Control.com - Nerds in Control

Has anyone ever used some type of air filtration unit in a control room for dust control? My TXP cabinets are extremely dusty and I was thinking about buying some air purifiers and placing them near the cabinets. Any ideas?

Best is to establish positive pressure in the cabinets with a small fan or blower and filter the intake. Dust comes from everywhere, we even get it sucked through conduit in the foundry. Providing clean air at a slight pressure controls all sources.

Regards

cww

Good morning Tracy

We have used the plant air to pressure our control cabinets.The most important thing to remember is that the air is oil free and dry.

hope this helps
Calvin Smith

Tracy,

Be cautious about putting plant air on an enclosure for positive pressure. In one of our mills, that was done in an equipment enclosure, but for some reason that plant air header had been switched over to nitrogen. The conduit run from that enclosure ran to an operators pulpit where the operator was overcome from oxygen depletion.

Chris

Dust always a problem - Are we talking about a big control or something small - if small you might try some of the Hepa room filters made by Honeywell and others. Another idea is the electrostatic type like one made by Sharperimage.

If this is big industrial installation and you might want to try searching web for clean room facilities that are used extensively in semiconductor world.

We have used panel fans with filters to exclude dust in production areas and machine rooms (we do not have control rooms). The important thing is to make sure you have filters on both the intake and the exhaust. (this keeps
dust from coming back in if the fan fails) In some cases we provided fans on both the intake and the exhaust in others just on the exhaust. You also need a regular maintenance program to change or clean the filters when they become clogged. Also you have to choose the filters for the type of dust you have (particle size etc). I doubt placing an air purifier near the cabinet will have much effect. Put the fans and filters on the panel which has the problem. Also make sure the doors are kept closed. That is often a big source of dust in panels.

James Bouchard

Thanks for the advice. I think I'll use fans and filters for the field cabinets and an air filtration unit in the control room.

Thanks again.

Tracy B.

I have used both of the following solutions effectively.

1. pressurize the cabinet with 1/2 " or so of air from your instrument air
supply IF it is oil, moisture, and debris free (or you can make it that way).
This always requires some kind of pressure regulator, some piping, etc, but is
well suited for virtually anything.

2. Buy a small fan, put it in the cabinet and blow air into the cabinet
through a filter, and out through a smaller filter. requires more maint because
the filter needs changing peridoically. Not a good choice where there is hose
down going on, or outside.

be aware that some panel moutned devices (some AB panelview terminals among
them) do not like having pressure on the inside, and may eventually fail if you
pressurize too much.

Bob Peterson