How Much Oil do Air Cleaners Remove from the Air?
Did you know: It takes approximately 16.8 quadrillion (1.68 × 10¹⁶) 0.3-micron oil particles to make one cup of oil.
A SmogHog electrostatic air cleaner, typically used in industrial and commercial environments, can remove a significant amount of oil mist, smoke, and other airborne contaminants from the air, often with an efficiency of over 95% for particles as small as 0.3 microns.
General Oil Removal Capacity:
While SmogHog units don’t usually specify their oil removal in gallons or liters (since it depends on the model, air volume, and application), here are some helpful guidelines:
- Efficiency: Single Pass >95% capture efficiency for submicron particles.
- Double Pass >99.5% capture efficiency for submicron particles.
- Double Pass >99.5% capture efficiency for submicron particles.
- Airflow capacity: Models range from 500 to 20,000+ CFM (cubic feet per minute).
- Oil mist removal: For heavy-duty units, they can typically collect several gallons of oil per week in high-load environments like CNC machining centers or centerless grinding applications.
Example Estimates (varies by application):
- Light-duty machine shop (moderate oil mist): A medium SmogHog unit might collect 1–3 gallons of oil per month.
- Heavy-duty machining center (continuous operation): A large unit may collect 5–10+ gallons per week.
Important Variables:
- Type and viscosity of the oil.
- If the density of the smoke is above 150 mg/m3, additional filter passes are needed
- Volume and speed of airflow (CFM rating of the unit).
- Duty cycle (continuous vs. intermittent operation).
- Maintenance practices (cleaning collector plates, replacing pre-filters).
If you need help improving your air quality and reducing machine downtime, we can provide new equipment and system design, or repair and maintain your existing equipment. Give us a call at (888) 451-0844.