DIY carbon air filter cartridge

[mrmisior]

DIY carbon air filter cartridge.
Want to make a frame for activated carbon pellets to fit inside an air filter / purifier.
I am thinking:
- thin timber frame
- rodent mesh screwed to the frame to keep the pellets in place.
The 'cartridge' needs to be about 35x50cm and about 1.5cm thick.
The branded filters of the type are made of plastic frame holding the pellets in hexagonal cells.
They are not available in the UK. They cost about $50 and need to be replaced every 3 months making it ~£150 per year.

I can get enough pellets for a year for ~£10 hence the idea.

Please share your thoughts.


If you want to know why I need the filter, I will vent out a bit below:
We have a daily (nightly) smoke ingress in the house from neighbors burning plastics, rubber, polystyrene. This can't be stopped by any authority. Tried everything.
Contacted council, housing association, environmental health division.
It is illegal in the UK to burn materials which emit harmful particles.
Neighbors (council tenants) started a dodgy 'metal recycling' by burning off tyres of alloy wheels and insulation of copper wire. Every single night from dusk till dawn. Going on for the last 2 months.
Authorities state that it is impossible to prove what I am "assuming". Tenants are allowed the occasional bonfire. Authorities will not come out at night to witness. They been to the property, saw the ashes "which could be from garden waste". Tenants denied any offence.

I looked around for a temporary solution. Unable to move out yet.

An air HEPA filter would supposedly remove some smoke and activated carbon would supposedly remove some of the eyes irritating plastics smell.

 

[Mottie]

Sounds like someone’s been watching Apollo 13.

 

[mrmisior]

Sounds like someone’s been watching Apollo 13.

not yet. is it good?

 

[Mottie]

not yet. is it good?

The film came out about 25 years ago. When they lost their oxygen, they had to cobble together a filter from what they had in the LM.

 

[foxhole]

Will make no difference to air quality . Sneak in garden and leave a gallon of diesel in there fire pit .

 

[mrmisior]

Will make no difference to air quality . Sneak in garden and leave a gallon of diesel in there fire pit .

i trust that it will make a difference. reading reviews on amazon, helped a few folk with a drift smoke, which it is.
i already keep windows shut from sunset in anticipation of the incoming smoke.
all the smoke, i get indoors if from letting animals in and out or the odd forgotten window in a bathroom etc.
not planning to keep windows open and hope for a fresh breeze fro this air-purifier!

my question still stands, if there is a better way of ,making the 'cartridge'.
essentially, it will be the same as the cooker hood carbon absorbing cartridge.
i could perhaps order one but size will not match and again - expensive it is.

 

[JohnD]

if it is at the back of your house, you could could put an air-inlet vent at the front, and use a fan to create a Positive Pressure Ventilation system.

This is used to prevent certain undesirable matter entering your house through draughts or gaps.

To do it cheaply, you can buy a 100mm or bigger ducted inline fan (these are very quiet) to bring in clean outdoor air, and blow it into the house through a vent in the loft ceiling, using plastic or metal duct.

It might cost less than £200 if you do it yourself. Electricity usage, hence running cost, is similar to a lightbulb, so insignificant.

You can add a dust filter if you want. It can be bought by the m2 and cut to size to fit your vent.

It is most effective when all the doors and windows are closed so it builds up a slight pressure. When you open the front door of a building like this, you feel a puff of air due to the slightly increased pressure. if you have a plain vent in kitchen and bathroom, it will push stale air out.

 

[mrmisior]

if it is at the back of your house, you could could put an air-inlet vent at the front, and use a fan to create a Positive Pressure Ventilation system.

This is used to prevent certain undesirable matter entering your house through draughts or gaps.

To do it cheaply, you can buy a 100mm or bigger ducted inline fan (these are very quiet) to bring in clean outdoor air, and blow it into the house through a vent in the loft ceiling, using plastic or metal duct.

It might cost less than £200 if you do it yourself. Electricity usage, hence running cost, is similar to a lightbulb, so insignificant.

You can add a dust filter if you want. It can be bought by the m2 and cut to size to fit your vent.

It is most effective when all the doors and windows are closed so it builds up a slight pressure. When you open the front door of a building like this, you feel a puff of air due to the slightly increased pressure. if you have a plain vent in kitchen and bathroom, it will push stale air out.

this is an excellent idea.
i have exactly that DIY, cost me less than £50 total actually.
this is working great.
problem is, when they start burning and wind takes the smoke towards the house, it engulfs the entire house so it sucks all the smoke in.
i must switch the fan off before sunset - it is on a timer now.

 

[JohnD]

that's a pity

the loft usually has the cleanest air, and it mixes with the warmest air at the landing ceiling.

If the smoke rises, could you put the fan downstaies? maybe close to the front door? It will be colder in winter, though.

 

[IT Minion]

Tenants are allowed the occasional bonfire

Have you tried approaching that aspect of it? If it's every night then that's not occasional. Then you've got a complaint about nusiance bonfires, irrespective of material.


Also, for burning commercial waste you want the environment agency. https://environmentagency.blog.gov.uk/2015/07/29/waste-crime-help-spot-it-and-stop-it/

They are separate agencies/organisations who are unlikely to talk to each other. So talk to them both.

 

[mrmisior]

Have you tried approaching that aspect of it? If it's every night then that's not occasional. Then you've got a complaint about nusiance bonfires, irrespective of material.


Also, for burning commercial waste you want the environment agency. https://environmentagency.blog.gov.uk/2015/07/29/waste-crime-help-spot-it-and-stop-it/

They are separate agencies/organisations who are unlikely to talk to each other. So talk to them both.

I talked to: housing association, council, environmental health division of council, police, fire dept.
Multiple times over last ~12 weeks.
I even prepared a log as requested.
They will not do anything. This is on the Gurnos estate, which you probably heard of on TV...

I will try the link you provided.
Thanks

 

[IT Minion]

I talked to: housing association, council, environmental health division of council, police, fire dept.
Multiple times over last ~12 weeks.
I even prepared a log as requested.
They will not do anything. This is on the Gurnos estate, which you probably heard of on TV...

I will try the link you provided.
Thanks

Councils aren't known for being proactive on nusiance complaints. No budget and it's not a core task. Good luck. Environment Agency could be more useful as improper waste disposal is a core task and they have, and do, hand out large fines for breaches.

You can always send it onto the local news paper, if you give it a toxic air, linked to Covid-19, spin then it might get their attention. Similarly looping in your local MP can work.

On the filter your approach seems sensible, sheets of mesh holding the pellets in place. I'd go for layers one pellet thick in-between sheets of mesh, to ensure there's plenty of holes for the air to travel through.