AR filtrazioni is partner Uniaria

REGULATIONS ON EXTRACTED AND FILTERED EMISSIONS, BY AIR CLEANERS WITH RE-INJECTION OF CLEAN AIR IN THE WORKPLACE, WITH RATHER THE INDIVIDUAL MACHINE TOOL.

With over 30 years of experience with Oil and Mist extracting systems, AR Filtrazioni is a manufacturer of filters for oil mist and smoke, present on the international market since 25 years and member of UNIARIA“, Union of air filtration plants Manufacturers.

With this article, AR Filtrazioni wants to give companies and their environmental consultants a simplified reading of the Italian and international regulations concerning the extracted and filtered emissions by single, onboard mist collectors with re-introduction of clean air in the workplace.

First of all answering to the questions of metalworking companies, in relation to the technical requirements to be applied to join the general authorization:
– Do single oil mist extractors with re-introduction of filtered air into the workplace comply with the norms? Yes, absolutely!
– The obligation to expel purified air externally, purchasing an oil mist collector.
– What are the 3 basic requirements of the single filter systems with re-introduction of filtered air into the workplace and how existing systems can become compliant.
– What are the Italian and European legal concentration limits of air pollutants in metalworking workshops?

> TLV Italian 5mg/m3 
> TLV ACGIH 0,5 mg/m3

Air cleaners units AR Filtrazioni are totally compliant with Italian and European ISO EN 16890 (EX EN779) & EN 1822 standards.

Oil mist collectors of AR FILTRAZIONI are equipped with a high or very high efficiency filtration stage, according to European standards EN 1822, which ensure an efficiency up to 99.995% for particles > 0.15 µ (the average diameter of fume particles is < 1 µ).

By reaching very high efficiency levels, they guarantee performances in terms of safety such as:

– oil mist concentrations at the suction outlet of the mist collector less than 0.05 mg/m:
➢ 3, 100 times lower than the Italian TLV limit (5mg/m3) and 10 times lower than the more restrictive ACGIH TLV limit (0.5 mg/m3);

– environmental concentration in the workshop:
➢ Less than 0.2 mg/m3 (often around 0.1 mg/m3). Obtained with dozens of working machine tools during the winter months;

*results obtained from customers, measured by an external consulting company.

The analysis will be based on the regulations in force at national level, listed in chronological order.

• DLgs 152/2006 “regulations regarding air and reduction of emissions in the atmosphere”

• DLgs 128/2010 “amendments and additions to Legislative Decree No. 152 of April 3, 2006 on environmental regulations”

• Dduo 12772 (the last one issued on 23 December 2011 and used as a reference at national level).

Decree no. 12772/2011 – Mechanical Processing

 “Explanatory notes on the Annex concerning the activities of mechanical processing of metals with an oil consumption (as it is or as a fraction of emulsified oil) of 500 kg/year or more.

Technical construction and management requirements

– extraction of emissions
– expulsion to the outside and re-entry into the working environment
– spread emissions

Foreword

Mechanical processing has been considered to cause air pollution of little significance, by Italian regulations until the enactment of Legislative Decree no. 128/2010 (amendment and integration of Legislative Decree no. 152/2006) and by the Lombardy regional regulations which, thanks to a commission of technicians specialized in the sector, have highlighted the reality of mechanical processing, where it emerged that emissions are not always technically conveyable (for example, because of the machinery conformation), or it is preferable to use an on-board suction unit because of the continuous modification of the lay-out plant  which is typical for this sector for example, allowing – moreover – the re-injection of filtered clean air into the working environment.

Since Lombardy is the leading region, thanks to the high concentration of companies in the engineering sector, it has expressly outlined the guidelines in terms of safety, with regard to extracted and filtered emissions by air cleaners mounted on machines, with re-entry of clean air into the workplace.

The technical Annex n.32 published in December 2011 by Italian Region of Lombardy and widely considered as a source and reference at Italian national level, finally reflects the real production situation of engineering companies; in fact, many companies have challenged the obligation to expel the clean air outside for management reasons, fire safety, health, economy and environmental protection.

Expelled emissions in the environment cause unequivocally:

1 ➢  The increase of pollutant concentrations of external emissions. Today’s limit is 10 mg/m3 (an enormity that can be simply expelled outside the workshop, polluting the environment in which we live).

2 ➢  The increase of CO2 emissions in the atmosphere (because of air conditioning systems must continue to heat/cool huge amounts of air, that are expelled every hour, wasting electricity and money).

In this regard AR Filtrazioni estimates an annual energy saving of 415,00 Euro for each mist removal model ARNO 1VF with an air flow rate of 1700 m3/h, (considering a thermal delta of 15°C) with a consequent reduction of CO2 emissions equal to -9000 kg per year, for each system installed.

Please refer to Uniaria’s practical case study that shows the CONSIDERABLE SAVINGS of several companies in the sector:

3 ➢ the increase in costs for companies, for adaptation and operation of centralized systems such as:

• – application difficulties due to the presence of overhead cranes

• – complexity in changing the machine lay-out

• – waste of neat oil, because it doesn’t drain back to the machine for re-use or collection

• – hazard of fire

• –  total blockage of the suction/production in case of malfunction of even one system and/or during maintenance interventions.

