Hi Everyone, this is my first post on this forum. Whomever created this site did a fantastic job; its very impressive!

Just some quick background on our shop. We have a general automotive machining center just north of Chicago that enlists three hones that require a sump with the machining oil, and one with coolant. We also have a boring machine that will create a large amount of smoke when boring due to the machining oil soaking into the workpiece from prior procedures. Our solvent tank contains GrayMills Agitene Solvent, which is pretty potent itself.

Our shop is open and roughly is 2400sq. ft. of workshop space with no dedicated assembly room, which some feel is wrong, but it works for us for now.

I am interested in how some of you maintain air quality for customers when you have a large amount of cutting oils and machining fluids exposed to air?

I am trying to clean up the physical appearance of our shop and I believe that it will help with sales, but I also need to get rid of the blatant smell one immediately notices when they walk in the door.

The building was built in the 50s and we do not own it, so we do not want to sink a lot of money into it. The windows are fixed and do not open, there is a regular door for front entry, and a single (residential sized) overhead door in the rear of the building. We have a huge roof-mounted exhaust fan in our dyno room, but since it is 34 degrees out during the day that is not an option, and during the summer we have the a/c unit going.

I am sure that the constant odor is due to a few things:
1. extremely poor ventilation
2. airborne chemicals
3. low ceilings

If anyone has any relatively inexpensive ideas that seem to work I would be more than happy to try them. Thank you for your help in advance!

Graham Jones
FastTimes Motorworks

I just did a search on industrial Air to Air Exchangers and Thomas net came with a list of possible suppliers / manufacturers.

http://www.thomasnet.com/products/exchangers-heat-air-to-air-26623009-1.html

Basically you need to increase your air changes per hour to eliminate this "cloud". Obviously with direct exhaust your heating or cooling bill will drive you to stop the practice especially in Chicago this time of year.

An Air to Air exhanger is basically a fin plate design that allows thermodynamic laws to occur at a reasonable speed without killing your pocket. The good thing about A-A exchangers is they work in the summer and winter. You will not recoup all heat (or cooling) from the exhausted air but you should substantially reduce the loss and benefit from the air exchanges.

As to investment, some units available are package units that can be suspended in the ceiling area or wall mounted near forced air heaters and tied into the current exhaust / intake points. If/when you relocate your business, simply remove and take with you to your new shop.

The other thing to consider is creating some local exhausts with small exchangers. Consider hooding or enclosing the boring machine and venting the resulting smoke plume with an exchanger.

The sumps - can they be covered and have a small exhaust fan installed to vent the odors outside instead of letting them rise into the room?

Your solvent tank - Graymills boasts low odor - guess its all subjective. Are you using a homemade dip tank / vat or do you have something more substantial with a counterbalanced lid. Keeping a lid on the tank can make a big difference. Are you warming the solvent any or keeping it room temperature? Lower temperature will help to keep the solvent from vaporizing. I would not recommend venting this tank directly since you would likely increase the rate of evaporation of the solvent but making sure a lid is kept in place will go a long way. Also if the lid is not made easy to open and close it will NOT be used for long so a counterbalance or similar setup is needed.

Housekeeping is also critical. Are the machining oil containers left open to the air or covered?

You also mentioned low ceilings - can you partition some of the areas with the largest smells using vinyl strips similar to stuff used in loading docks? You would still be able to move equipment in and out but the strips would prevent flow of exhausts across your shop.


Just some ideas to consider.


Hope your able to breathe a bit better.

BMG