RESPONSES - AIR FILTRATION AND FUME MANAGEMENT
Hernan Luna
Description
Collection
Title:
RESPONSES - AIR FILTRATION AND FUME MANAGEMENT
Creator:
Hernan Luna
Date:
5/5/2008
Text:
Dear Members:
Thanks for all your responses. Here is a listing. It seems that in most
facilities, the Kleenaire is the system in use currently. Does anyone have
a used one they are not using or a willing to part with? If so, please
contact me.
Judging by the number of responses I received requesting that I forward the
responses (they far outnumbered the actual responses) I believe this is a
topic that still needs to be thoroughly investigated so that we can
standardize exhaust and dust-collection systems in our facilities::
I have 8 Kleenaire Units from OPC and have found them to be effective. The
OB rep was in recently and argued how these devices simply absorb odors but
do nothing for the fumes, and that they must be vented outside. The
kleenaire's can be attached to a ventilation system. That is most likely
what I will do in the future. Activated Charcoal, the chief component of the
Kleenaire, is used in chemical warfare masks. I am no expert, but it would
seem that if the charcoal could effectively negate the effect of chemical
warfare agents, then it should effectively handle the air in my prosthetic
lab.
The Nederman Arm exhaust system is the best I have ever seen. We have it in
both of our labs.
<URL Redacted>
It is fairly expensive because it is a separate exhaust system similar to an
HVAC system but it is VERY effective. I sent a picture of the Nederman Arms
in our lab, they are flexible arms that provide the exhaust at the point of
service.
I wish you the best planning and results, economically feasible, for your
staff. As a CPO, I recollect frustrations with many sub-optimal work
environments over 15 years directly involved in O&P. With my situational
asthma and (ex-heavy smoker lungs) recurrent pneumonia, I've been fine
during a four year leave from our profession. As soon as my third child is
finally in Kindergarten, I hope to change jobs back to P&O practice. A fresh
air environment will be crucial in my future. That said...
Ideally, and foremost, control the exhaust from dust collection filters or
bags! This must be contained and fully vented to the outdoors, housed
separately, or designed for stand alone outdoors. Otherwise the micro
particles that escape these non HEPA filters/bags become airborne into the
work place AC system.
The above point is commonly neglected by HVAC pros, as central vacuum
systems are generally installed in home basements without direct external
exhaust. I can't stress enough the importance of the exhaust factor for
manufacturing and production of P&O devices!
I've seen many installed by HVAC service providers and some installed by
amateurs with Home Depot materials. Schedule yearly duct cleaning. The only
other point I'd make would be to look for used hoods from the restaurant
supply industry.
Have plenty of collection sites for fumes; above stoves and lamination
stations; at the bench level for heavier 50/50 Rigid Foam cyanide gas; a
floor vent for this and dusts. Some tool station hood-ducts should have
shutters and be closed off when not needed.
Contact Tony Jackovitch with Orthotic Prosthetic Components. 1-800-784-3948
Ask about Klee Air.
We have three in our office.
get an hrv or erv (energy / heat recovery ventilator). this runs
continuously and brings in fresh and expels indoor air.
Best to have an engineering firm that specializes in dust and air filtration
design work with you to ensure that you design both fume hoods and dust
collectors in a way that sizes the units for your facility, recaptures
exhaust air and filters so that you don't need huge make up air units. This
is not rocket science but it is science and engineering and my guess is your
staff is not well suited to design the systems you need.
We're here in Wisconsin, we work with Hastings Air Energy near Milwaukee
Wisconsin. You might want to email their chief engineer and ask for
certified firms in your area. Tom Rich is a great person to work with, I'm
certain he'd have a recommendation <Email Address Redacted>
I used to work in a large fab previous to opening my own business. We had
ducted systems. For lamination we used a system that was on an arm. It was
attached to the wall and you could move the head where you needed. For glue
tables we had a sheet metal hood. This was mounted to a standard table with
a butcher block top. All of these were custom made.
A ducted system just removes the air and sends it outside the building.
There are no filters or anything. Maybe a rain hood. Problem is that you
need to be able to return the same amount of air back into the building or
you will create a vacuum. This return air would need to be heated or cooled
depending on the temperature.
A ductless system runs all the fumes through a filter. You don't have to
worry about return air because no air leaves the building. Plus there is no
cutting the roof or walls of your building. A definite plus if you are
leasing a building. On the down side is the replacement of charcoal filters.
