What Is the Difference Between an Organic Air Charcoal Scrubber & a Carbon Filter?

Background

• Organic Air charcoal scrubbers and carbon filters both provide the same function: removing the odor-causing and potentially unhealthy gas molecules that other types of filters, such as HEPA (high efficiency particulate arresting) filters cannot remove. While HEPA filters can capture particles that are just 0.3 microns in diameter; gas molecules, such as those from smoke or chemical fumes, are still small enough to pass through. Unlike HEPA filters, Organic Air charcoal scrubbers and carbon filters both rely on layers of charcoal that contain millions of pores or tiny holes. The specialized charcoal, known as activated charcoal, is able to absorb gas molecules, as well as other air contaminants.

Multi-Pass

• The Organic Air charcoal scrubber is a multi-pass filtering device. This means when air enters the device, the air passes through a layer of activated charcoal multiple times before exiting. In comparison, with a standard carbon filter, air only passes through the activated charcoal a single time before leaving the filter. The multiple passes the Organic Air charcoal scrubber provides allows the device to more thoroughly strip the air of odors in comparison to a carbon filter.

Re-Circulation

• Deau Passe designs Organic Air charcoal scrubbers for use as re-circulating devices. This means you need to hook a scrubber up to an exhaust system that vents air to the outside. After taking in air and filtering it, an Organic Air charcoal scrubber will circulate the clean air back into the room. Whether a carbon filter is re-circulating or not will depend on the product it is installed in. For example, while air purifiers which contain carbon filters often re-circulate air, many kitchen range hoods with carbon filters exhaust air after filtering.

Pleats

• Unlike a carbon filter, which utilizes a layer of activated charcoal with a standard, flat design, the charcoal layer of the Organic Air charcoal scrubber has a pleated design. The charcoal is divided into several vertical pleats, or folds, which surround the cone-like structure of the charcoal scrubber. This pleated design helps increase the total surface area of the scrubber without increasing the amount of space that the scrubber occupies.