Individual Soldering Fume Extractors for Single Soldering Stations

Even though the number of individual hand soldering or dip tinning stations are several in any assembly floor, many users prefer to use individual fume extractors for each station. This is for maximum flexibility during re-organising the stations according to the requirement of the day. The soldering station can be located elsewhere along with its dedicated fume extractor.

For individual soldering stations where relatively smaller components are soldered, we suggest the use of our Fumekiller® electrostatic soldering fume extractor model FK250 single pass filtration unit or the recommended FK250DP, dual pass fitration unit to be placed below the soldering station table. To capture the soldering fumes during soldering, we suggest the use of our self-balanced segmented extractor mini arm fitted to the edge of the table opposite to the operator seat.

The segmented self-balanced mini arm can be positioned as close as 3 to 4 inches from the fume generation spot to optimise the capture of fumes as well as operator comfort. During soldering the fumes are captured by the mini arm and routed to the Fumekiller® unit. Suction is provided using a low noise, high efficiency suction fan in the Fumekiller® unit.

Soldering fumes consists of fine particulates such as lead, flux, carbon, etc which are trapped in the Electrostatic filter modules and the clean air is released through the exhaust port.

For soldering of relatively larger components, possibly with multiple soldering spots such as larger PCBs, we suggest the use of a specially designed small SS booth with in-built lighting and an exhaust port on top of the booth. Here there is no requirement of the mini arm for capture of fumes. The exhaust port is connected to the Fumekiller® unit using PVC flexible hose.

The soldering is carried out within the booth confines. The fumes are sucked through the exhaust port and the particulates are filtered by the Fumekiller® unit.

Please note that the above are arrangements for soldering fume extraction using individual fume extractors each dedicated to a single soldering station.

Oil Mist Collectors

An oil mist collector is a vital piece of industrial equipment designed to capture and remove airborne oil mist, smoke, and other fine particulate matter generated during various machining and manufacturing processes. This innovative technology plays a crucial role in maintaining a safe and clean working environment, ensuring worker health and safety, and improving overall industrial efficiency. In this article, we’ll dwell on the key aspects and significance of oil mist collectors.

Source and Generation of Oil Mist:

Oil mist is produced in a variety of industrial processes such as machining, metalworking, and tooling. These processes involve the use of cutting fluids, coolants, or lubricants to reduce friction, dissipate heat, and extend the life of cutting tools. As these fluids come into contact with high-speed machining operations, they can atomize into tiny droplets, forming oil mist. This mist contains both oil particles and other contaminants, including fine metal dust, which can be harmful to workers’ health and safety.

Health and Safety Concerns:

Exposure to oil mist and its associated particulate matter can have severe health consequences for workers. Inhalation of oil mist can lead to respiratory issues, eye and skin irritation, and long-term health problems, including occupational asthma and lung diseases. Moreover, oil mist can accumulate on machinery, floors, and surfaces, creating slippery conditions that can lead to accidents and workplace injuries.

The Role of Oil Mist Collectors:

Oil mist collectors are specifically designed to address these concerns by effectively capturing and removing oil mist and airborne particulates from the workplace air. They employ various techniques, including mechanical filtration, centrifugal force, and electrostatic precipitation, to achieve this goal. Here’s how they work:

  • Mechanical Filtration: Many Oil mist collectors use a series of filters, often including pre-filters and main filters. The pre-filters capture larger particulate matter, while the main filters are designed to capture the smaller oil mist droplets. These filters can be made of various materials, such as fiberglass, polyester, or HEPA (High-Efficiency Particulate Air), depending on the specific application.
  • Centrifugal Force: Some mist collectors utilize centrifugal force to separate oil mist from the air stream. The mist-laden air is directed into a rotating drum or chamber, where centrifugal force causes the oil droplets to be collected for disposal.
  • Electrostatic Precipitation: In electrostatic Oil mist collectors, an electric charge is applied to the oil mist particles, causing them to be attracted to oppositely charged plates or electrodes. This technology is efficient in capturing both fine oil mist and particulate matter as these provide a higher capture efficiency proving to be a better choice for industries.

Benefits and Significance:

Oil mist collectors offer a range of benefits and are highly significant in industrial settings for several reasons:

  • Worker Health and Safety: By removing oil mist and airborne contaminants from the workplace air, these collectors help protect the health and safety of employees. This is particularly important in industries where workers are exposed to oil mist on a daily basis.
  • Environmental Compliance: Many regions have strict environmental regulations regarding the emission of oil mist and particulate matter. Oil mist collectors help industries comply with these regulations and avoid fines or penalties.
  • Machine Maintenance: Accumulated oil mist can damage machinery and lead to decreased equipment lifespan. Oil mist collectors help prevent this by reducing the presence of mist in the workspace.
  • Improved Product Quality: In industries such as metalworking and electronics manufacturing, oil mist can settle on sensitive components and affect product quality. Collectors help maintain clean production environments and ensure product consistency.
  • Energy Savings: Some oil mist collectors incorporate energy-efficient designs, such as variable-speed fans, which reduce power consumption, contributing to cost savings and environmental sustainability.