In my opinion, there are 2 separate issues. The first one is the dust
collection, and the best collector on the market is the Torrit (I think that
is the correct name and spelling), but they are very expensive and hard to
get. You can buy a cheaper collector at anyplace like The Home Depot,
Menards, Lowes or whatever you have in your area. I bought one of the Jet
collectors, the biggest one they had, and it does a great job for what I
need, which is grinding carbon sockets, plastic check sockets, etc. I do
all my own laminations here, and it is working just fine still. It was
about $300 I think.
The other issue of the fume hood, I had one custom made by a local person.
It also has a vacuum or air removal area that is at the level or the table
or workbench. Some of the fumes of the resin (especially the Otto Bock
Siegel Harz...or however you spell that) has some molecules or compounds
that are heavier than the air we breath. So, it is recommended to have an
air removal system at the back of the lamination bench to remove those
compounds. I just had them use a fan that is available at Granger, which
has a high CFM rating (cubic feet per minute). They installed it to suck up
the bad air from the back of the bench and also above the bench that is used
for the nasty chemicals that we use here.
There are some commercially available fume hoods available at restaurant
supply stores, and you might check them out. I didn't check them out,
because I had someone that I knew that could make a hood for me that would
do the work I needed to do.
OPC makes a filtration unit the contact there is Tony Jackovitch there
number is 800 784 3948
In expanding your facility it is best to design in this sort of
consideration. HVAC work is not cheap. I have personally designed, sized,
installed & serviced these sorts of systems. Fume hoods as well as floor
level exhaust is preferable. Both are needed because many chemicals, vapors
and fumes are heavier than air. In design, based on cfm and room size,
air-condition tonnage & required air change per hour a certain amount of the
bad air is purely exhausted to the outside atmosphere. A certain amount of
make up - fresh air is added to replenish the loss. This does mean
air-conditioned or heated air by the way from any room in this system.
Filtration is accomplished with activated filter carbon beds with pre and
post expendable pleated filters. If trying to do this after the fact there
are a few point of use bench top or movable filter systems. These usually
have some sort of snorkel to point toward the source of fumes. They are not
ever a substitute for correctly designed HVAC systems. Depending on the
volume of production, number of technicians and clinicians with this need a
decision can be made.
Hernan Luna, CPO, LPO
Allied Orthopedics, Inc.
1460 West 68th Street, Ste. #101
Hialeah, FL 33014
(305) 828-3090 Phone
(305) 828-5090 Fax
www.alliedorthopedics.com
Thanks for all your responses. Here is a listing. It seems that in most
facilities, the Kleenaire is the system in use currently. Does anyone have
a used one they are not using or a willing to part with? If so, please
contact me.
Judging by the number of responses I received requesting that I forward the
responses (they far outnumbered the actual responses) I believe this is a
topic that still needs to be thoroughly investigated so that we can
standardize exhaust and dust-collection systems in our facilities::
I have 8 Kleenaire Units from OPC and have found them to be effective. The
OB rep was in recently and argued how these devices simply absorb odors but
do nothing for the fumes, and that they must be vented outside. The
kleenaire's can be attached to a ventilation system. That is most likely
what I will do in the future. Activated Charcoal, the chief component of the
Kleenaire, is used in chemical warfare masks. I am no expert, but it would
seem that if the charcoal could effectively negate the effect of chemical
warfare agents, then it should effectively handle the air in my prosthetic
lab.
The Nederman Arm exhaust system is the best I have ever seen. We have it in
both of our labs.
<URL Redacted>
It is fairly expensive because it is a separate exhaust system similar to an
HVAC system but it is VERY effective. I sent a picture of the Nederman Arms
in our lab, they are flexible arms that provide the exhaust at the point of
service.
I wish you the best planning and results, economically feasible, for your
staff. As a CPO, I recollect frustrations with many sub-optimal work
environments over 15 years directly involved in O&P. With my situational
asthma and (ex-heavy smoker lungs) recurrent pneumonia, I've been fine
during a four year leave from our profession. As soon as my third child is
finally in Kindergarten, I hope to change jobs back to P&O practice. A fresh
air environment will be crucial in my future. That said...
Ideally, and foremost, control the exhaust from dust collection filters or
bags! This must be contained and fully vented to the outdoors, housed
separately, or designed for stand alone outdoors. Otherwise the micro
particles that escape these non HEPA filters/bags become airborne into the
work place AC system.
The above point is commonly neglected by HVAC pros, as central vacuum
systems are generally installed in home basements without direct external
exhaust. I can't stress enough the importance of the exhaust factor for
manufacturing and production of P&O devices!
I've seen many installed by HVAC service providers and some installed by
amateurs with Home Depot materials. Schedule yearly duct cleaning. The only
other point I'd make would be to look for used hoods from the restaurant
supply industry.
