How to Improve Shop Air Quality

One major air quality issue is eliminating coolant and oil mist in machining and grinding areas, as well as the mist and odor created by draw oil in metalworking sections of a facility. In addition, most metal/aluminum polishing processes create extremely fine dust that can create a smoke-like haze throughout facilities.

The right air filtration system will offer low acquisition and operating costs, rapid payback and reduced energy costs. The best option for many companies working with metal is to use self-contained, ceiling-mounted ambient air cleaners. These cleaners continuously recirculate the air in a facility by training an air current that carries the dust, smoke and fumes up to the unit, purifying all of the air within the building rather than trying to keep it from getting contaminated like a source extraction system.

This type of ductless solution requires the units to be configured within an area in a way that creates a consistent air current by using both the draw of the intakes and the air blast of the exhaust.

It should consist of ductless, ceiling-mounted ambient air cleaning units that filter contaminants out of the air by maintaining a consistent air current throughout the facility and offer superior performance versus alternative air makeup or hi-vac source extraction systems.

Air makeup systems are expensive to install, and can cost thousands every month in lost energy because they evacuate so much heated or cooled air out of the building. In addition, they don’t work well for filtering dust, smoke or fumes from a building because they typically have a small draw area near the intake ducts. Hi-vac systems are expensive and require intake units within just a few inches of the source of dust, smoke or fumes—must remain this close as the source moves; otherwise, a large percentage of the pollution isn’t captured.

With a ductless solution, based on information supplied by the customer—shop layout, machinery, heat sources, doors, etc.—a custom air flow map can be created that shows recommended locations for unit installation by a competent electrical contractor. A flexible system design allows air intakes to be assembled to face any direction. You should be able to order units for a complete facility system or conduct installations in pre-planned phases.

Look for systems that feature silencers as standard features, which bring the noise level of the unit as low as 62dB, around 20dB less than most products on the market. Also consider systems that use standard 24” x 24” filters, which better ensure availability for whatever type of filter media you may need for your specific application, and replacement filters that are readily available and competitively priced.