THE SITUATION:

A North American automotive powertrain plant (1 million sq. ft) needed to change filters in oil mist collection systems every three to six months, requiring lengthy and costly shutdowns of entire machine lines during the change out.

The company approached CECO Environmental seeking an oil mist abatement system that would meet tough new OSHA regulations and could be installed entirely within the plant on a small footprint. Performance requirements included providing long filter life, easy access and replacement of filters, plus filters with minimal pressure drop and energy loss.

THE SOLUTION:

The most economical solution, the 750,000 clm CMC System, was designed, fabricated and installed by CECO Filters and Kirk & Blum to remove oil mist from the air stream with maximum economy, efficiency and up to 10-year filter life. The turnkey CMC System was also built in two phases in order to meet the customer's time line, as the plant was being completed and brought on-line.

The CMC System utilized patented CECO Fiber Bed Filters, providing 99.5%-plus efficiency in collecting sub-micron particles. Each of the 17 collectors was designed with 77 cylindrical fiber bed filters and rated 17,500 acfm. And, not only did the collectors filter oil mist from every machine line throughout the plant, they also met the tight space requirements.

THE RESULT:

The CMC System provided the company with an efficient oil mist abatement system that actually exceeded the new OSHA regulations, operating well below the OSHA threshold of oil mist concentrations of only 0.5 milligrams per cubic meter of air. Also, since the plant is air conditioned, the CMC System re-circulates air back into the plant, instead of exhausting it outside and replacing it with more costly make-up air. As a result the company has been able to reduce energy costs.

To date, no filters have needed replacement. When filter replacement does take place, the system will be shut down for only two hours while all the filters are changed out. And, because the CMC System facilitates side access to the collector and the filter size is relatively small, filters can even be replaced by hand.