Diverse Applications:

Oil mist collectors find applications in a wide range of industries, including automotive manufacturing, aerospace, machining, and metalworking, where the generation of oil mist is common. They are used in machining centers, CNC machines, grinding operations, and other equipment to ensure a cleaner, safer working environment.

In conclusion, oil mist collectors are indispensable tools in modern industrial settings, where the control of airborne oil mist and particulate matter is crucial for worker health, environmental compliance, and efficient manufacturing processes. These devices play a significant role in mitigating health and safety risks, preserving machine integrity, and improving overall industrial productivity. As industries continue to evolve, the importance of oil mist collectors in maintaining clean and safe workspaces remains paramount.

Visit us: https://www.powertechindia.com

Fume Working

Understanding the Mechanics of the FumeKiller® Fume Extractor

Understanding the Mechanics of the FumeKiller® Fume Extractor

In today’s industrial landscape, where the importance of clean and safe working environments is paramount, investing in efficient air pollution control equipment like a quality fume extractor is not just an option but a necessity. The Fume Extractor unit designed and developed by Powertech Pollution Controls and marketed under the brand of FumeKiller®, stands out as an exemplar in this domain, designed to safeguard the health of employees and ensure optimum operational efficiency in diverse industrial settings.

How Does the FumeKiller® Work?

The FumeKiller®, a top-of-the-line welding fume extractor and soldering fume extractor, that operates on the straightforward yet effective principle of electrostatic precipitation. Each unit is equipped with electrostatic filtration modules for filtration of air that passes through. The filter modules are 2-stage electrostatic filters, where the first stage consists of parallel plates that are charged at a voltage of 10kV and the second stage consists of plates that are alternatively charged (positive and negative) at 5kV. When any kind of fumes, smoke, mist, or dust passes through the FumeKiller®, the particulate matter is charged with a heavy positive charge in the first stage. When passing through the second stage of filtration, the positively charged particles stick on the to the negatively charged plates after which the filtered air is let out from the outlet.

The FumeKiller® extracts the contaminated air from the workplace, purifying it from harmful fumes and particles and then releasing clean air back into the environment. This cycle ensures the consistent maintenance of a wholesome working atmosphere, protecting workers from potential health hazards associated with prolonged exposure to industrial fumes and contributing significantly to air pollution control.

Advantages of using the FumeKiller®:

As a fume extractor, what sets the FumeKiller® apart from the regular mechanical filters is the pressure difference. Mechanical filters require more pressure difference to be created on either side of the filter to ensure effective filtration of the fume or dust particles. On the other hand, the FumeKiller® units do not have any blockage on the path of the air flowing through it, which directly implies that the pressure difference is significantly lower. Because of this, the FumeKiller® units also boast a significant reduction in the power consumption for their operation.

The FumeKiller® has a high-efficiency of filtration, effectively filtering over 90 – 95% of fume or dust particles that pass through it. In particular, the device’s efficiency in dealing with welding and soldering fumes, marks it as an invaluable asset for industries engaged in these operations.

The Significance of Investing in a Quality Fume Extractor

Why should industries prioritize incorporating a fume extractor like the FumeKiller into their operations? Beyond ensuring compliance with occupational health and safety standards, a high-quality fume extractor plays a pivotal role in protecting the well-being and productivity of employees. By mitigating exposure to harmful fumes, businesses can reduce health-related absenteeism and medical expenses, ensuring a more productive, healthier, and more satisfied workforce.

The FumeKiller® Fume Extractor: A Step Towards Optimal Air Pollution Control

In a world where industries are increasingly held accountable for their environmental footprint, investing in a quality welding fume extractor or soldering fume extractor like the FumeKiller® is a progressive step. The device’s efficiency in purifying air aligns with global efforts towards better air quality, showcasing a company’s commitment to environmental sustainability and the welfare of its employees.

Capture and Control of CNC Oil Mist: Success of FumeKiller® model FK2000DPEM

Introduction:

The FumeKiller® finds use across a variety of applications. One of these is as an oil mist collector and on multiple occasions, the FumeKiller® has proven its mettle as an effective and efficient filtration system. In this post, we dive into one such project where the FumeKiller® was successfully implemented as an oil mist collector.

The Challenge: Control of Oil Mist Generated from CNC Machining Process.

The customer, a well known and established player in the manufacturing industry was facing a common issue faced when using CNC machines – Oil Mist.

