtion.  Adsorbtion is the physical attraction and adherence of gas or liquid vapor molecules to the surface of a solid.  Gas and vapor molecules are adsorbed by the solid activated carbon.  Absorbtion is the dissolving and even mixing of a substance in a liquid.  An example would be mixing honey into tea.

 Most reliable, high quality smoke eaters feature between 3.5 and 15 pounds of activated carbon.  Buyers should beware of the many cheap, low quality air purifiers that claim to have filters containing activated carbon. In reality, these air cleaners actually contain a very small amount of carbon dust that is impregnated into a fibrous pre-filter.  It is absolutely impossible for just a few ounces of carbon dust to effectively remove odors from smoking,especially pipes and cigars.  Commercial smoke eaters using several pounds of activated carbon on the other hand, provide a huge surface area for the carbon to "sponge" the offending odors and trap them, allowing fresh smelling air to re-circulate throughout the room.

 Air purifiers containing large amounts of activated carbon are particularly useful to individuals suffering Multiple Chemical Sensitivity (MCS) because they adsorb irritating material from the air such as formaldehyde, commonly found in carpeting and furniture upholstery.  If you own a restaurant that allows smoking, a good restaurant smokeeater with several pounds of activated carbon can provide immediate relief. 

 Dave Kuck, Air Purification Specialist with BPA Air Quality Solutions, says:"To do a good job of eliminating smoke odors, your air cleaner has to have lots of activated carbon.  With 44 pounds, the AQE CM11 Everclear Deluxe has the most of any commercial air cleaner I’ve seen".

Smoke is made up of both particulate and gaseous contaminates. Today I am going to discuss the particle removal aspect and save the gasses, odors and vapors for another time.

The particulate contaminates make up the visible smoke, the cloud or haze that tends to hang in the air. The two most common and effective types of particle filters are media and electrostatic.

Media filters are most common

ly either a pleated or bag style filter. HEPA is probably the best known type of media filter. HEPA is an option on most media based smoke eaters, but we tend to prefer a 95% DOP type filter, due to the fact that it allows more air to flow through the filter than a HEPA and still offers enough efficiency to effectively remove the smoke particles. While media filters do not require regular cleaning, they do need to be occasionally replaced.

Electrostatic filters offer a cost effective and efficient way to remove particulate contaminates as they do not require replacement however, electrostatic filters do require regular cleaning. The way an electrostatic filter works is, the dirty air first passes through an ionizing section which charges the particles, the air then moves through an electronic cell, which attracts the particles like a magnet. This is proven technology that is used in many types of commercial and industrial air cleaners and is sometimes referred to as electrostatic precipitators or ESP.

These two types of smoke eater technologies are very comparable as far as particle efficiency. There are other technologies such as ionizers and ozone generators that may claim to be smoke eaters, but the fact is, they do little or nothing to remove smoke particles. I talk to customers every week who have wasted money buying ionic air cleaners and ozone generating machines only to find that they do not work, do yourself a favor and stay away from "magical" technologies that make claims about removing smoke and stick to the proven technologies that will get the job done.

If there is a technology that you would like me to review/discuss or if you have questions, post your comments and myself or someone on staff will respond.