While welding, particulate and gaseous matter is produced. Some of this matter is harmful to human health. As a result, OSHA now regulates the maximum allowable amount of hazardous fume compounds.
How do fume extraction systems actually work, and why should shops invest in them? Fume extractors are tools that extract, filtrate, and collect hazardous material from fumes. Fume extractors come in several different formats, including: Portable Fume Extractors Portable fume extractors are small and can be carted around from workstation to workstation.
The hose is put right over the workstation and the machine sucks up the fumes and filters them. These are perfect for shops that do a lot of work in multiple different locations. Mounted Fume Extractors Mounted fume extractors have a static location.
These fumes extractors can be mounted on the floor, the wall, on the machinery, or on an elevated surface. Within this feature, the system will activate immediately once the welding fun begins to strike an arc. When the welder stops welding, a slight delay allows the smoke to travel through to the fume extraction system before deactivating the unit — usually between three and ten seconds.
The feature is very useful in keeping the blower from unnecessary use and works to reduce maintenance costs in the unit while also reducing noise in the shop.
Power adjustment is the ability to control the static pressure of the fume extraction system. This is useful for adjusting the blower against the parameters of the weld machine. Reducing power can help for reducing noise and energy consumption. There features also help in the event of weld porosity or gas turbulence within the weld. These are not common occurrences with fume extraction welding with a higher performing fume extraction gun and extraction system.
Automatic cleaning allows for the filter to be self-cleaned by the fume extraction system when a certain level of dust collects into the filter.
The system is either on a timer, or it is able to detect the need for cleaning by measuring the difference in actual static pressure against the pre-set power of the unit, which then initiates a self-cleaning of the filter. The welder can continue to weld while this process takes place. Shunt alarms are signals — either through a light of a gauge — to signal to the welder the need to replace the filter.
This feature can be part of a fume extraction system with automatic cleaning or without if you were to use a system with a replaceable filter. Fume extraction units and their outside casing are mainly made by metal sheet.
They are made this way because you want a unit to hold up to use and abuse within the industrial environment of a plant. Most of these units will use plastic components on the hoods or the knows of the unit, which is fairly standard although they typically prove to be durable over time. Inside a fume extraction unit lies the blower section, the filter section, and the dust collection section.
These comprise the three main parts of the unit. The blower is the part of the unit creating the static pressure, the filter section is cleaning the air that you capture and returning filtered air back into the environment, and the collect system is where the weld fume dust accumulated through the fume extraction process. The fumes are collected by the filter. These fumes are pulled into the filter and the particles are blocked by the membrane of the filter.
Some extraction systems have a cleaning function that cleans the filter as you push the air all around the unit as dust particles drop into the collection area. When using overhead hoods, you are stuck with a stationary fume extraction system that serves only one purpose. The challenges of non-portable equipment are directly linked to welder safety and overall productivity issues in the welding operation.
Often times, workers may have to weld in different areas of the plant. With a stationary system, this can lead to fumes spreading and potentially never being extracted. When you move, your equipment should be able to follow. For systems that are specifically designed to solve problems, they should never cause limitations in your operation.
The need for portability is a necessary component to fume extraction solutions as your workers will likely never be in one place at all times. Investment and portability go hand in hand.
As you decide which systems are best for your operation, you should consider your needs. Investing in a stationary fume extraction system may work best for a small plant or single welder, but in the long run will not be ideal as you grow and develop your facility.
Fume extraction units are electrically powered either on of V. The difference in power requirements for these units usually comes down to the power of the motor. Factors like metal type, wire size, amperage rating, weld position, and wire feed speed will all have an impact on the static pressure and flow requirement you will have for the right fume extraction system. Fume extraction systems come in two styles from a power perspective: high vacuum and low vacuum systems.
A low vacuum system will use less power and produce less flow, which may not be suited for all styles of fume extraction MIG guns. These entry-level units typically will have small filters and limited features. Within the family of high vacuum portable extraction systems there are many options and features. The main features are the capacity and strength of the blower to make sure it fits the application. The less powerful unites are in the 1-kilowatt range, while the most powerful fume extraction systems — at least for a portable system — can get up to 8-kilowatt in power.
The vital part of any fume extraction system is the blower. The flow and pressure the blower creates will be proportional to the electrical requirements. Portable fume extraction systems typically generate a lot of noise. The size of the motor and power of the blower will create a definite noise intensity. The better units will use a system that dampens the level of noise created.
Usually 68 to 85 dba is a commonly accepted decibel level for a portable fume extraction unit. Please do not hesitate to contact us if you have questions and comments about welding and cutting.
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