I Already have Air Cleaners, Why Is There Still A Haze in the Air?

When we are out serving our customers in the industrial manufacturing markets, we are often asked the question “I Already have Air Cleaners, Why Is There Still A Haze in the Air? This really comes down to three factors that you can audit in your facility to improve the quality of the workplace you and your employees work in.

Factor # 1 Particle Size:

Sub-micron particulates produced by manufacturing can be visible to the naked eye if larger than 7 micrometers. Some of the smaller particles are not visible to the naked eye and must be measured by a particle counter. The smoke plumes seen in the air are made up of a range of these sizes of particles. Interestingly the smaller particles can take up to several days to settle on a surface which raises challenges for employee health and morale. On a source capture system you can have particles escaping during the manufacturing process and it wont be visible to the naked eye. This is particularly a problem with manufactures who run 24/7. If you already have a source capture Air Cleaning system in place a common solution is adding an additional Ambient or Free Air system which then captures the particles creating the haze in your factory.

Factor # 2 Efficiency Rating

The efficiency rating of your Air Cleaner is another factor to consider. On a properly sized system you should be seeing an efficiency rating of over 90%. On the Electrostatic air cleaners we service we see an almost 99% collection of airborne particles. On Media Air Cleaners checking the MERV rating of your media filters helps you understand what efficiency rating you are at. Typically a MERV rating of 16 is collecting around 95% of airborne particles. Both Electrostatic and Media air cleaners need regular service and maintenance to perform at their highest efficiency.

Factor # 3 Machine Load:

Thermally generated smoke is produced in varying amounts from the different kind of job materials you run through your production equipment. If the material being used causes too much smoke this will cause your electrostatic or media air cleaner to become overwhelmed and the efficiency will fall significantly causing smoke to blow through the machine and evade capture. This problem is easy to detect because it is visible to the naked eye and if not a frequent problem the particles will settle in a few hours. If this is a recurring issue in your production facility, then you should look at adding additional air cleaning capabilities.

With 41 years working in industrial manufacturing facilities we have the firsthand experience to look at challenges in your air cleaning application and recommend changes that work within your budget and time frame. Reach out today to take advantage of our Free Air Cleaner Evaluation with no strings attached!

Thanks for Reading,

The Bee Clean Team

contact@beecleanspecialties.com

847.451.0844