Cabin Odors Are No Match for Honeywell CHOC4

Cabin odors are more than just a minor annoyance. They are a serious problem that negatively affects the passenger experience and airline operating costs.

Passengers want to fly in a cabin that is free from the odors that sometimes accompany the air-travel experience, such as jet fuel, hot engine oil, deicing agents and engine exhaust. Odors like these can undermine passenger confidence and affect travel comfort.

For airline operators, cabin odors can cause operational disruptions like unscheduled maintenance, return-to-gate incidents, and on-time performance issues, delays and cancelations. In fact, it is estimated that odor-related incidents like these can cost a typical airline $1.7 million per year in lost revenue and extra operating costs.

Cabin air quality has been in the news and on the minds of airline passengers and crews in the post-pandemic period. Advanced technology from Honeywell can help airlines ensure that the air their passengers breathe is fresh and clean smelling from the moment they step on the aircraft until they land at their final destination.

Honeywell’s fourth generation Combined Hydrocarbon and Ozone Catalyst (CHOC4) is a unique solution that can remove  odor-causing volatile organic compounds (VOCs) and particulates from bleed air before it is introduced to the aircraft cabin by the environmental control system (ECS). Onboard carbon-filtration systems are often used to remove VOCs from recirculated air, but they don’t address the bleed air component.

CHOC4 is the latest in a long line of Honeywell ozone-conversion innovations for transport aircraft. Its unique fourth-generation approach enables CHOC4 to effectively convert ozone to oxygen and remove more than 90% of the VOCs that can cause unpleasant odors, passenger discomfort and airline disruptions. This compares to about 30% VOC removal for conventional dual-function converters.

CHOC4 is an upgrade to current ozone convertors and is available now for Airbus A320 aircraft. Honeywell can economically replace the existing core with a new offset-fin matrix infused with Honeywell’s proprietary catalyst. The re-coring process improves the converter’s odor-removing effectiveness almost threefold and extends its service life considerably.