Gas-phase air filtration equipment (GPAFE) has been increasingly proposed and used to improve indoor air quality. Indoor air applications differ from the common industrial uses of the technology in that concentrations are lower and the identity of the contaminants is generally not known. Application of the technology has been hampered by lack of a standard test method that provides engineering design information such as capacity and breakthrough time for a reasonable mixture of components at the low concentrations encountered indoors.

The overall objective of this research project was the development and evaluation of test methods for full-scale gas-phase air filtration equipment (GPAFE) to be used in non-industrial building applications. The test methods were to provide designers and operators the technical data and information needed to undertake rational air cleaner design. The results were intended to support ASHRAE's future efforts to establish standard test methods for GPAFE, such as those of the SPC- 145P Standard Committee of ASHRAE.