The customer’s process involved use of neat cutting oil and the mist generated from the machining process would escape into the shopfloor when the doors to the CNC machine was opened after completion of the process. This led to the following issues:

  • Reduction in air quality within the shopfloor along with a possibility of oil mist settling within gaps of other machines and potentially cause critical systems failures.
  • Released oil mist also meant loss of usable neat cutting oil which would accumulate over time.

Any solution provided to the customer would need to be designed with all the above problems in mind and effectively solve each issue.

The Solution: Single FumeKiller® model FK2000EPEM mounted close to the CNC machine.

While the primary problem of air pollution was straightforward, the secondary issues needed to be addressed as well. After a thorough study of the workspace, the solution we proposed was to mount a FumeKiller® model FK2000DPEM near the CNC machine. The unit would be mounted on a groutable pipe stand at height greater than the CNC machine itself and the extracted oil mist could be reclaimed from the FumeKiller® drain point. The advantages of this proposed solution were as follows:

  • Mist Evacuation Methodology: The solution made use of the concept of evacuating the entire volume of air within the CNC machine within a certain time frame, usually 5 seconds, before the doors were opened after completion of the process. This way, the generated oil mist, which would also be evacuated out of the machine would not get released into the shopfloor.
  • Dual Pass Filtration: For applications involving oil mist, the filtration system needs to be equipped with two separate filters positioned one after the other to ensure a higher efficiency of filtration. Using the dual-pass system, the filtration efficiency would go up from 95 – 97% to 98 – 99%, which would imply that the air released into the shopfloor after filtration would be even more clean.
  • Collection of Filtered Oil: The FumeKiller® unit used electrostatic filter modules from which the oil particles would flow down as they accumulate. The filtered oil can then be reclaimed from the drain point provided on the unit itself and reused later.

Results and Impact:

The implementation of the FumeKiller® was a success which allowed for multiple benefits to our client:

Improvement in Air Quality: The complete volume of air within the CNC machines, which would include the generated oil mist, was being evacuated before the doors were opened and therefore, with no release of oil mist into the shopfloor, it resulted in a significant improvement in the air quality.

Operational Efficiency: The FumeKiller® model FK2000DPEM is a single oil mist collector unit that was equipped with a dual-pass filtration system, allowing for greater efficiency of filtration and therefore, even cleaner air being released into the shopfloor.

Cost Savings: Because the filtered oil could be collected and reused, the neat cutting oil for the process was more efficiently and economically used, which resulted in a direct reduction in operational costs.

Regulatory Compliance: The successful implementation of the FumeKiller® as an oil mist collector resulted in the customer meeting the required air quality standards within the shopfloor.

Conclusion:

This project is another example of the capability of the FumeKiller® and its effectiveness as an oil mist collector. With the variety of applications that the FumeKiller® is able to be implemented in, it is safe to say that it is probably one of the most effective air pollution control system available today. If you have a requirement for a fume extraction or oil mist collection system, get in touch with us today and we will work with you to design the best possible solution.

Visit us: https://www.powertechindia.com

Application of FumeKiller® as an Oil Mist Collector

At site, 8no.s of CNC machines in a row had to be provided with suitable mist collectors. All CNC machines generated mist / fumes from neat cutting oil which had to be captured and the pollutants in the fumes are to be filtered effectively. 

Our FumeKiller®, electrostatic filters are well-suited to capture and control fumes generated during machining processes in CNC machines. These fume extractors can be used for the control of oil mist (neat cutting oil) as well as coolant mist (water-based coolant). Lower suction capacity fume extractors (FumeKiller®) can be installed for individual CNC machines. In case of multiple CNC machines larger capacity fume extractors can be installed along with suitable ducting to capture and route the generated fumes from the CNC machines to the oil mist collector (FumeKiller®). For neat cutting oil fumes, we always recommend Dual-pass electrostatic filters to provide high-efficiency filtration of fumes / mist. For water-based coolant fumes / mist single -pass filtration extractors work satisfactorily.

The installation was carried out using our FumeKiller® model FK6000/5hp mounted on a low MS angle stand with a large oil collector tank below the stand. MS ducting was mounted above the row of CNC machines with droppers to connect individual CNC machines. Last- mile connections were provided using PVC flexible hose. Even though our standard FumeKiller® model FK6000/5hp uses a 3HP motor to drive the suction fan, in this case we used a 5HP driven suction fan to provide higher static pressure because of the length of ducting involved.  

It was found that for a 2-shift operation, the filters within the oil mist collector filtered the pollutants for 4 weeks before getting choked. The cleaning cycle for the filters was established at 4 weeks. Just before getting fully choked, the filter module as well as the prefilters and postfilters are removed and cleaned using pressure water pump at about 110bar pressure. The filters are dried using a compressed air jet and repositioned inside the fume extractor. Adequate training was given to the maintenance technicians to handle the equipment. All safety features were explained and demonstrated. The equipment was found to be working satisfactorily.

Visit us: https://www.powertechindia.com