I’m proud to announce that in addition to our current line of Fedders dehumidifers, we are the new worldwide distributors of several new dehumidifiers from Thermastor. We spent most of last year researching different products and manufacturers trying to find high quality, energy efficient dehumidifiers. We feel that the new Thermastor dehumidifiers have the quality, durability and energy efficiency that our customers demand.  We now offer a complete line of residential and commercial dehumidifiers, many of which are Energy Star certified.

The Hi-E Dry is our Flagship line of high capicty commercial dehumidifers with 3 models available. What makes the Hi-E Dry dehumidifers unique is that they are much more efficient than other commercial dehumidifiers on the market, cost less to maintain and use much less electricity. The Hi-E Dry dehumidifiers utilize a unique heat transfer technique that is capable of high volume moisture removal while using smaller and less expensive refridgeration equipment.

The Santa Fe RX dehumidifier is much quieter than other dehumidifers on the market making it an ideal choice for offices, homes, schools, museums and libraries. The Santa Fe Rx dehumidifier collects more water per kilowatt than other residential dehumidifiers. The Santa Fe Rx dehumidifier offers high efficiency humidity control and particle filtration for areas up to 2,200 square feet.

I’ve decided to start blogging occasionally about some of the unique and interesting projects I get to work on throughout my work-week. The first week of March has been like springtime down here in Charleston, SC. It’s been tempting to forward my calls to my cell phone, grab my wireless laptop and head to Folly Beach! But the fact is, I’ve spent most of my week at my desk working on some interesting new projects…

I received two separate calls from NASA this week. The first call was for a handheld particle counter (I quoted the Lighthouse 3016 .3-10 micron version and plenty of extra batteries). The second call was for personal gas detection equipment (still waiting to hear from the Crowcon UK engineers about operation in micro gravity environments). Those types of calls are pretty common, what surprised me was that these instruments are for the International Space Station.

The next day, I had lunch with a colleague of mine, Dave Kuck, who was working on an industrial air quality job for a diesel pipeline in the arctic tundra of Alaska. The guys up there are welding the pipe and mounting it on braces that raise it high enough so that the caribou can pass under it.

The welders work in small steel buildings that are moved with a crane to the next welding location. They are hundreds of miles from modern civilization, where there are no roads. They melt snow and ice to make ice paths for the heavy equipment to drive on. Dave is quoting a fume extraction system that can be mounted inside of the small steel structure. The fume extractor he recommended has an 10 foot articulating arm with a source capture hood that can be positioned above the welding point and extract the fumes before they get into the breathing zone of the welder.

He asked “have you ever worked on a project in such a remote location?” I said “actually, I quoted a project yesterday… outer space is a bit more remote than Alaska…”

: )

Another project I found interesting this week was for DuPont. They are monitoring their huge ducted air system for filtration efficiency. This will be accomplished by placing Lighthouse 3014P remote particle counters, between their 65% ASHRAE prefilter bank and their 95% Main filter wall to measure upstream particle counts and also downstream of the main filter to determine and monitor efficiency.

We are providing DuPont with some custom remote particle counters that will measure 6 particle sizes (.3, .5, .7, 1, 3 and 10 microns) with isokinetic sampling probes mounted at 45 degrees in the airstream. They are opting to write their own drivers and use the RS-485 port to connect to their fms system. We are providing them with the MODBUS protocol documentation and I’m sure our support staff will be able to help them with any connectivity or communication issues they may have.

There are a couple other projects that I’m excited about (including some smoke eaters for a new oyster bar Pearlz, opening downtown on East Bay St.). My intention was to blog about more projects today, but it’s after 7:30 PM on a Friday and I’m about to call it a week.

Jim Akey from Lighthouse took a couple of days off this week to play some Oregon golf with his buddies. I may go drown some balls this weekend myself. I haven’t played since last year, so I’ll probably just stick to the muni…

In this thread, we will be discussing mist eliminators for various types of machine shop applications. I’d like to begin by pointing out the importance of keeping fugitive mist under control. NIOSH has made recommendations regarding exposure levels for metalworking fluids, and has identified that numerous health risks can result from the absence of preventative measures.

