Downdraft tables can be used in a number of applications, and are available in a variety of sizes. Whether you need to capture smoke, dust or fumes, a downdraft table will filter the air in order to eliminate the pollutants.
Downdraft tables or downdraught benches are workstations with built-in ventilation to capture and filter dust, smoke, and fumes and then return the filtered air to a shop floor which can eliminate costly exhaust and energy loss. The types of filtering on the tables can be wet or dry. Wet tables use a water mist to weigh down particles, which causes a unique set of issues. The following are the advantages that dry fume collection has over wet fume collection.
1 — OSHA/NFPA Compliance
• HEPA filtration meets OSHA Hex Chrome regulations for hazardous SST smoke.• Aluminum dross in water tables produces hydrogen gas and explosion hazards.
• Hydrogen gas and water table air bubblers are eliminated.
2 — Capture Efficiency
• Dry tables with properly engineered dust collection systems capture more smoke than wet tables.3 — Consumable Life, Productivity, & Cutting Speed
• Plasma in a dry system maintains a clean column and extends consumable life.• Cutting in a dry system is faster than cutting under water.
• Small part retrieval is difficult with water tables.
4 — No Corrosion
• Water causes mild steel to rust.• Water causes cutting table machines with dissimilar metals to corrode faster.
5 — Employee Safety & Health
• Overall facility air quality is improved.• General health of all employees is improved.
• Water table leaks cause slip and fall hazards.
6 — Improved Cutting Quality
• Water grounds the arc and pulls it away from high definition plasma.• Excess dross is created if the space between the plate and the water is not held to exact specifications.
• No splash back of water.
• Speed and quality are optimized with precision and small hole plasma cutting technologies.
7 — No Dirty Water
• No stagnant water for employees to deal with every day; no dermatitis.• No chemical stabilizers to keep the water clean as possible.
• Improved employee sanitation. Resident germs and odor.
• No disposal of dirty, oily or contaminated (Hex Chrome) water.
• No cleaning of wet sludge in bottom of table.
• Most recyclers will not take wet material; the metal dust has to be dry.
To read more about the advantages of dry dust collection and of units such as the Farr Gold Series, visit Camfil APC's website.
Camfil APC manufactures dust and fume collection solutions for a variety of applications, including laser and plasma cutting.
