Welding Workshop Overall Smoke & Dust Treatment Solution

Welding is a fabrication process whereby two or more parts are fused together by means of heat, pressure or both forming a join as the parts cool. Welding is usually used on metals and thermoplastics but can also be used on wood. The completed welded joint may be referred to as a weldment.

1. Characteristics of welding fume pollutants

The smoke and fume particles produced in the welding process are relatively small, less than 1.0 µm and more than 90%, making it difficult to capture the smoke and directly endangering the health of workers.

Smoke consists of a complex mixture of metals and metal oxides, mainly from filler metals, but can also include metal surface contaminants, such as dust and lubricants.

Smoke includes aluminum, antimony, arsenic, beryllium, cadmium, copper, chromium, cobalt, copper, iron, lead and other elements.

2. Harm of welding fume pollutants

Welding fumes can cause serious health problems for workers if inhaled, according to OSHA. Short-term exposure can result in nausea, dizziness, or eye, nose and throat irritation. Prolonged exposure to welding fumes can lead to cancer of the lung, larynx and urinary tract, as well as nervous system and kidney damage. Certain gases, such as helium, carbon dioxide and argon, displace oxygen and can pose suffocation risks, OSHA notes, particularly in enclosed work areas.

In addition to health risks, welding fumes also leads to reduced work efficiency, product quality issues, plant maintenance issues and environmental issues.

Therefore, Moland provides three common welding fume extraction methods in order to prevent the harm caused by welding smoke pollution.

3.Welding fume extraction methods

1) Cantilever type- capture at pollution source

Capture the welding smoke at source is always the most effective method. Hover the suction arm with a dust hood on the upper air vent of the dust production point, and suck the smoke into the purifier. The purified air that meets the indoor emission standard is directly discharged indoors, or it can be discharged outdoors through pipes.

2) Hood suction type - prevent the spread of the welding smoke

Different from the source capture, it does not directly capture the smoke at the source, but isolates the smoke through a dust hood with arc curtain to prevent it from spreading to other spaces in the plant.

There is a dust suction port above the Suction Hood, and the smoke will be sucked into the purifier through the pipe. The purified air is discharged through the exhaust port above the purifier.

3) Room type - for robotic welding

Room-type dust removal is suitable for the purification of fumes and smoke generated during the production of automated equipment, such as welding robots, welding machines,etc.

For working conditions such as robot automatic welding, circular seam and longitudinal seam welding, the Smoke Purifier is installed with the robot workstation, so that the workstation has its own dust removal function. The fume and smoke are effectively collected through pipes and dust hoods. The room-type design prevents the volatilization and diffusion of smoke to keep the air in the workshop clean.

4) Blow suction type - for complex workshop

Blow-suction type dust removal solution is a ventilation air flow composed of blown air and inhaled air flow. Therefore, it is a dust removal method that can effectively control the spread of pollution sources. This dust removal method is installing exhaust inlets on two-span center column or single-span side column (wall) and air outlets on the opposite wall column to form a circulating air flow to drive the smoke and dust into the purification machine, consequently performing overall dust removal and purification in the workshop.