| By :
Terry S Vostor
Once a hood captures the contaminated air , it is carried away through ducts and is eventually discharged. Because the ductwork compromises a large portion of any ventilation system's resistance , it is essential for any contractor or factory owner planning a duct or ducting system improvement or upgrade to plan duct size and layout carefully in order to best minimize resistance. 1) Eliminate air currents around the work process before installing an exhaust hood. Air flow from open windows, doors , cooling fans, human traffic and heating may create cross drafts, which can interfere with effective capture of contaminated air 2) Minimize airflow resistance through good design and designs. Spray booths are equipped with some type of air-cleaning device to trap overspread and paint particles. The primary types are baffles ,filters and water washes. These air cleaners control the number of particles going through a system and help protect your neighbor's property and indeed the local neighborhood from discharges. Hood static pressure is the sum of hood entry loss and an acceleration loss. Grinding abrasive , blasting and woodworking setups and procedures will force air to move at great velocities and speeds and coerce and coalesce the airstream into rapidly moving paths and pathways. A plain opening hood is the simplest of all hood designs. To make the hood effective, place the opening as close as possible to the source of the contamination, because the velocity of air directed towards the hood opening is inversely proportional to the square of the distance from the hood to the source of contamination. Overall the efficiency of a hood can be improved greatly by placing a flange or flat rim around its opening to direct the flow of air into the opening. Plain opening hoods in the shape of tapered cone offer greater capture efficiency , are are available commercially. However if you do not the exact number calculation for the exhaust system manufacture red, there are standardized formulas for you to assess the calculation yourself 3) Enclose the hood as much as possible. Design a booth to handle your usual maximum work piece. The actual working depth inside a booth is smaller than its outside dimensions and dimension because a booth requires a filter or baffle at its rear, and no doubt this device takes up space. The working depth should accommodate this piece inside the booth not at its edge, and it must provide some clearance at the booth's rear. Unless otherwise recommended by the manufacturer booth dimensions ( width, height and depth) should be ten percent larger than the usual and standard maximum piece. Further and additional examples of examples of "capture velocities" which may be planned for an worked into the "mix". Consider kilns, clay mixing and foundry furnaces which could be classified as of moderate velocity into rapidly swirling and moving air. With plain open hoods , the crucial question is not the face velocity, but the capture velocity at the source of contamination. The air velocity at the source must be strong enough to pull the contaminants into the plain opening. For solvent vapors and gases, the capture velocity is normally set around 100 fpm and for welding fumes at approximately 200 fpm.Fabricated hoods normally are made of welded 16-gauge black iron, which can be most suitable of the contaminants are not corrosive in nature or effect. But black iron will eventually corrode when exposed to "acid gasses" and the like. Painting black iron both inside and out may well slow the corrosion. Furnish a system that provides a capture velocity which draws the contaminants completely and fully under the hood. It is always wise to use the recommended minimum capture velocities as recommended and stated. For example, a slot hood placed on a tabletop can use the table surface as a type of baffle whereas a canopy hood placed against a wall makes use of the wall itself as a convenient enclosure. In the end when it comes to safety and ventilation systems nothing but nothing will make up for proper and thorough planning, careful setup and installation and ongoing thorough maintenance.
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