Most facility owners and their engineers are wisely investigating the 20-year life cycle costs of capital equipment. Low initial cost for capital equipment most always means increased O&M expenditure and higher overall costs.

Air ionization for odor control applications has a number of advantages, one being low O&M costs as compared to other technology, to include wet scrubbing, biofiltration, carbon adsorption, and photoionization (or photocatalytic oxidation, PCO).

Air ionization requires:

• No Chemicals (Wet Scrubbing)
• No Nutrients  (Biofiltration)
• No Water (Biofiltration, Wet Scrubbing)
• No Spent Media Replacement (Carbon Adsorption, Biofiltration, PCO)
• No Spent Media Disposal  (Carbon Adsorption, Biofiltration, PCO)
• No Numerous UV Bulb Replacement (PCO)
• No Low pH Liquid Disposal  (Wet Scrubbing, PCO)
• No Freeze-Protection Problems (Biofiltration, Wet Scrubbing)
• No Problems With Intermittent Operation (Biofiltration)

With air ionization, one Aerisa ionizer module effectively treats 500 to 1000 CFM for wastewater odor control applications, but requires only 50 watts of power. Since ionization systems utilize the facility volume as a reaction chamber instead of using a tank as with most exhaust-only scrubbers, pressure drop is low, and the resulting fan power requirement is 75 to 80% less than traditional solutions.

System maintenance is relatively minimal; in general, quarterly air handler filter replacement and yearly ionization tube replacement are only required.  Ionization tubes are relatively inexpensive and their replacement should take only 15 minutes for a 5-tube Aerisa 5550 unit

The following table provides a 20-year present worth comparison between Aerisa ionization technology, carbon adsorption and wet scrubbing.  You’ll see the compelling advantage of air ionization–64% to 76% less O&M costs.

Click on the chart for a larger view