Application of industrial air cleaners in production halls

Abstract

Air cleaners are devices that an increasing number of people use to improve Indoor Air Quality (IAQ) in their homes and workplaces, especially in areas where the outdoor air is often excessively polluted. However, such devices, from small to large air flow capacities, are also widely used in the industries of developed countries to control and reduce the impact of the pollutants’ emission. This study deals with the analysis of experimental data regarding IAQ in a production hall with CNC machines in conditions of high concentration of emulsion vapors, focusing on the application of mobile industrial air cleaners, as independent and supplementary components of HVAC systems. Exper-imental data is obtained through measurements, conducted by two different methods using two different measuring instruments. Analyzed results show that the application of mobile industrial air cleaners can lead to significant in-crease of the number of production hall working hours, during which, according to U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), indoor air quality, according to PM2.5 (µg/m3), coincides with the “Moderate” air quality category, while it may also lead to occurrence of working hours during which indoor air quality, according to PM2.5 (µg/m3), coincides with the “Good” indoor air quality category. Furthermore, the application of mobile industrial air cleaners leads to the decrease of the indoor air concentration of particulate matter of all sizes in the range of PM0.3 to PM10. However, analysis also shows that the devices’ effectiveness in the PM concentration reduction is heavily dependent on the mobile air cleaners mutual position, as well as the time that has passed since their actuation.