Filtration quality in painting facilities
The filtration in a painting installation is a fundamental part and the quality of the final finish that is obtained depends to a great extent on it.
01/12/2019 - NEWS
In a booth there are different stages of air filtering, which depend on the complexity of the installation, the desired quality of final air and the type of paint and part to be painted. In the impulsion, in order to achieve an optimal inlet air quality, different filtering stages are foreseen before and after ventilation. In the extraction of air, one of the most critical points in the installation, there will be as many filter stages as is convenient and it will depend on the final quality of filtering that is necessary.
Filter classification
There are different classifications of filters, depending on the reference standard. The most complete classification is made by EUROVENT (European Committee of Equipment Manufacturers), who categorizes filters with a numbering from EU1 to EU17, from least to greatest in quality of final filtering. The efficiency of the filters obviously depends on the granulometry of the particles to be filtered, therefore, and based on the fact that a paint particle has an approximate average micron size of 1 µm with a EU4 filtration in the extraction, we would obtain an average filtering efficiency of 25% and by increasing the filter quality up to EU9 the efficiency would increase to almost 99%.
head losses
The pressure drop of the installed filters is proportional to the quality of the filter and to the number of stages of filters installed, so these calculations must be taken into account in order to be able to size the powers and flow rates of the extractors.