Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory

This study evaluated the ozone removal performance of moderate-cost particle filters containing activated carbon when installed in a commercial building heating, ventilating, and air conditioning (HVAC) system. Filters containing 300 g of activated carbon per 0.09 m2 of filter face area were installed in two "experimental" filter banks within an office building located in Sacramento, CA. The ozone removal performance of the filters was assessed through periodic measurements of ozone concentrations in the air upstream and downstream of the filters. Ozone concentrations were also measured upstream and downstream of a "reference" filter bank containing filters without any activated carbon. The filter banks with prefilters containing activated carbon were removing 60percent to 70percent of the ozone 67 and 81 days after filter installation. In contrast, there was negligible ozone removal by the reference filter bank without activated carbon.