How to identify what CFM you need for your space.

How to Choose an Industrial Air Cleaner System

Industrial Air Filtration

Whether you need an industrial air cleaner system for your welding shop, machine shop, agriculture shop, automotive shop, diesel shop, bakery or another business that produces fumes, debris and /or smoke and chemicals—knowing how to choose the best industrial air cleaner and filtration system for you is critical to making the right purchase.

So, where should you start? How do you tell one model from another and ensure that the investment you make is not only valuable, but the best option for your welding or machine shop? Well, there are a few critical things to consider when choosing an industrial air cleaner or ventilation system.

First Step in Choosing an Industrial Air Cleaner

Determine the size of the space you need to ventilate and calculate the CFM (Cubic Feet Per Minute) need to clean that space properly. Below is the calculation used to determine how much air will be needed.

Applications Air Exchange Rates (Minutes)

Welding………………………………..........……………………….4-6

Grinding…………………………...........……………………………6

Plasma Cutting collection over a wet table….............................6-8

Diesel Smoke……………………………………..............…………8

Foundry………………………………...........…….…………………6-8

Plastic Smoke……………………….............………………….…..8-10

Wood Working…………………………..............………………..…8-10

General Ambient Air……………………....................……………...10

Step 1

Determine the AER – Air Exchange Rate from Table 1 that best fits your application needs.

Step 2

Calculate the total cubic feet of your plant work area:

Total cubic feet = L x W x H (maximum height 20’)

Where:

L = length of your workspace (feet)

W = width of your workspace (feet)

H = height of your ceiling in the workspace (feet)

Note – we use dimensions only to 20 feet as smoke, dust and fumes will stratify well below this height. Example: 24 ft ceiling height—20 ft.

Step 3

Divide the total cubic feet by the AER determined in Step 1.

Example:

Workspace is 100’ long X 60’ wide X 18’ tall

Total cubic feet: 100 X 60 X 18 = 108,000 cubic feet

Welding application

Medium use 5 as the AER (air exchange rate)

(from Table 1) 108,000/ 5 = 21,600 CFM

Second Step in Choosing an Industrial Air Cleaner

Consider the ease of installation and mobility. Depending on the size of your shop, placement of the industrial air cleaner is critical to getting the full value from the system. Knowing where to place it and how easy it is to install should be a factor in your decision-making process. If there are existing HVAC systems, cranes or fans already in place they will need to be addressed when considering how you will install an air filtration system. Your business will change, move and grow, and when it does—you might need to rearrange your industrial air cleaner systems or move them to a new location. Knowing how easy or complicated this task will be is an important, but often forgotten, factor in an industrial air cleaner purchase.

Third Step in Choosing an Industrial Air Cleaner

Efficiency is key. Just like a home heating and cooling system, you want something that is not only reliable but as efficient as possible to keep the costs of running and maintaining it low. Looking for lower horsepower ratings will help control the energy cost of running the system.

You also want to ensure the system doesn’t require outside ventilation because this could drastically affect your heating or cooling bill during different seasons. When it’s cold, you want to close up your shop/facility and still have clean air, likewise when it’s hot. Find a system that is self-sustaining—filtering air within the system itself and sending it back into the shop to recirculate.

Fourth Step in Choosing an Industrial Air Cleaner

Be aware of the cost and availability of replacement filters. Some companies custom size & color their filters to make them difficult to purchase and therefore more expensive. Find a solution that uses common sizes and efficiencies in their filters. This will help control costs when it comes time to find replacements. Industrial Maid uses all common sizes in our equipment to provide our customers with the flexibility of buying filters from many different suppliers.

Fifth Step in Choosing an Industrial Air Cleaner

Ensure you’re with a company that has a strong reputation in the market, experience in building, selling, and maintaining industrial air cleaners, and good customer feedback. An industrial air cleaner solution is an important investment for your shop, for cleanliness, and for the health of your employees. It’s worth your time to ask around and find out which brands customers are the most satisfied and happy with. The last place you want to be is waiting for maintenance/parts or for questions to be answered that reduce the effectiveness of this critical investment.

At Industrial Maid, we pride ourselves on always providing the best possible solution and customer service to all of our customers. We have an extensive engineering background that empowers us to build, sell, and maintain all of our products for our customers. Here are some of our most popular models: