How to Enhance the Efficiency of Removal of Indoor VOCs?

The health risks of poorly managed indoor Volatile Organic Compounds (VOCs) have become a growing concern for both homes and businesses. VOCs are present in indoor environments due to materials such as paints, furniture, adhesives, and various cleaning agents. Continuous exposure to high levels of VOCs can lead to discomforts such as respiratory issues and headaches, along with more severe health impacts. To mitigate the risks, a focused, pragmatic approach is needed. This article outlines professional methods and case studies for improving the removal of indoor VOCs.

Selecting the Right Activated Carbon for VOC Adsorption  

When it comes to removing indoor VOCs, different types of activated carbon will have different adsorption rates. For air purification, honeycomb activated carbon and pellet activated carbon (columnar activated carbon) are the best suited. Honeycomb activated carbon will be the better option because it has a specialized honeycomb shape which means it has a high specific surface area and great air permeability. Because of these features, honeycomb activated carbon will be able to come into contact with indoor air and adsorb VOCs very effectively. On the other hand, pellet activated carbon has high mechanical strength which means it can be used for a long time in air purification systems. Activating carbon for purifying air will have good adsorption stability.

With more than 25 years of experience, Yihang Carbon is a professional activated carbon manufacturer and supplier of high-quality honeycomb and pellet activated carbon for VOCs adsorption. Take for example a newly decorated office in Zhengzhou. 72 hours of continuous operation of air purifiers using Yihang Carbon’s honeycomb activated carbon brought the VOC concentration to a safe level from a level that exceeded the national standard by 2.5 times. Another example is a furniture store that also used Yihang’s pellet activated carbon in the store’s ventilation system. Instead of the strong, formaldehyde VOC odor that used to trigger customer complaints, the store now receives complaints around 90% less. The powdered activated carbons used for decolorization and purification in the food industry carry the same problems for indoor VOCs as dispersion and gas phase adsorption inefficiency.

Optimize the Placement and Usage of Activated Carbon

When it comes to removing indoor VOCs, how and where activated carbon is used matters. To start, activated carbon needs to be positioned near places that release high amounts of VOCs, like recently painted walls, furniture, and cabinets. In bigger rooms, it is suggested that the air-activated carbon devices be spaced apart to cover all the air. For instance, in a living room that is 100 square meters, there should be 3 or 4 activated carbon air purifiers positioned in the living area next to the sofa, the bedroom, and the balcony, and each component should be in different corners of the room.

Next, it's essential to understand that activated carbon should be replaced regularly. Typically, honeycomb and pellet activated carbon under normal indoor conditions won’t last longer than 3 to 6 months. In poorly ventilated spaces with higher indoor VOC concentrations, the replacement cycle should be 2 to 3 months. An example is a family in Shanghai who bought Yihang Carbon’s honeycomb activated carbon and didn’t replace it for 8 months. It was later tested and found that the carbon had fully saturated and couldn’t adsorb VOCs. This meant that there was no improvement in the indoor air quality. In this case, the manufacturer’s recommendations of replacing the activated carbon monthly for the first 3 months and then every 3 months after that maintained a stable indoor VOC concentration, showing that the activated carbon replacement did work.

Combining Activated Carbon with Other Methods of Purification

Using just activated carbon by itself may not work best in completely removing indoor VOCs. Activated carbon works best alongside other purification methods such as ventilation. Regular and effective ventilation can reduce the workload of activated carbon by discharging VOCs from indoor air. For 2 to 3 hours every day, and especially in the morning and evening, when outdoor air quality is better and there is more VOCs to be removed, windows should be opened for ventilation.

This combination approach is used by a restaurant in Hangzhou. During non business hours, the restaurant staff use exhaust fans and open windows as Yihang Carbon’s pellet activated carbon is integrated into the exhaust system. Before this combination, the indoor VOC concentration was 1.8 times the standard for the restaurant. After use of the system in combination with open window ventilation, the VOC concentration was reduced to 0.3 times the standard in just one month. The use of activated carbon, in conjunction with negative ion generators and photocatalytic purifiers, increases improvement in removing VOCs. While activated carbon captures VOCs, other devices disassemble VOCs, thus creating a dual protection for indoor air.

Choose Activated Carbon From Trustworthy Sources

The effectiveness of activated carbon in eliminating indoor VOCs greatly depends on its quality. When you order activated carbon from trustworthy sources, you can be sure of the quality and safety of the product. Yihang Carbon has a 33,000 square meter factory, 392 Sleppe activation furnaces, and an annual production capacity of over 5,000 tons. Yihang Carbon has its own quality inspection department and tests each batch of activated carbon to make certain each batch meets the required industry standards for their adsorption capacity and purity.

Yihang Carbon has received several distinctions, including an ISO9001 Quality Management System, an ISO14001 Environmental Management System, and an AAA enterprise credit rating. In Beijing, a property management company once purchased cheap, unqualified activated carbon from an unknown supplier. The activated carbon was intended to remove VOCs from the air of a residential community, but it poorly adsorbed VOCs and released toxic contaminants, eliciting resident complaints. The company then switched to Yihang Carbon. After testing, it was determined the VOC removal rate was 85% and there were no safety complaints. This case demonstrates the importance of choosing activated carbon from a reputable supplier to safely and efficiently remove indoor VOCs.