Hi. First post on site; appreciate any and all help.
I'm looking to build a method of fume extraction (modified fume-hood)
for my home 3D printer. I've searched this forum for previous
discussions on DIY fume hoods; they've given me a lot of ideas, but
nothing is directly on point.
Here's the context --- I'm doing this 3D printing at home, and want to
protect my family from possible risks of emitted ultra-fine particles
(UFPs). UFPs from 3D printing, in particular, have recently been
recognized as problematic. If interested, see the following lay
article:
My first take on a solution is to place the 3D printer in a completely
enclosed "box" (detailed below), with a ductless fume extractor
attached on top. (I need to go ductless, rather than ducted, based
upon the location of printer in my house.) Also, to emphasize, this
won't be a *true* fume-hood (modified instead to be completely
enclosed); no front-opening is planned, since I won't need access to
printer while it's working. I expect to remove the front panel to
access prints as they complete (often taking 1--10 hours depending
upon size).
My main points of uncertainty are the following:
(1) Sizing and selecting the fan
(2) Confirming that my HEPA + activated charcoil filters are sufficient
(2) Acrylic faces for all sides of enclosure, except bottom face
which perhaps will be Lexan or Sheet Metal (inexpensively cut to
order at HomeDepot/Lowes)
(1) I don't think I have to worry about obtaining a (more expensive)
fan with a motor out of the airflow, given that I won't be
producing particular noxious or corrosive gases; even so, I'm
happy to hear other opinions on this.
(2) I'll be judging the success of this build by doing before / after
measurements of air quality using a particle counter (the
supposedly respectable, but low-end, Dylos DC1100 Pro)
Questions:
(1) Do the above filters (in BOM) seem sufficient for this scenario?
(2) Any suggestions on filter mounts? (Currently, I was just going
to cut a whole in the acrylic and mount them somewhat inline
with fan.)
(3) How do you suggest I size and select the right fan (the
discussions on the forum seemed to focus on airflow over face of
operator, which is not german here, given that enclosure has
*NO* front openinig)? Any suggestions for a particular model?
(3) How do you suggest I size and select the right fan (the
discussions on the forum seemed to focus on airflow over face of
operator, which is not german here, given that enclosure has
*NO* front openinig)? Any suggestions for a particular model?
You will have to have an inlet of some kind as air can't flow out if it isn't coming in. The inlet could just be a number of slits strategicaly
placed. The total inlet area, outlet pressure drop across the filters, etc, and the size of your fan would then dictate the exhaust flowrate. For
filters I would say a HEPA for sure. The choice of absorber for the organics might depend on the type of organics. As a minimum I would have an
activated carbon absorbtion "filter." (I haven't read the supplied document.) You might Google "ductless fume hoods" for some ideas.
