Central Exhaust System: Safely Removing Pollutants from Workshops and Machinery
A central exhaust system captures smoke, mist, and fumes from multiple machines simultaneously and directs them to a shared filtration system. This ensures uniform air quality in production halls and reproducible process conditions at machine tools.
When is a central exhaust system appropriate?
A centralized solution is appropriate when:
- Multiple CNC machines, grinding machines, or heat sources are operating simultaneously
- Large amounts of oil mist, emulsion mist, or smoke are generated
- Large areas of the facility need to be evenly ventilated
- Heat and moisture must be removed together
- A uniform filtration system is desired for the entire production facility
Advantages of a Centralized Exhaust System
Even indoor air distribution
A central exhaust system distributes the purified air throughout all areas of the facility via a shared duct system. This ensures consistent air conditions at all workstations, regardless of machine locations or heat sources.
Clean Machine Environment
The system reduces oil mist, emulsion, and particles before they settle on machines, guides, and electronics. This reduces the amount of cleaning required and helps components remain functional for longer.
Reduced maintenance requirements
Instead of managing many individual units, only one central filtration point is maintained, which significantly reduces maintenance efforts. Filter changes, inspections, and repairs can be scheduled and carried out with fewer operational interruptions.
Joint Heat Dissipation
In centralized systems, waste heat from machines and production halls is collected and removed. This reduces the thermal load in the machines’ working areas and lowers the thermal stress in heavily trafficked production areas.
Energy-Efficient Airflow
By combining the central exhaust system with heat recovery, the heat contained in the exhaust air can be specifically recirculated. This reduces the need for external heating energy and helps maintain a more consistent temperature in the hall.
Space-saving installation
Centralized systems are installed outside the production area and therefore require little floor space. This creates more room for machinery, logistics routes, and expansions during ongoing operations.
Our Products for Central exhaust Systems
Oil Mist Separator
An oil mist separator captures oil-containing aerosols from machines with oil-based cooling systems and directs them to multi-stage filters. This ensures that oil mist and droplets are reliably separated and removed from the airflow.
Emulsion Mist Separator
An emulsion mist separator captures moist aerosols and emulsion droplets from water-based cooling lubricants. The air is purified in several stages and prepared for recirculation or discharge.
Exhaust and Ventilation Systems
An exhaust and ventilation system combines centralized exhaust technology with shop floor ventilation. It removes pollutants and heat simultaneously and ensures uniform air conditions in production facilities.
What Makes AFS Special
- Centralized System Expertise: Planning, design, and implementation of centralized systems for entire facilities.
- Wide Range of Filters: Solutions for oil, emulsions, vapors, and particles.
- Integration with Ventilation: Centralized extraction and ventilation in a single integrated system.
- Service & Replacement Parts: Support for filter replacement and maintenance.
Request a central exhaust system now
Contact us to receive a customized quote for your production needs. Our team will assess your machinery, facility layout, and requirements and put together a suitable centralized exhaust system for you.
FAQ: More information
Metalworking
In metalworking, a central exhaust system is particularly useful for removing aerosols, oil mist, welding fumes, welding gases, as well as dust and particles generated during grinding and polishing. It also helps extract smoke and fumes produced during laser cutting and engraving, thereby improving air quality and ensuring worker safety.
Automotive Industry
In the automotive industry, paint mist and fumes are released during painting operations, while welding fumes and grinding dust are generated in body shop operations. A central exhaust system ensures that these emissions are safely extracted, which improves air quality and protects employees’ health.
Chemical Industry
In the chemical industry, harmful dust and fumes are often released during mixing, filling, and laboratory work. A central exhaust system can safely and reliably extract these emissions, thereby protecting employees’ health and ensuring compliance with safety regulations.
Aerospace
In the aerospace industry, the machining of lightweight metals such as aluminum and titanium, as well as the use of composite materials, generates carbon fiber dust and resin fumes. These materials can be released during grinding, cutting, and drilling. A central exhaust system is essential for extracting these harmful particles and fumes.
Medical Technology
Centralized exhaust systems are essential, particularly when grinding, polishing, and machining metals and plastics, as well as when handling chemical substances, since the manufacture of medical devices and instruments generates harmful dust, fumes, and aerosols.
Machine and Tool Manufacturing
In machine and tool manufacturing, drilling, milling, grinding, and welding generate large amounts of dust, metal chips, welding fumes, and other particles. A central exhaust system helps efficiently extract these emissions, protect the machines from buildup, and improve workplace safety.
Electronics Industry
Soldering, drilling circuit boards, and processing plastics can generate harmful fumes, solder smoke, and fine dust. A central exhaust system ensures that these harmful substances are extracted, thereby guaranteeing a clean production environment.
The operation of a central exhaust system can be described in 5 steps:
The first step involves capturing the pollutants: The pollutants are captured at the individual workstations or machines. This is done using special connections on the machines or through hoods that are connected to the central exhaust system via flexible hoses or pipes.
The pollutants are then transported through a piping system toward a central filtration system. A fan provides the necessary airflow to draw the particles through the piping system.
In the third step, filtration and separation take place using various separators and filter units. In the central filtration system, the pollutants are filtered out of the air or separated. Depending on the type of pollutants, different filter types and separators can be used, such as mechanical filters to remove emulsion mist, electrostatic separators to remove oil mist, or activated carbon filters to remove odors.
In the fourth step, the purified air is either recirculated back into the work area or discharged outdoors. This improves the air quality in the production hall.
In the final step, the system collects the captured pollutants in a collection tank. These tanks must be emptied regularly, and the filter elements must be cleaned or replaced. You can do this yourself or have us handle it as part of a maintenance contract.