In addition to the "normal" outdoor air pollutants interior air contains odorous gases which arise from sources such as food preparation and smoking. While these odors are more of a nuisance than a hazard to health, their removal utilizing attachments to the air handling systems already present in homes was felt to be a worthwhile goal. In addition, the techniques employed in removing odors can possibly be applied to the removal of more noxious air pollutants.

The purpose of this paper is to describe the experimental system which has been developed for measuring the per pass adsorbing efficiency of thin, low pressure drop, activated charcoal filters and the type of results which can be obtained with this system to provide engineering guidance toward the development of residential odor filters.