In this regard, please refer to the article of the company LONATI spa, published in the magazine “Tecnologie Meccaniche“, which deals with the decision to dispose of an already existing centralized system, due to the important economic savings obtained with AR Filtrazioni mist extractions that recover more than 80% of the neat oil, draining back to the machine for re-use or collection.

In the case of Lonati spa, savings can be quantified with a simple multiplication, by taking the following factors into account:

– a machine park of 47 units, neat oil used as coolant.
– 6 liters per day drained back to the machine for re-use, thanks to the centrifugal force of AR Filtrazioni systems.
– considering an average liter price for neat oil of 4 Euro.

6 l x 4 € x 47 machine tools x 365 days = 411.720,00 Euro/year

The savings that led Lonati spa to choose AR Filtrazioni, dismantling a centralized mist collecting system already in operation.

After having collected and studied all the requests of the various companies/associations, the Lombardy Region has made it possible for Dduo 12772 from December 23rd 2012 to explain all the real possibilities to comply with the request for emission authorization, including the possibility of recirculation of extracted and filtered emissions through on-board air cleaners with clean air returned to the workshop through the top of the unit, specifying on which processing is feasible and defining the basic technical characteristics of on-board plants, to protect and ensure safety in the workplace.

This opens up the range of industrial oil mist filtration applications for companies that are no longer obliged to use a centralized system with external expulsion, but can choose the air cleaning solution that suits their needs best, including single air cleaner for each machine tool, to meet their unique production needs.

Annex 32 therefore contains the technical-management requirements to be referred to, in order to accede to the general authorization.

“This explanatory note defines the criteria, both administrative and technical-managerial, that the managers must refer to when submitting the application to join the general authorization and that the competent bodies must use in order to assess the same applications and during the control phase.

In particular are reported:

The criteria to be used for the submission of the membership application, the notification of modification and for the adaptation of installations, the criteria for assessing the following possible installations:

– extracted and expelled emissions to the outside.
– extracted and filtered emissions treated by air cleaners mounted on machines with re-injection of filtered air inside the workplace.
– diffuse emissions (not captured).

An illustration of the calculation methods that can be used to verify compliance with the condition indicated for diffuse emissions.”

For a company that performs mechanical metal processing such as:

A. Mechanical processing
A.1 Turning
A.2 Milling
A.3 Drawing
A.4 Grinding
A.5 Winding
A.6 Engraving
A.7 Cutting
A.8 Drilling
A.9 Boring
A.10 Shearing
A.11 Threading/ Tapping
A.12 Cold plastic deformation of metals
A.13 Punching
A.14 Seaming
A.15 Multifunction with more than one of the above phases

For the following raw materials:

1. Metals and metal alloys
2. Lubricants
2.1. Graphite
2.2. Emulsified oils
2.3. Lubricating oils used in the cycle
2.4. Lubricant-cooling oils
2.5. Stearates and similar

The first step in defining the scope of the technical Annex 32 is the quantity of coolant consumed per year, which must be more than 500 kg/year (as it is or as a fraction of emulsion, the quantity of oil consumed per year must be calculated as the difference between the quantity put into the production cycle and the quantity sent for disposal/recovery as waste oil).

For engineering companies with an oil consumption >500 kg, the technical management requirements of the various options available are immediately defined.

Technical-constructive and management-related requirements

The following requirements must be met:

(A) extracted and outside expelled emissions
(B) extracted and filtered emissions treated by on-board air cleaner with re-injection of filtered clean air inside the workplace
(C) Diffuse emissions (not captured)

Let us now follow the logical thread, which concerns exclusively the mist collectors installed on single machines, with the possibility to re-introduce the filtered clean air into the working environment (point B), highlighting the main characteristics.

B) Extracted and filtered emissions treated by on-board air cleaners with re-injection of filtered clean air inside the workplace. For the aspects of protection of the workers’ health and safety, reference should be made to the relevant legislative standards and technical guidelines expressed at national and regional level: the latter include Legislative Decree ddgs 7629 of August 10th 2011 for the relevant parts. In particular, thanks to the technological progress made over the last decade in the configuration of filter systems and their environmental and hygienic performances, can be possible to re-introduce the extracted clean air into the work environment, without prejudice to the need to safeguard the health protection of the workers by risks assessment and the application of technical, organizational and procedural measures.

Localized extraction units with re-introduction of filtered air into the working environment must comply in particular with the following three technical-management conditions:

 1 – FINAL FILTER HEPA 1822

The dust/oil mist collector must include a pre-treatment stage (e.g. metallic, synthetic, electrostatic) and a high-efficiency filter complying with the UNI EN 1822 standard.

link to Uniaria Course (Norme EN 1822 Corso Uniaria)

 2 –DEVICE TO MONITOR FILTER CONDITIONS

The system is including a function control device (e.g. differential pressure gauge/alarm).

 3 –ANNUAL MAINTENANCE

The operator must follow the control/maintenance procedure of the mist collector according to the timescales provided in the manufacturer’s manual. At least once a year, maintenance and inspection of the filtration system must be guaranteed and should be recorded.