Some facilities were built or upgraded in recent years, and thus include the latest in technology and systems for occupant safety and comfort. However, some facilities are still using outdated technology in their HVAC units and HVAC air filters. Below are some great benefits you’ll find when making an upgrade to your HVAC system.

Improved Indoor Air Quality (IAQ)
Improving the quality of your facility’s air is the main purpose of an HVAC system. Poor IAQ is associated with asthma attacks, headaches, dizziness, respiratory problems, and even carbon monoxide poisoning.

Reduced Costs
Heating and cooling accounts for about 40% of a commercial facility’s electricity costs. You can cut back on these ongoing costs with a more efficient HVAC system that won’t consume as much energy to operate.

Greater Occupant Comfort
There’s no question that proper indoor temperature and ventilation are key to maintaining a comfortable, healthy and productive work environment for the occupants of a building. This doesn’t just apply for humans and animals, either; heavy equipment also requires specific climate conditions to function properly.

Marketing/PR Benefits
Going beyond typical light bulb and recycling initiatives to upgrade your building’s HVAC system can draw environmentally conscious customers to your business, support a positive brand image, and even bring positive attention from local press.

Compressed air is undoubtedly an essential power source used widely throughout the industry. It is a safe, strong and reliable utility and may even be the most important part of your production processes. However, it also contains dirt, particulates and degraded oil, which all combine to create an unwanted condensate. This condensate is often acidic and can wear away at machinery, block valves and corrode piping. Discharging this contaminated condensate from your compressed air system is also harmful to the environment (and likely illegal). This is why any business that plans to discharge oily or sediment-laden wastewater to sewers must install, use and maintain an oil water separator.

Oil water separators from Greenleaf Filtration are a simple, economic and environmental solution for facility owners. They are installed as part of the compressed air system to reduce the oil concentration in the condensate that is collected. This means that the condensate is now permitted for discharge, while the concentrated oil that is collected is disposed of separately (and economically).

Your facility can save maintenance costs and help protect the environment with an oil water separator. They’re simple to install, operate and maintain, and will help ensure that your facility is meeting trade effluent regulations.

Air purification has been worked toward, to one degree or another, for over 200 years. The Industrial Revolution was a dramatic turning point in the history of mankind; unfortunately, it also introduced serious pollution to urban areas. Advancements in technology, as well as increasing awareness about the dangers of less obvious forms of pollution, eventually lead to the creation of modern air purifiers that so many homes and businesses rely on today.

HEPA (High Efficiency Particular Air) filters were developed by the US Atomic Energy Commission to filter out highly hazardous aerosols, toxic carcinogens, radioactive particles and biohazardous contaminates. This new technology (originally classified as top-secret) was capable of pulling 99.97% of impurities from the air, down to as small as 0.3 microns.

In 1963, US Congress passed the Clean Air Act to set standards for the reduction of air pollution through fuel emissions standards. This alerted scientists and consumers of the need to protect our lungs from pollutants such as perfumes, building materials, chemicals, pesticides, and allergens.

As more consumers became concerned about air pollution, HEPA air filters became popular in the 1970’s and 1980’s (and they were no longer classified as top-secret). However, at the time, they were bulky and difficult to operate. Today, air purifiers and sterile air filters are used in a variety of critical filtration applications in nuclear, electronic, aerospace, pharmaceutical and medical fields, as well as in homes around the world.

Compressed air is a gas (or combination of gases) that has been put under greater pressure than the air found in a typical environment.  At it’s most basic level, compressed air is potential energy – very much like a compressed spring. It takes energy to compress a spring, and when that pressure is released, the potential energy stored in the compressed spring (or in this case, the air) is also released. That energy can then be used to produce “work”. Compressed air is often referred to as a production facility’s “fourth utility”, after electricity, water and gas.

As compressed air is expanded, it can be used directly as a motive force. There are numerous and diverse applications for compressed air, such as tire pumps, air rifles, aerosol cans, and even jackhammers. However, one cubic foot of compressed air can contain millions of dirt particles, considerable amounts of water and oil, and even heavy metals like lead and mercury. Therefore, the right compressed air preparation is essential.

At Greenleaf Filtration, you’ll find one of the most comprehensive ranges compressed air filters available today. Our filters can help trap dirt particles and other impurities that can prevent your air compressor from operating at peak performance. Liquid releases from the filter cartridge to an automatic drain just as rapidly as it enters the filter. They can also remove moisture from your environment, which provides better compressor air flow and improves air pressure for machinery maintenance jobs.

Selecting the right filters can minimize process downtime, reduce maintenance and waste disposal costs, limit worker exposure to the fluids, and improve product quality. However, proper filter selection can vary amongs industrial applications, including water filtration, boilers and irrigation. When it comes to liquid processing, consider these two basic filters:

Bag Filters
Liquid bag filters operate by capturing solids inside the filter media “bag”, and tend to be low cost. They generally have lower surface areas than comparable cartridge systems. Due to their wide range of process conditions, they’re a great choice for a variety of applications, including paints, water treatment, food processing, pharmaceutical, and more.

Cartridge Filters
Cartridge filters are used for removing suspended solids for applications with lower flow rates, where exposure to the process liquid is not an issue. They are typically the same initial cost as bag filters, but contain a higher operational cost.

If operator and environmental exposure to the liquid is acceptable, and loss solids must be removed, both bag filters and cartridge filters are recommended. When selecting a filter for liquid processing, it’s important to ultimately consider the cost, flow requirements, and operator exposure risks.

