MyCelx Air Filters Remove Oily Mist from Air

The Background

A large manufacturer of injection molding machines was suffering from an oil mist problem in their New England plant. Electrostatic precipitators installed at their major machining centers had proven to be ineffective.

The Problem

Air handling units located in the plant roof were so contaminated with oil that it was dripping down from the pre-filters onto the plant floor.

The Solution

New England Air Systems used the MyCelx CPS membrane to perform a test on the largest air handling unit. The pre-filters at the air intake were covered with a CPS membrane in an attempt to keep the oil mist from entering the unit. After three weeks the CPS material was soaked with oil while the pre-filters were clean and dry.

Consideration was given to installing pre-filters on all 24 air handling units, but the roof location made servicing inconvenient and this still left the plant air contaminated with oil before it reached the air-handling units. The decision was made to perform a test at the exit of one of the electrostatic precipitators.

A framework to support the membrane was built at the precipitator exhaust. After 30 days the membrane was saturated with oil with no measurable oil mist passing through.

The technology having been verified the next step was to install high capacity 2” pleated MyCelx Oil Arrest filters after the precipitator to conduct a full scale test. An exhaust duct was built over the precipitator to hold six 16”x 25”x 2” Oil Arrest filters (see picture). A differential pressure gauge was installed across the filters to monitor performance.

The Results

After 10 months of operation the filters were visibly stained with oil but still removing all traces of oil mist with no measurable increase in static pressure. As a test, four filters were blocked off and the two remaining continued to function with no pressure increase.

A two filter exhaust duct was installed on a second precipitator to complete the test.

Plans are underway to install filters on all 32 machines.
Comments from distributor: “ The MyCelx worked beautifully–perfect. The customer is extremely satisfied”.