Air Cleaning System Pricing for Industrial Oil Smoke and Mist Applications

As you might guess, there are a lot of variables that can affect the cost of an air cleaning system. Some items to consider are: whether you need a ducted, machine mount, or ambient air cleaning system; what type of air cleaner you want; how many CFM (cubic feet per minute) of airflow you need, as well as many other factors.

The best option depends on the primary contaminants, the type of machine or process creating the pollutants, the environment, the desired maintenance level, and many other factors. To break this down, we separate the three main categories of air cleaning systems: ambient, machine-mount, and ducted systems.

Ambient: Ambient air cleaning systems filter and circulate room air and are the most straightforward systems to design. You only need to decide how many times an hour you want to clean the room air and what type of air cleaner is best for your application.

Air volume required: Calculating the CFM (cubic feet per minute) required for an ambient air cleaning system is relatively simple. To calculate the CFM needed, multiply  L x W x H  minus the approximate volume of space filled by machines or offices, usually about 20%. Multiply this by how many times an hour you want to clean the air. Usually, this is between 6-10 air changes per hour. Divide this number by 60 to get the total CFM needed. So if the room you are cleaning is 150 feet long, 100 feet wide, has 20 foot high ceilings, and is 20% full of equipment, you would need 24,000-40,000 CFM. 

If the room or area with the air quality problem is not separated from the rest of the building, you would have to calculate the area of the whole building. This means that ambient systems are usually only a cost-effective option if the area that produces the smoke is in a smaller room or building.

Type of air cleaner: If oil smoke is the primary pollutant being collected, only a few types of air cleaners work effectively as an ambient system. We would recommend the SmogHog SHN or SGN series, but AQE and Trion also offer air cleaners for this application.

SmogHog

• SHN-10 (1000-1250 CFM) – $8,536
• SHN-20 (2000-2500 CFM) – $11,100
• SHN-40 (4000-5000 CFM) – $21,367
• SGN121 (2200-3000 CFM) – $15,348
• SGN221 (4000-6000 CFM) – $24,776

AQE (Air Quality Engineering)

• F62B (up to 2500 CFM) – $10,274-$12,804
• F73 (up to 5000 CFM) – $15,862-$19,028

Trion

• T1300 (up to 825 CFM) – $7,400
• T2600 (up to 1650 CFM) – $9,372
• T5200 (up to 3300 CFM) – $17,310

Machine Mount: Machine-mounted air cleaners are a typical oil smoke and mist capture method for CNC machines. However, this method can be used in other applications where the machine housing encloses the process that generates the smoke, for example, on cold forming machines with sound enclosures. Machine-mounted systems are also relatively easy to calculate. Only two main factors determine the cost of this type of system: CFM required and the kind of air cleaner.

CFM Required: To determine the required CFM, calculate the volume of air inside the machine housing (LxWxH) and use 4-8 air changes per minute. That means if the inside of your machine is 100 cubic feet, you would need to move 400-800 cfm.

Type of Air Cleaner: The type of air cleaner to choose is up to you, but for oil smoke applications, only a few machine-mount models do a great job of capturing the smoke. The MistBuster series is one of the best options available for this. SmogHogs MSH series is also a great solution. Their robust design ensures they will not need to be replaced for decades. Absolent A-line or A-smoke series cost more to maintain, but they are easy to service, and you can go years without needing to change the filters. TriMist air cleaners are a great budget option that can handle dense smoke. 

MistBuster

• MB500 (up to 500 cfm) – $4,488-5,170
• MB850 (up to 850 cfm) – $6,446-7,260
• MB2000 (up to 1650 cfm) – $9,812-10,230

SmogHog MSH

• MSH-05 (300-500 cfm) – $5,333
• MSH-11 (750-1500 cfm) – $7,133

Absolent A-line

• A-5 (up to 300 cfm) – $8,591
• A-10 (up to 600 cfm) – $12,283

TriMist

• TrM850 (up to 850 cfm) – $3,700-3,900
• TrM1000 (up to 1000 cfm) – $4,400
• TrM1400 (up to 1400 cfm) – $6,600

Once you decide on the type of air cleaner preferred, you will need to decide what type of plenum, if any is necessary. Plenums range in price from $200-$1000.

If you are considering machine mounting a larger system that requires more than 1650 CFM (like a coldformer with a sound enclosure), the SmogHog SHN or SGN series works great.

Ducted: Ducted systems are the most complicated to design, but when designed correctly, they are the most effective at capturing smoke. Ducted systems can be ducted to a single machine but are usually used when ducting multiple machines/contaminant sources to a single air cleaner. There are several factors to consider to figure out the rough cost of a ducted system: CFM required, type of ductwork, and type of air cleaner.

CFM required: To determine the required CFM, calculate the air volume inside the machine housing (LxWxH) and use 4-8 air changes per minute. That means if the inside of your machine is 100 cubic feet, you would need 400-800 cfm.

Type of ductwork: Calculating the cost of ductwork is relatively complex because many variables are involved. The first variable is whether you choose a spiral duct or clamp-together style with gaskets. The main factors are how many duct drops are required and how many feet of trunk line.

• Price per duct drop (calculated on 6” dia duct with a few feet of flex and a bell mouth entrance): Spiral – $1500, Clamp-together- $2000
• Price per foot of trunk line (calculated on 18” dia duct): Spiral – $40, Clamp-together – $70

Type of air cleaner: There are many different types of air cleaners available, but the types we recommend for ducted systems on oil smoke are SmogHog SHN and SGN series or Absolent A-smoke series. While these systems might cost more upfront than others, their lifetime cost is much lower. 

SmogHog

• SHN-10 (1000-1250 CFM) – $8,536
• SHN-10-M (1000-1250 CFM) – $14,030
• SHN-20 (2000-2500 CFM) – $11,100
• SHN-20-M (2000-2500 CFM) – $18,180
• SHN-40 (4000-5000 CFM) – $21,367
• SHN-40-M (4000-5000 CFM) – $35,488
• SGN121 (2200-3000 CFM) – $15,348
• SGN122 (2200-3000 CFM) – $23,326
• SGN221 (4000-6000 CFM) – $24,776
• SGN222 (4000-6000 CFM) – $40,804

Absolent

• A-smoke 20 (up to 1180 CFM) – $16,414
• A-smoke 40 (up to 2350 CFM) – $29,740-$41,887
• A-smoke 80 (up to 4700 CFM) – $68,491-$76,544

Pricing is subject to change but is accurate as of Sept 1, 2022