Each facility has unique needs when it comes to air compression; and it’s not surprising that compressed air is held to a very high standard in the pharmaceutical industry, where cleanliness is especially critical. As the pharmaceutical industry has grown, also has its utilization of compressed air for breathing air, operation of equipment and instrument air. The primary challenges to air quality in this industry are:
Oil
Oil contamination found in compressed air originat
es from oil particles present in the immediate environment, as well as compressor fluids and lubricants. Other contributors are vehicle exhaust and industrial activity. Using oil-free compressors can limit this type of pollution.

Moisture
Moisture is another common contaminant, and can be harmful as it provides a breeding ground for bacteria. Moisture can also react with certain materials causing corrosion or rust, thus causing damage. In this case, coalescing filters should be used to remove water aerosols and liquid water.

Solid Particulates
Solid particulates can also pose a threat to the quality of compressed air. Dirt, pollen and other fine particles in the environment can build up in an air compressor and cause obstructions, negatively affecting performance.

Considering the wide range of uses for compressed air and sterile air filters in the pharmaceutical industry, it can be difficult to establish a standard. To determine the best equipment for your particular facility, contact an expert at Greenleaf Filtration.

There are many users of compressed air systems that don’t fully recognize the possible implications of disregarding condensate drains. Although compressed air condensate is typically just condensed water, it can also include some oil and contaminants, which can be harmful to your equipment. To avoid costly and unnecessary maintenance and help ensure the desired productivity of your system, there’s no doubt you’ll need to use condensate drains on your system components. This will ensure the contaminants are removed from your system, thus increasing the life expectancy of your equipment.

Condensates are produced when the compressed air in your system cools. This contaminated moisture is likely to be found within your piping and storage vessels. When it builds up over time, the accumulation can cause a range of problems such as poor system efficiency and excessive wear of associated equipment.

Although condensate drains are one of the most ignored components of a compressed air system, they are essential for system efficiency and reliability. This is because condensates are inevitable, regardless of what type of system you’re using or the conditions of the environment in which it’s located. However, products are available to lessen further accumulation. At Greenleaf Filtration, we offer a wide selection of the industrial process filters and condensate drains you need to meet your special requirements.

Have you been noticing a difference in the operation or performance level of your plant’s air compressor? Is it running at a slower rate, or does it occasionally shut down altogether? While your first assumption may be that it’s time to invest in a new machine, it’s important to first recall if you’ve done any preventative maintenance recently. Industrial machines require proper preventative care, and air compressors are no exception. Air compressor filters need to be changed regularly, and it’s also crucial to properly lubricate your air compressor. Here’s why:

Keeping it Cool
Lubricants are required to keep your air compressors running at a cool temperature. If your machine instead maintains a high temperature, its internal components will wear down over time. This will lead to more money spent on industrial filtration solutions than what’s necessary.

Consuming Less Energy
An air compressor is guaranteed to last longer and run smoother when it consumes less energy at a time. When an air compressor is running hot, it is also working harder, which causes it to consume more energy as it operates. By keeping your air compressor well-lubricated, you’ll both save energy and avoid potential repair costs.

Increasing Life Expectancy
If your air compressor is operating efficiently with the help of proper lubrication, it will require less maintenance and last longer – thus saving you money.

As an industrial plant manager, even though you’re dealing with heavy machinery and lots of raw productive power, you know that your plant is actually a pretty delicate operation. If the slightest thing goes wrong, you could end up losing out on precious hours, or even days, of operating time – which could translate into big revenue losses.

A plant is only as strong as its weakest link, and if you haven’t made the time to get your air filters checked out recently, there’s a good chance that your weakest link is about to snap.

Protect Against Internal Pollution
If it’s been a while since you’ve replaced your plant’s air filters, you need to get in touch with an industrial filter supplier in Richmond today. Your air filters don’t get nearly the attention they deserve, since they need to be able to process and filter thousands of cubic feet of air every single day.

After a while, your air filter will start to get full of pollutants, and it won’t be able to do its job effectively. This means that all of the impurities that are in your air, including industrial pollutants, chemicals, dust and debris, and even mold spores, will go right past your filter and can be inhaled.

Keep Your Air System Safe and Efficient
A dirty air filter doesn’t just expose you and your team to harmful pollutants; it also makes your HVAC system have to go into overdrive just to move air through the ducts. This means that you’ll end up literally wasting money on heating and cooling, simply because the system isn’t operating at a high degree of efficiency.

In the high-pressure business climate of today, you simply can’t afford to float any useless expenses; therefore, it’s imperative that you ensure your air filters are in good shape.

When you’re in charge of managing an industrial plant, you should know the importance of maintaining high safety standards. Following proper safety protocols not only keeps you and your team safe, but it prevents the loss of revenue created by work stoppages due to accidents.

While you probably make sure to adhere to major safety standards with regards to your machinery and your personnel, you probably overlook the safety of your HVAC air systems. This is understandable, as lapses in air filtration maintenance usually don’t create the kind of high-level emergencies as other safety lapses.

However, if you’re not paying attention to the possibility of internal pollution in your plant, you could be setting yourself up for some major losses down the line.

Air Filtration Maintenance
In order to make sure that your plant is operating with the highest safety standards, you need to pay serious attention to your industrial air filtration system. When your air filtration system is working properly, it’ll remove pollutants from the air and keep a good air circulation going inside your industrial plant.

However, in order for your filtration system to function this way, you need to make sure that you get your filters changed regularly, and that your whole HVAC system is checked and cleaned annually.

Keep Your Air Clean
A dirty air filtration system can create internal pollution by allowing chemical pollutants, dust, molds, and other impurities to cycle and recycle into your plant’s air. Over time, these pollutants can compound, causing pollution to severely worsen.

This can have serious health impacts on you and your team, and could even open you up to legal liability if one of your employees becomes ill or injured. Make sure you’re avoiding internal pollution by checking your air system regularly.