Using a high efficiency mist eliminator is a more than ideal solution for properly dealing with machine mist overspray, whether at the source, such as within the machine tool enclosure itself, or localized to ensure that the errant mist doesn’t permeate the workspace. Naturally, the most effective method would be to duct directly to the machine enclosure, so as to capture the overspray as it’s applied to the workpiece, but not all machines are enclosed. For machines that aren’t enclosed at all, or only partially enclosed with fixed openings, a more localized or ambient solution is required. It’s a good idea to enclose the operation as much as possible; this will cut down on the amount of airflow needed and help to isolate the problem. If enclosure is not possible, usually the mist collector can be installed near the process, with a capture hood to hover over the process.

There are different ways to handle the machine oil mist, depending on the requirements for capturing the contaminants. Numerous factors, such as materials being machined, coolant used, coolant pressure, coolant type, operating hours, and many others, will determine mist collection requirements. For example, machining die cast materials can be extremely messy, and there have been cases where electrostatic mist collectors have failed in their attempt to effectively control the mist; therefore, a different solution had to be sought, such as media filtration. There are certain strengths and weaknesses associated with each type of filtration, so choosing the proper type of collection is of utmost importance.

Feel free to add your input to this thread; the more the merrier!

Out of the possible fume extraction methods, the most effective would definitely be source capture. This keeps the contaminant(s) out of the operator’s breathing zone, the area in which most negative effects can occur. Capturing the fumes at their source most often involves a source capture hood, such as a parabolic hood attached to a flexible arm that connects to the air cleaner, or a canopy hood localized directly over the process. Welding applications are more likely to call for a source capture arm with a hood attachment, whereas a machining process that gives off fumes and vapors is more likely to utilize a hovering canopy hood placed over the problem zone.

There are times when source capture is either not practical, or possible. In instances like these, ambient fume extraction is used to give the volume of space a number of air exchanges, based on the amount of contamination. I have encountered a number of applications in which using source capture simply wasn’t a feasible option. This one application in particular called for welding fume extractors, but the welders were constantly on the go, as it was simply touch-up work, so there was no time to reposition a source capture hood for anybody. The area in which their welders spent their shift was totally enclosed, so ambient collection was definitely possible… Unfortunately, the area was so large that to effectively circulate the air, it would take the airflow of a small monsoon, so that’s a dilemma in and of itself… There are definitely factors that come into play that will determine the ease or difficulty of solving a fume issue.
If a job is intermittent enough (for example, non-production), then portable fume extraction is usually preferred. This provides the welder(s) with a mobile solution that can be put away after use, conserving floorspace, and that puts a smile on some shop manager’s faces. That being said, some of the more effective fume extractors are roughly the size of a soda machine, but in some cases, you can’t make due with anything less. Larger production jobs that involve multiple workstations may benefit more from using a centrally located fume extraction system, with a network of ducting to provide each station with its own capture point. This is generally more economically efficient, from an equipment standpoint.

Now, on to filtration technologies…

There are certain applications that call for certain types of filtration/extraction; for instance, if you were working with lead fumes, an Industrial Hygienist may recommend that you use HEPA filtration due to exposure limits. It is very important that you choose the proper filtration technology to suit your needs; otherwise, chaos could ensue. A good bit of fume extraction can be handled with electrostatic filtration. This not only reduces recurring cost by providing washable, reuseable filters, but is often preferred for continuous welding applications due to filter loading capacity.
Another factor to take into consideration is odor. No, not welder’s body odor, but the olfactory properties of the welding oxides. True, by reducing the amount of oxide, you will reduce the amount of fume odor, but sometimes that isn’t quite enough. To effectively tackle this, you should consider using granulated gas phase media, more commonly known as activated carbon; as luck would have it, most industrial welding fume extractors can accommodate significant amounts of granulated carbon, and some modules are even bulk refillable, if you feel like getting your hands dirty.