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Tag: Air Purification

Air Purification Manufacturing
3d Printing Fume Extraction
July 29, 2021

3D Printing Fume Extraction

Three-dimensional (3D) printing is an increasingly popular technique for prototyping and additive manufacturing. The  ever expanding number of applications for 3D printing technology means the industry is expected to increase from $0.7 Billion in 2019 to $5.6 Billion in 2026. 3D printing can use a variety of materials including plastic, resin, ceramics, wood, metal, graphite, nitinol, and paper. Due to the diversity of 3D printing applications, the scalable nature of 3D printing technology and the rapid growth of the industry, every 3D printing company is likely to hit a point where the need for fume extraction becomes apparent. Similar issues surrounding fugitive fumes caused by various production and fabrication processes exist in comparable industries like laser printing, laser etching and laser cutting to name a few. For the majority of these industries, there is an alarming lack of awareness and education revolving around the negative health impacts attributed to fugitive fume inhalation in the production phase. Even though 3D printing is a fairly new idea, fume extraction is not. For more than 20 years, Aeroex Technologies has been at the forefront of developing mist and fume extraction products for the industrial and commercial sectors. With decades of experience and expertise in air purification systems, the team at Aeroex was able to modify and improve on already highly efficient filtration technology to meet the specific needs of the 3D printing industry. 

Challenges of 3D and Laser Printing

With many institutional and DIY newcomers to the 3D printing realm, health and safety is becoming an increasingly discussed topic. To understand the health hazards associated with fugitive fume inhalation, we must first understand where the fumes come from. In the process of 3D printing, filament reels are melted by the printer as it moves along the pre-programmed path. While heating and melting the material, fumes are generated as a byproduct of the process. The composition of the fumes will depend on the material being printed. Some of the most common materials like thermoplastic polymers (e.g. ABS) are known to emit styrene, a suspected carcinogen that also causes headaches, drowsiness, and fatigue. Some materials can be substituted to reduce the toxicity levels of fumes, but this does not discount that fumes will be generated regardless of material. 3D printing often takes hours and even days to complete a project, with machines running for a long time to print each layer. 3D printing is an incredibly powerful and scalable technology, but output rates should not be limited by health and safety concerns and you should not have to downgrade your materials from durable thermoplastics to reduce the risk of these fumes. Instead, an air purification system designed for fume extraction in 3D printing will allow you to safely continue your prototyping or manufacturing work without compromise to productivity or health. 

Aeroex’s 3D Printing Strategy

Before proposing a solution for 3D printing fumes, the engineers at Aeroex spent considerable time researching  the nature of the fumes generated by 3D printing including the materials involved, equipment used, typical shop configurations, and the nature of the fumes released (composition and quantity). Much like our medical-grade air purification systems and/or mist extraction systems that are used  for other processes that generate fumes like CNC machining, we apply the principles of source capture  and ambient control. In the case of 3D printing, processes are usually quite modular and the sources of fumes are easy to pinpoint. Therefore,  the source capture method is bound to be highly efficient because fumes can be extracted before they enter the ambient conditions of your shop, which would require purification of much larger volumes of air at lower concentrations. Our attention to strategy and deployment planning is a key consideration when many other air purifiers cite the performance of MERV or HEPA filters without a plan for you to experience this level of performance.

The Right Filter for the Job

Beyond our overall strategy, the filters in question will ensure complete fume extraction during 3D printing or laser printing. For fumes like styrene which are associated with 3D printing, Aeroex uses activated carbon filters with a HEPA standard for particle size and efficiency. HEPA (also known as high-efficiency particulate absorbing, as defined by the US Department of Energy and the EPA), has an efficiency rating of 99.97% for particles as small as 0.3 μm. Typically, fumes exist in the particle range smaller than one micron, making the HEPA filter the optimal application for 3D printing. 

Commercial HEPA Air Filtration Systems with Activated Carbon

Activated carbon is a powerful technology that removes airborne gaseous chemicals through adsorption (adhesion of molecules to a surface without inducing solubility), which is why it’s a trusted part of sacred processes like the treatment of drinking water and wastewater. Activated carbon is also the focal point of Aeroex’s air purification systems design for fume extraction in 3D printing and laser printing. In an industry where claims about carbon are abound, Aeroex goes beyond the competition. We use real carbon made of coconut shells. While some companies will use small sprinkles of carbon in their filters so it can be cited in their product description, Aeroex goes as far as filling the filter media with small elongated pellets. During fume extraction, the air is pushed through the pellets to maximize the adsorption process, providing you with superior efficiency and long lasting filters.. The composition of our activated carbon and the sheer amount of it we use is a key reason to choose Aeroex, especially once you begin to understand the underlying “gold standard” technology of our products versus others who claim to provide fume extraction.

There are both established 3D printing practices in North America as well as quickly emerging companies that are still fine-tuning their processes. 3D printing companies are quickly realizing the need to focus on health and safety, but we would encourage you not to rush – instead take time to understand your fume sources and the purification technology. Some companies are offering “technologies” like bipolar ionizers, hydroxyl generators, and disinfectant foggers (as reported by outlets like Mother Jones and Colorado State University) that claim to be quick fixes, when in fact these will leave you at risk without the fume extraction you truly need. Due to the growth of 3D printing and the ever expanding variety of materials used for printing, the industry is still zeroing in on the best methods of industrial air filtration and ventilation, like our HEPA filters. 

We Are Committed to Supporting the 3D Printing Industry

We understand 3D printing is a growing industry, and we want to ensure the health and safety of your workplace for the long term. Our superior quality means the fume extraction technology you receive will be long-lasting and scalable as your 3D printing business grows, while the filters we use have large amounts of media that reduce the overall costs of filter replacements, by widening the maintenance intervals and lowering the labour hours required for maintenance. This is why we have stationed every aspect of our product lifecycle in Canada, from manufacturing to customer support. While many larger companies outsource their customer service internationally, purchasing a made-in-Canada product means your air purification supplier is with you for the long haul. We want to make sure that your operations are successful and we will be there to help you make the right deployment and get the most out of our products. Check out our operation in Barrie Ontario, and contact us today to get started with your Canadian partner for air purification in laser printing and 3D printing. 

Air Purification
How Does Air Filtration Work
July 21, 2021

How Does Air Filtration Work?

With the identification of the novel coronavirus, we began to rethink the safety of our workplaces and what factors would need to be adjusted in the “new normal”. Within this context, the need to consider air filtration in the workplace became widely apparent. 

In 2020, it quickly became clear that many of the existing industrial air filtration systems were ill-equipped in their ability to adequately purify the air, notably in institutional facilities and other public workplaces like schools or offices. This finding demonstrated the need for greater investment in air purification. Despite this need, agencies are increasingly being asked to meet rising performance expectations while making greater use of limited funds. This means that the ideal air purification solutions that are needed can effectively mitigate risk, align with public health practices, and demonstrate investment performance. 

Medical Grade Air Purification

Aeroex understands the need for medical-grade air purification. We are experts in the science behind the process and have designed products to match. First and foremost, for medical grade applications, the main threat is biological matter (which is millions of times larger than the atmosphere’s molecules), therefore the filter efficiency should be very high, generally falling under the HEPA classification. However, this strategy does not help with small molecules such as VOCs. To tackle VOCs, one highly effective technique that is available involves a material called activated carbon. Understanding this, Aeroex uses multi-stage filtration processes that have compounding efficiency benefits in each stage, finishing with medical-grade HEPA filtration. 

Air purification needs to effectively improve the safety of the workplace in areas where there may be low ventilation or few options for physical distancing whereby in-room filtration is needed rather than products like UV lights which do not improve filtration. Aeroex products provide assurance and risk mitigation, and our understanding of the science behind medical-grade air filtration has allowed us to engineer state-of-the-art air purification systems used in public workspaces across North America. In-room air purification technology has been proven to significantly reduce the spread of COVID-19 by organizations like the WHO. Commercial HEPA Air Purifier filters should be used as an additional control measure to reduce the risk of exposure to COVID-19 – while they do not guarantee the complete elimination of a virus or replace any government recommendations, the performance they deliver will provide you with balanced risk management that keeps your facilities operational.

Aeroex IRIS Commercial HEPA Air Filtration Systems

If you operate a school, office building, or another public setting like a doctor or dentist’s office, Aeroex recommends the IRIS Medical Grade Air Purification Unit as a device that embodies the science of air purification and the practicality of your operation. It is specifically designed for occupied spaces that will protect your students and staff. Consequently, hundreds of our products can be found in school boards, colleges, and universities across Ontario, Canada.