Have plenty of collection sites for fumes; above stoves and lamination
stations; at the bench level for heavier 50/50 Rigid Foam cyanide gas; a
floor vent for this and dusts. Some tool station hood-ducts should have
shutters and be closed off when not needed.
Contact Tony Jackovitch with Orthotic Prosthetic Components. 1-800-784-3948
Ask about Klee Air.
We have three in our office.
get an hrv or erv (energy / heat recovery ventilator). this runs
continuously and brings in fresh and expels indoor air.
Best to have an engineering firm that specializes in dust and air filtration
design work with you to ensure that you design both fume hoods and dust
collectors in a way that sizes the units for your facility, recaptures
exhaust air and filters so that you don't need huge make up air units. This
is not rocket science but it is science and engineering and my guess is your
staff is not well suited to design the systems you need.
We're here in Wisconsin, we work with Hastings Air Energy near Milwaukee
Wisconsin. You might want to email their chief engineer and ask for
certified firms in your area. Tom Rich is a great person to work with, I'm
certain he'd have a recommendation <Email Address Redacted>
I used to work in a large fab previous to opening my own business. We had
ducted systems. For lamination we used a system that was on an arm. It was
attached to the wall and you could move the head where you needed. For glue
tables we had a sheet metal hood. This was mounted to a standard table with
a butcher block top. All of these were custom made.
A ducted system just removes the air and sends it outside the building.
There are no filters or anything. Maybe a rain hood. Problem is that you
need to be able to return the same amount of air back into the building or
you will create a vacuum. This return air would need to be heated or cooled
depending on the temperature.
A ductless system runs all the fumes through a filter. You don't have to
worry about return air because no air leaves the building. Plus there is no
cutting the roof or walls of your building. A definite plus if you are
leasing a building. On the down side is the replacement of charcoal filters.
In my opinion, there are 2 separate issues. The first one is the dust
collection, and the best collector on the market is the Torrit (I think that
is the correct name and spelling), but they are very expensive and hard to
get. You can buy a cheaper collector at anyplace like The Home Depot,
Menards, Lowes or whatever you have in your area. I bought one of the Jet
collectors, the biggest one they had, and it does a great job for what I
need, which is grinding carbon sockets, plastic check sockets, etc. I do
all my own laminations here, and it is working just fine still. It was
about $300 I think.
The other issue of the fume hood, I had one custom made by a local person.
It also has a vacuum or air removal area that is at the level or the table
or workbench. Some of the fumes of the resin (especially the Otto Bock
Siegel Harz...or however you spell that) has some molecules or compounds
that are heavier than the air we breath. So, it is recommended to have an
air removal system at the back of the lamination bench to remove those
compounds. I just had them use a fan that is available at Granger, which
has a high CFM rating (cubic feet per minute). They installed it to suck up
the bad air from the back of the bench and also above the bench that is used
for the nasty chemicals that we use here.
There are some commercially available fume hoods available at restaurant
supply stores, and you might check them out. I didn't check them out,
because I had someone that I knew that could make a hood for me that would
do the work I needed to do.
OPC makes a filtration unit the contact there is Tony Jackovitch there
number is 800 784 3948
In expanding your facility it is best to design in this sort of
consideration. HVAC work is not cheap. I have personally designed, sized,
installed & serviced these sorts of systems. Fume hoods as well as floor
level exhaust is preferable. Both are needed because many chemicals, vapors
and fumes are heavier than air. In design, based on cfm and room size,
air-condition tonnage & required air change per hour a certain amount of the
bad air is purely exhausted to the outside atmosphere. A certain amount of
make up - fresh air is added to replenish the loss. This does mean
air-conditioned or heated air by the way from any room in this system.
Filtration is accomplished with activated filter carbon beds with pre and
post expendable pleated filters. If trying to do this after the fact there
are a few point of use bench top or movable filter systems. These usually
have some sort of snorkel to point toward the source of fumes. They are not
ever a substitute for correctly designed HVAC systems. Depending on the
volume of production, number of technicians and clinicians with this need a
decision can be made.
Hernan Luna, CPO, LPO
Allied Orthopedics, Inc.
1460 West 68th Street, Ste. #101
Hialeah, FL 33014
(305) 828-3090 Phone
(305) 828-5090 Fax
www.alliedorthopedics.com
Citation
Hernan Luna, “RESPONSES - AIR FILTRATION AND FUME MANAGEMENT,” Digital Resource Foundation for Orthotics and Prosthetics, accessed November 1, 2024, https://library.drfop.org/items/show/229328.
