Activated Carbon Air Filter

This instructable shows you how to make an air purifier to filter pollutants such as tobacco smoke, pollen, solder fumes and many other organic materials out of the air that you breathe.

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Step 1: Needed materials and Basic Idea

Picture of Needed materials and Basic Idea

Computer fan
Activated Carbon
Glue
Window screen
pantyhose
Modeler's plywood
Basswood or balsa
12 volt AC/DC converter

If you have enough modeler's plywood, then you can make the frame out of that, but to save money, I chose to glue my frame together with some balsa wood I had. I had everything but the activated carbon, which you can purchase at pet stores, already at my house.

The purifier works by drawing air through the carbon and forcing it out through the top. The picture below is a cutaway view. The carbon surrounds the purifier on four walls with the fan on the top. The large surface area allows the air to pass through slowly which cleans the air much better.

beatbox.sir4 months ago

this is nice... and i could use it as a base research for my papers... thanks... but could a fan run in a 5 volts ac??

undrline11 months ago

I like this. Looks like I could make a less precise version out of anything, even popsicle sticks. I'm curious about the air flow, though. Especially after the carbon has settled, how hard is that fan working? I ask because I'd want to reverse the direction of the flow and make it flatter rather than cubed. Like you said, forced air is more difficult. Also, how often would the carbon need to be refreshed?

thanhoattinh1 year ago

Activated coconut carbon, Bentre provine, Vietnam

Angeeeeeeelika1 year ago

Hi. Is it possible to use activated carbon as car smoke filters?

Michael_Bell2 years ago

Great Idea, One idea though:

You can buy these dryer sheets that are designed to give you clothes a nice smell, you should buy a box of them and tape them to the window screen.

bettablue3 years ago

i have found something better than aquarium carbon.

you can buy surgical masks that have a type of active carbon material layered between two needle punched non-woven fabric they are great.

the needle punched fabric filters out dust
and the active carbon material can filter out bad smells
the surgical mask can also filter out viruses and bacteria so it works like a hepa filter! all you have to do is cut of the ear loops and the sides so the pleats open up then you can use it. it costs like £3.00 for 50 masks so it is so cheap and they last for about 1 month.

csatchell5 years ago

This device is exactly what I am looking for, but one question: How do you attach the 12 volt AC/DC converter to the fan wires?

Hatty (author) csatchell5 years ago

There is just a positive and negative wire coming out of the fan and I hook that up to the positive and negative output of the power supply. Its as simple at that.

killprogram Hatty4 years ago

ah yes but be careful when doing so i would recomend getting all of your connections together and semi-permanently fastened BEFORE even plugging it in and i mean i know it is dc but what if the transformer where to break just then? ill tell you what you would have a positivie and a negative end of AC power going from one hand through your chest and heart, to the other

Hatty (author) killprogram4 years ago

12 volts isn't really enough to break the skin and get into the body, so there really isn't much danger. But anytime you work with electricity you need to take precautions.

Wally_Z Hatty4 years ago

Well, you won't feel 12V. But if the amperage is high enough, it'll kill you if you let it arc across your heart.

Crapxxas19 Wally_Z4 years ago

12v cant arc across your body. The resistance of skin is too much. In any normal case, when working with 12v and under it is impossible to shock yourself unless you soak yourself in water for a few days.

Wally_Z Crapxxas194 years ago

If you actually READ what I wrote you will realize that I said "If the AMPERAGE is high enough, it'll kill you if you let it arc across your heart". Bad read^. AMPERAGE IS THE KEY WORD HERE. Google it if you don't know what that means.

Crapxxas19 Wally_Z4 years ago

You need voltage for amperage to kill!!!
I have put my fingers across a 12v 5a source and i didnt feel anything. You need at least 40 volts with moist skin to even feel anything.

Crapxxas19 Crapxxas194 years ago

Think of electricity like water. If you put your finger at the end of the faucet no water flows. This is like low voltage (pressure of water is low) and no amperage (there is no water coming out.) If you are using a hose, there is some water leakage because the pressure is higher so it means that amps are flowing. Basically you need some voltage to make amperage effective enough to kill.

