General > General Technical Chat
need to quickly build an air purifier to handle new carpet smell
engineheat:
Hi,
I moved into an apartment where they replaced the carpet and I hate the smell. I haven't lived in it yet and only moved my stuff in. I tried airing it out over the weekend and didn't notice a significant decrease in smell, which makes sense since ventilation has little to do with the off gassing rate. The management offered to steam clean it tomorrow but I'm not having my hopes up. I heard it would take weeks for the off gassing to drop a significant amount.
I already got 2 air purifiers that I got from Lowes that supposedly can each handle 170 sq ft of area. I plan to use it in my bedroom (100 sq ft) where I will be spending 98% of my time in the apartment. The filter has a HEPA medium and an active carbon layer. Unforunately, the carbon layer seems thin and it's embedded in some kind of plastic matrix so I'm not sure how effective it will be.
Fortunately I will be away for a week. I want to build something quick using off the shelf components/fans that can more effectively absorb (adsorb?) the VOCs. Something that'll allow me to use a generous amount of activated carbon granules. I guess I would need a chamber of some type to hold the granules, a fan, and maybe some tubings/housing. Not too concerned with particulate filtration, just the VOC filtration.
I got a box fan from Walmart but that might not offer enough pressure...
Thanks
Someone:
Very large tray of baking soda (Sodium bicarbonate) and some gentle fans to slowly circulate air. Nothing fancy required.
Halcyon:
I too have had good results with the baking soda technique, albeit in small areas (like a car), in an open container, giving it a shake every so-often to expose the fresh stuff to the atmosphere.
You just need to try and maximise the surface area of the NaHCO₃ as much as you can, rather than having a thick layer where the circulating air can't get to. A lot of those "Shake'n'Vac" type products usually contain a high proportion of Calcium Carbonate (and some pretty smelling stuff), which act in a similar way, however I don't think I'd be putting either directly onto the carpet for long periods, because both are hygroscopic and could damage certain surfaces/products.
thm_w:
This isn't something a cheap air purifier will be any good at. You'd have to spend a lot of money before you get anything with more than a few grams of carbon.
The DIY option: buy a carbon 4 or 6 inch grow tent filter ($40-60 on amazon), these are about the cheapest way to get activated carbon and are already pre-shaped. Put a duct fan on the end to suck air in through the carbon.
But it may not be worth the effort. I'd just go for lots and lots of ventilation.
I would think the steam clean will help due to the heat.
Psi:
--- Quote from: thm_w on October 04, 2023, 08:43:09 pm ---I'd just go for lots and lots of ventilation.
--- End quote ---
+1 for this.
Setup something to get outside air flowing through the house from one end and out the other end constantly.
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