IRIS Medical Grade Commercial HEPA Air Filtration Systems are equipped with a dual-stage, high-performance odour control MERV8/Carbon Primary filter and a 2nd stage HEPA filter with an efficiency rating of 99.97% @ 0.3 μm. Our exchange ratings use CDC guidelines to provide airborne risk mitigation through high-grade air purification. The IRIS series includes both portable and central purification systems and offers several secondary benefits like variable speed control and high-performance odor control.

Many cheap alternatives make big promises about the performance of their HEPA filters, but leave out key details about the capacity, air flow, and compatible room size for in-room air purification. This is a big issue that Aeroex is trying to combat – The effectiveness of an air purifier is usually reported in terms of efficiency, which can be misleading, as it only tells half of the story. The other crucial factor to consider is air flow. Together these two factors equal the Clean Air Delivery Rate (CADR), which is a better measure of how a device will perform. For example, 99.99% efficiency may sound great, but if the air flow is only 20 cubic ft./min. (cfm), one would be better off with a purifier at 90% efficiency and 50 cfm (CADR: ~20cfm VS. 45cfm). If the unit is incapable of providing sufficient air exchanges for the space it is located in, the efficiency rating is borderline meaningless.n. Make no mistake, Aeroex will deliver not just on the promise of long lasting HEPA filters but the availability of multiple models capable of an array of air flow ratings will make certain that a proper solution is matched to your needs.. For proof, check out our live demonstration of the IRIS-400 Medical Grade Air Filtration System in action versus smoke in an unventilated room for a visual depiction of how quickly we purify your workspace. We have successfully purified air for clients like schools, dentists, hospitals, and commercial offices. 

Aeroex IRIS-400 Air Purification System

IRIS 400 Photo

Aeroex Emphasizes Safety, Quality, and Trust

By purchasing an in-room air purification system, you are putting trust in a company and a product that will keep your visitors safe. However, many companies are exploiting the circumstances of the past year to mislead customers and distribute dangerous products. As recently as May 2021, it has been uncovered that thousands of best-selling air purification devices purchased by schools with government grants are producing toxic chemicals and do not work as intended. As reported by Mother Jones, one of the United States’ top manufacturers (Global Plasma Solutions) is now facing a $750 Million lawsuit from the State of Delaware, charging that company claims were “deceptive” and made the air worse due to the ions it discharged. Be skeptical of companies like Global Plasma Solutions who make claims of advent “technologies” like bipolar ionization. 

Aeroex has an established history of producing air purification systems well before the COVID pandemic. Our investment in efficient designs and our decision to manufacture our products in Canada are part of our strong commitment to valuing the trust you place in us. We strive for longevity and wish to gain your confidence through demonstrated results from tried-and-true technologies. Aeroex is a company you can trust to provide in-room air purification for your school or meeting space.  

Lower Total Lifecycle Cost

The maintenance requirements for your purification system should also be scrutinized – products with cheaper prices often rely on badly designed filters that need to be replaced constantly. The same way a printer company wants to sell you ink cartridges, many air purification systems want you to keep coming back for costly filter replacements. If you are hoping to upgrade your facility with an air purification system funded by a grant opportunity or similar one-time funding, Aeroex products are likely the better solution because they have lower operating impacts on your business in future years. Competitors often use a fraction of the filter media used by Aeroex, resulting in competitor drops in efficacy within a few months of application and increased maintenance costs from high filter changing cycles. Aeroex wants you to get the best value for your investment.

Contact Aeroex to Learn More

Before making any final decisions, we recommend contacting one of our technical specialists to help you select the right product for your needs and to go over your deployment plan. Contact the Aeroex team today to get started.

Air Purification Blog
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June 8, 2021

Industrial Air Purification Systems

Industrial Air Purification Systems explained: learn the ins and outs of Aeroex Air Purification Solutions.

Industry powers the economic activity of our society, processing raw materials and manufacturing goods to create supply chains, jobs, and products. With advances in technology, our industrial processes have grown in complexity, scale, and capacity. The quality of the air in the workplace has been an issue dating back to the industrial revolution, but it is an issue that has evolved and persisted into our modern industries like metalworking and food production.

Industrial air quality concerns are more complicated than previously thought, including dust particles, mist, smoke, and fume issues – if these aren’t addressed with filtration, businesses could face occupational health and safety, production quality, equipment performance, and environmental compliance problems. Aeroex is at the forefront of the air quality challenges experienced by industry and the science behind keeping your workplace safe with clean air.

What Are The Industrial Air Quality Issues?

