Wake Up And Smell … The Carbon

Feb 3, 2015 By Darren Wight | Source: Bulk Transporter

While the truth may be that sometimes you can come out of any situation “smelling like a rose,” sitting for hours on end in the cab of a heavy duty vehicle or piece of equipment rarely leaves you feeling (or smelling) very fresh.

While operating heavy equipment or driving on-highway can be stressful enough, nobody said you have to smell and taste the dust, dirt and emissions surrounding the oilfield, construction site, highway or mine that you work around. Accepting bad air or offensive odors in the cab as a necessary evil of the job is just not necessary any more.

For many professionals driving or operating heavy-duty equipment, an invisible and uninvited occupant of their cabin may be contaminants and airborne irritants that can cause allergic reactions, nausea, watery eyes and headaches. It’s true that many heavy-duty vehicles must operate in some of the harshest environments on Earth, but the cabin air does not have to be harmful or harsh smelling.

Modern cabin air filters may be the forgotten safeguard for protecting a driver or equipment operator. A functioning standard cabin air filter can remove up to 98% of (5- to 100-micron) particles before anyone ever breathes them. The most innovative cabin air filters now add carbon and Arm & Hammer Baking Soda to the media to battle offensive odors. And while you cannot smell the carbon or baking soda, you can also not smell the odors they absorb.

Trucks delivering materials or hauling product off-site must drive into and out of the surrounding work zone, often accessing the site via rough, dusty and unpaved roads that can present their own air-quality issues. This makes the cabin filter media very important for trapping those airborne contaminants before cabin occupants can breathe them.

While filter performance and durability are thought of as critical for the powertrain and supporting systems, a quality cabin air filter may actually be the most important filter, as it protects the human component of the process — the driver.

Whether it is simply incoming fresh air, or air entering the cabin during the use of the heating, ventilation and air-conditioning system (HVAC), the environment inside the cabin of a heavy duty construction or waste-management vehicle is subjected to assault from exhaust gases, pollen, bacteria, dirt, dust and soot. Any one of these contaminants may cause an allergic or adverse reaction for the driver.

No matter who manufactures a cabin air filter, every filter eventually needs to be changed. It is important to change a filter every 12,000 to 15,000 miles, or according to the original manufacturer’s recommendations. Installing cabin air filters that utilize carbon and odor-removal applications, such as Arm & Hammer Baking Soda, can add increased operator comfort to the list of benefits.

Cabin Air Filter Facts

• Roadside air contains significant contaminants such as pollen, dust, diesel soot and smog
• Contaminants are two to six times more concentrated inside the cab than outside
• In most cases, heavy duty cabin air filters can be replaced in 15 minutes or less
• According to the Filter Manufacturers Council, more than 40 million Americans are affected by allergies in the U.S. A driver suffering from allergies will notice the impact of utilizing a clean cabin air filter
• A quality cabin air filter is capable of filtering out sub-micron and micron-sized particles, including dust and pollen particles ranging in size from 5 to 100 microns
• Quality cabin air filters can filter 98% of airborne contaminants