Three Top Money-Saving Trends in Air Quality Management

New trends in dust collector system design are making air filtration more efficient and effective. Here is a quick look at three of these trends and how they might affect your budget.

1) Energy Efficiency

Smart controls and careful design help dust and fume collectors run more efficiently than ever. Systems that turn on when they’re needed and turn off when they’re not yield obvious savings. For source capture of weld fumes, automated controls can be connected to the weld torch so the dust collector only runs when the weld torch is on. For ambient systems, smart controls connected to air quality monitors can turn the system on and off in response to real-time air quality conditions.

Other dust collector features can produce energy savings, too. Technologies like Variable Frequency Drives (VFD) automatically adjust the blower speed to compensate for filter loading, so you can use less energy when filters are new. This can add up to serious savings over time.

2) Automation

Automation is sweeping manufacturing—no Roomba jokes, please—and it promises healthy returns on investment. Despite upfront costs, equipment such as robots and adaptive software are turning factories into smoothly running, highly productive automated facilities. Air quality equipment is becoming more automated, too.

Smart control systems like RoboVent eTell [https://www.robovent.com/features/etell-intelligent-controls/] use machine learning to automatically adjust system performance to save energy and extend filter life. Intelligent controls can also reduce maintenance costs by optimizing maintenance schedules based on actual system use and performance.

3) Flexibility

Flexibility is a must for today’s manufacturers, who need to be able to adjust production lines quickly to meet changing market demands. Traditional facility-wide ducted systems can be difficult to change, resulting in longer periods of downtime. Today, manufacturers have more choices in flexible, easy-to-move systems that ditch the ductwork.

For source capture, compact floor-mounted units like RoboVent’s Spire System can be connected directly to the hood and moved along with it as needs change. For ambient air filtration, manufacturers can choose from ductless ceiling-mounted units like RoboVent Vista360 or floor-mounted systems like Spire360 or Vortex. Eliminating ductwork saves money on installation and makes it easier to move things around as needed.