GsE-Lance Crapxxas193 years ago

30mA kills a person at 230v,
Ampere = Volts/Resistance, in this case 12v / 1000r (resistance of the skin)
Therefore Wally_Z's arguments are invalid.

jonnybegood GsE-Lance3 years ago

Yeah yuo are rigth! V=R*I (V=Voltage in volts , R=resistance in omhs and I is current in amperes),WELL this is the OHM Law,and on the other side any DIELECTRIC have a constant, a point that change from not conductor to a conductor(For example the dialectric constant of the air is about 3 Kilovots(3000 vols)...so taht explain the spectaculr pictures of tesla or the ligting)..

Crapxxas19 GsE-Lance3 years ago

THANK YOU!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Some people need to know what they are talking about, SERIOUSLY!!!!

Crapxxas19 csatchell4 years ago

cut the wire open and solder the + to the red and _ to the black. If you cant tell which is + and - guess and if the fan doesnt work, switch the wires.

WERNER SLABBERT4 years ago

you might actually try three fans in line. say for argument's sake the first fan gives you one bar of pressure, a second in line would double that to about 2.3 bar of pressure and a third would then daouble that to about 4.6 bar. in theory that is.

gilbert20486 years ago

this could be good for a solder venting system

Hatty (author) gilbert20486 years ago

It actually does work as a solder venting system. The only problem is that it doesn't suck in air at a high enough velocity to make it effective. Even though it does suck solder fumes in and filter them very well, most of the fumes just go straight to my nose. If I wanted to make one, I would probably only have one side of carbon, use a converging nozzle into the fan, and only use a .25" thick wall of carbon. This would allow for a much greater airflow and, hopefully, pull the fumes away from my face. But, since I don't solder much, I think I can do without it.

Chowmix12 Hatty4 years ago

Instead of 4 inlet vents try limiting it to 1 so that the air pressure is not 'diluted' and you will have greater suction towards four soldering station... And also, the fumes going to your face are harmless, after going through the filter...

Andrew Heine Hatty5 years ago

increase venting CFMs (cubic feet per minute, flow rate) by making a grid of four fans to draw the air. or whatever amount is necessary. the air velocity through the filter should be 200 feet per minute, and big enough to catch all the fumes. quick calculation

gilbert2048 Hatty6 years ago

thank you for that, and yes i would use a funnel as well

Win7Maniac gilbert20485 years ago

Hey. . . GREAT IDEA!!! I've been wanting something like that for a long time, I can't believe I didn't think of that!

XOIIO4 years ago

Can you cut charcoal filters, or does all the charcoal stuff come out?

MrHyde5 years ago

for more pressure maybe use this http://www.instructables.com/id/Tesla-turbine-from-old-hard-drives-and-minimal-too/

chamunks MrHyde5 years ago

I'm curious how you would use this turbine to create pressure or apply the turbine to this. Maybe I'm just browsing instructables too late at night.

lemonshark10 chamunks5 years ago

By manually spinning the shaft of a tesla turbine th opposite effect is acheived and pressure is generated

!Andrew_Modder!7 years ago

cant you make carbon??? i saw in a science book you add something to sulfic acid and carbon is made :-\?

ci857s7 !Andrew_Modder!6 years ago

I dont think you can make carbon, unless you do some nuclear fission or fusion of lighter or heavier atomic nuclei. Carbon is an element.

!Andrew_Modder! ci857s76 years ago

oh i remember, if you put sugar into a thing of sulfuric acid, you can make carbon! thats all :-)

Shadowfury !Andrew_Modder!5 years ago

Or you could just burn some wood...

amddude Shadowfury5 years ago

lol

circuitbreaker amddude5 years ago

You can activate normal carbon, I have done it. You just heat it. you can also reactivate spent activated carbon the same way, it drives off the impurities it has collected.

Redgerr Shadowfury5 years ago

that was qutie funny

Win7Maniac !Andrew_Modder!5 years ago

Actually, the carbon is already there; the chemical reaction just separates it and takes it out of the sugar. However, you'd end up with a big, black blob of metal. . . Not much you can or would want to do with that.

punkhead58 !Andrew_Modder!5 years ago

Um...you can make carbon ash (charcoal) by burning wood, but in this case you need activated charcoal.

junits156 years ago

an extremely more affective way of making an air purifier is to buy a negative ion generator u can get them heresimply put the part with the prongs on it into a continous screen that is wrapped around this. the negative ions attract any type of dirt in the air and cause it to stick to the screen. only downside is that the screen needs to be cleaned every now and then. the negatitave ion generator can also be use to charge a lyden jar! :D