Development of an Oil Mist Collector Equipped with Centrifugal De-oiling System

원심력 필터 재생기능을 갖춘 오일 미스트 여과 집진장치 개발

Health effects associated with metal working fluid (MWF) exposures include dermatitis, respiratory disease, hypersensitive pneumonitis, and asthma. Frequently, occupational exposures to MWFs are controlled by ventilating an enclosure with an air cleaning unit that includes a fan preceded by various kinds of filtration. There are several kinds of air cleaning units used in machining centers. But the associated troubles have hindered from efficiently using these devices. The main problem is the relatively short period of filter replacement. The reason is that the air cleaning units usually do not have the de-oiling systems, thus leading the earlier clogging of filters and reducing the flow rate of hood. Thus, the first stage of study was conducted to overcome this problem by developing the new oil mist collector equipped with the easy de-oiling system. The principle of de-oiling is that the centrifugal force generated by spinning the drum covered by filter fabric separates oils from the filter fabric. It would be very similar to the spin-dry laundry. By adopting this de-oiling technique, the problems associated with the conventional oil mist collectors could be solved. Several tests/analyses were performed to make the lab-scale oil mist collector. The collection efficiencies and the de-oiling efficiencies of commercially available filter fabrics were tested. Subsequently, the endurance test were conducted by observing SEM photos of filter fabrics and measuring tensile strength/expansion coefficient after spinning the filter drum for 20 minutes at the different rotation speeds. By doing these experiments, the most appropriate filter fabric and rotation speed/duration were selected. Finally, the new oil mist collector was designed. In the near future, this device must be tested in the real machining center.