Electrostatic Smoke Collectors may be a Thing of the Past
                                                                                                                                        by: Bob Loudermilk

For many years electrostatic smoke collectors have been favorably utilized by many cold forming companies.  I remember in the late 70’s when my family’s business implemented an entire line overhead of a long battery of 2die 2 blow headers.  We were thankful to be able to see across the room, let alone be able to breathe a whole lot better.  Monthly maintenance was performed on a scheduled basis, and we really didn’t think too much about it, other than it was time consuming, a dirty job, and somewhat costly.  Today, I walk through many shops which are still utilizing this method of smoke collection, only to make an observation that the majority of the time, contaminated air being extracted from the header’s ram cavities, and ventilation drops are being bypassed right through these systems.  Several recognizable factors, ie.. (greasy exit ducts, dripping oil, smoky air being exited) etc.. are dead giveaways that these units are not  being maintained, and only pose as an environmentally healthy safeguard.  I suppose with the competitive nature of fastener manufacturing being what it is, with cutting labor costs, and scaling back on departmental expenditures, it makes it easier to overlook this critical issue.

With a newer high tech smoke/ oil coalescing system that was strictly designed, and available for the cold heading industry, this issue is very much manageable, and much cheaper to maintain in the long run.  With this system, necessary monthly maintenance is a thing of the past.  Several heading companies which are taking advantage of this new system are enjoying the benefit of not having to service these systems for a period of numerous years.  The air is highly superior to that of the old way of collecting smoke, and are saving cold forming shops thousands of dollars.

As a North American distributor, Patriot Forming Technologies is proud to introduce the Clean Air America HS-2400 Zero Smoke/Mist Collection Unit.  This unit made in America, only takes up about a 4’ x 4’ footprint, and sits roughly 11 feet tall, therefore saving valuable floor space.   (3) Three stages of large filters are utilized for this process.  Although the 2400 uses filters in it’s operation, it is not the typical type of filtered smoke collecting process you may think it is.  This system actually pulls smoke out of the header, and off of parts, only to gather, and squeeze the smoke into oil droplets.  These droplets drain back down into a catch basin, and are reclaimed back into the former itself.  Yes, that is another attribute to adopting this method.  Oil reclamation.  For more information regarding this system, please click on the link provided.



If you would like more information about any of our Machines, please contact Bob Loudermilk, email: bob.l@pft.company or call 219-413-6128