Air quality is threatened by a wide range of airborne pollutants. Poor quality is caused by contaminant particles, which can be big or small and in solid, liquid, or gaseous form. Common causes include smoke, mist, and fumes. The issues that you face will depend on your industrial process (ex. manufacturing, woodworking, food production, etc.) or if you are in a public setting (ex. schools or medical offices). To simplify the wide variety of pollutants that are fully addressed by Aeroex, the most common airborne pollutants in the industrial setting can generally be understood as smoke, mist, or fumes.

Smoke: Solid particulates released into the air as a byproduct of combustion. Particulates will vary in size and composition depending on the temperature of your combustion process and the medium being consumed (for example, diesel). Common sources include engines and generators. Many of the solid particulates vary

in size from those such as oil mist, meaning they can be captured at different stages of the same multi-step filtration process used in Aeroex air purification systems. Check out the ARO series products to see how we achieve this.

Mist: Mists are the liquid droplets of a substance or mixture that are suspended in the air. Their safety impacts vary greatly with the materials being used, their chemistry, and whether the mixing of chemicals is taking place. Mists are often issues in industries where water or liquids are used or where spraying takes place. Common use cases that Aeroex caters to include metalworking, laser cutting, spray painting, and food processing. Products like our Mist-Fit Series specialize in oil mist collection for industrial air quality purification.

Fumes: Volatilized solid particles such as iron or aluminum are released into the air, condensing and oxidizing to form dangerous fumes. If unmitigated, fumes can cause health issues including lung damage and cancer. Fumes are commonly associated with industrial processes like welding, textiles, painting, and paving. Aeroex could address these risks with an ambient air purification system (typically roof-mounted). This is suitable for any commercial or industrial setting.

Industrial air quality pollutants may appear complicated, but they can be easily addressed with industrial air purification systems designed by Aeroex and made right here in North America. We are at the forefront of air quality filtration technologies and are equipped to tackle the latest challenges like the need for medical-grade air purifiers.

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What exactly is the distinction between an air cleaner and an air purifier?

Most of them think air cleaners and air purifiers are one and the same. However, there is a vast difference between the two.

Air cleaners filter the air and collect dust, especially the larger dust (mostly dead skin) and pet dander. Most air cleaners have a fan that, when turned on high, can produce a lot of noise pollution. An air cleaner is frequently evaluated using a CADR (clean air delivery rate) or the number of air exchanges per hour. CADR only tests for larger particles (pollen, dust, and particles larger than.3 microns in size) and not for viruses, mold, mildew, bacteria, VOCs, chemicals, or cigarette smoke. On top of this, replacement filters are expensive to purchase. The majority of people do not address the negative ion issue.

In contrast, air purifiers kill airborne pathogens that cause allergies and illness and operate quietly. Moreover, Air purifiers are less expensive to operate.

How Do Industrial Air Purification Systems Work?

Industrial air purification systems work by pulling the contaminated air from the indoor environment into a filtration system, passing the air through a series of mediums designed to efficiently remove all of the harmful particles before releasing it back into the work environment. For example, the ARO Series Mist Collectors uses four stages of filter media to target increasingly small contaminants with each stage. This is a simplification of a technical process that has been carefully designed by Aeroex engineers, who understand that separation is best accomplished in progressive filters of increasing efficiency that move from targeting larger particles to the smallest and most problematic. This general approach is always tailored and customized for what industrial air purification a user wishes to achieve. Solutions for contaminated air can be engineered to mitigate any industrial, commercial, or institutional contaminant, including oil mist, bacteria, dust, and other harmful particulates.

How do industrial air purification systems eliminate airborne contaminants and improve indoor air quality?

It depends on the vendor, as some will use older centrifugal technologies that don’t eliminate fine mist and require frequent after-filter replacements. In the case of Aeroex, we use filter technologies that pass the air through separating layers such as depth loading fiber, oil attracting mesh, HEPA filters that capture the smallest mist, smoke, and bacteria particles.

Ambient and Source Capture Methods

Industrial air purifiers are designed to provide filtration for smoke, mist, and harmful fumes. How you achieve this will depend on whether a source capture strategy or an ambient capture solution is the right installation for your facility.

Ambient solutions are a common approach regardless of your industry or process, and Aeroex clients may choose to mount an air purifier on the ceiling where it can be centrally situated. Like your existing air circulation systems, ambient capture continuously captures plant air, purifies it with the filter, and then circulates it back through your facility. Ambient capture will passively purify all the air in the room, meaning it is best suited for facilities where you do not have a discrete polluter and you wish to provide general protection. The disadvantage of this approach is that it may not be the most efficient approach if you can pinpoint a polluter source and use an air filtration system with an optimized location, in which case source capture will offer you more benefits.

Source capture filtration occurs by placing a mobile purifier at the site, or mounting it directly onto the emitter (Aeroex provides both types), to eliminate industrial pollutants directly at the source. Taking the time to understand the source of harmful contaminants will reduce your costs and improve health outcomes by designing for a more efficient and effective solution, which is why it’s always preferable to put controls on contaminants at the source.

Industrial Air Purification Systems in Action

Industrial air quality is an important determinant of the health of your workers, the performance of your equipment, and the success of your business. There is a wide range of issues depending on your industry that could include oil mist, food production by-products, smoke, or fumes, only a fraction of which are discussed above. The Aeroex series of products is ready to tackle all facilities, which is why Aeroex has completed 3610 projects in 51 industries. Check out our gallery of Aeroex industrial air purification systems in action, and if you have an industrial, commercial, or institutional challenge that was not discussed please reach out to our engineering experts.

Air Purification Blog
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March 5, 2021

Air Purifier For Schools and other educational facilities.

Air quality has always been important, however, it’s never been more top of mind than now! The current global situation has compelled us to reconsider air quality, particularly indoor air quality in enclosed spaces such as educational facilities. Let’s talk about the importance of air purifiers at schools

Maintaining air quality in daycares, schools, colleges, and universities presents unique challenges. Essentially, they are densely populated spaces in which people tend to spend extended periods of time, thus increasing exposure for students and faculty to contaminated air that may be present.

It is not uncommon to find airborne particles such as dust, viruses, bacteria, allergens, and mold circulating in the air.

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Our local schools should be clean and fit for learning. One way to reduce airborne contaminants and potential exposure to disease in classrooms and lecture halls are by using air purifiers. There are various options available, but essentially they all try to achieve the same result – clean air by neutralizing or filtering out contaminants.

What are Air Purifiers?

Air Purifiers are machines that either filter or neutralize airborne contaminants. They achieve this by employing various methods, but most can be classified in one of two ways: Filter driven air purification systems (such as HEPA air purifiers) or Needlepoint Bipolar Ionization, which neutralizes contaminants by ionizing the air.

What is a hepa air purifier?

HEPA filtration works by forcing air through a filter media, with numerous redirections in its path, causing 99.97% of microns smaller than 0.3 μm to be trapped. HEPA air purifiers are ideal for educational facilities as they are designed for use in occupied spaces, produce no byproducts, and can operate continuously with minimal maintenance.

Public Health Ontario has stated that “Air cleaners equipped with HEPA filters should be able to remove COVID-19 virus-sized particles from indoor air, which may contribute to a reduction in exposure to the virus.” (https://www.publichealthontario.ca/-/media/documents/ncov/ipac/2021/01/faq-covid-19-portable-air-cleaners.pdf?la=en)

Which hepa air purifier is the best for air filtration in Schools?

Aeroex has engineered the IRIS series of medical-grade HEPA Air Purification systems to tackle contaminated air in enclosed spaces. Ideal for applications in school classrooms, university and college lecture halls, medical waiting rooms, offices, and other high-traffic spaces. Aeroex air purifications systems are excellent for use in educational facilities as:

  • IRIS air purification systems come equipped with a 1st dual-stage MERV8 Carbon filter and 2nd stage HEPA filter with a rating of 99.97% at 0.3 microns.
  • Portable and central solutions are available.
  • Wall and ceiling mounts available.
  • Variable speed control is standard for many models allowing infinite adjustment to an ideal airflow and sound level.
  • Our units are classified by delivered airflow instead of rated airflow, making it easy to identify the suitable unit for a specific application. For example, the IRIS-400 delivers post filter airflow at the rate of 400 CFM.

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With over 20 years of experience in emission control and air purification, we have the right unit for your application. Our production facility is proudly located in Barrie, Ontario, Canada, and services all of North America.

Which IRIS unit is right for your application?

We have developed an online calculator to help you determine which unit is suitable for your specific application based on the room area and the required number of Air Exchanges per hour. (https://aeroex.com/air-purification-calculator)

If you have a hard time choosing the right air purifier for schools , or have questions about any of our products, and would like to speak to one of our clean air specialists, reach out to us.