Blog Tag: Additive Manufacturing

3D Printing or Additive manufacturing is now the eminent player in the 4.0 Industrial Revolution phase. This technology has opened the door to using materials to make almost anything we can think of and creating a technology that has opened the door for the development of new materials that are developed specifically use in 3D Printing.

Many of these materials are produced by either heating up printing nozzles to temperatures reaching 300 degrees C and above, or by using laser systems to melt metal in the new metal printers or jetting systems that use a wide variety of compounds for creating objects.

All of these systems produce either very fine particulate or significant odors or both. Since 3D Printing or Additive manufacturing is still relatively new, there have not been a lot of studies to determine the levels and size ranges of the particulates that are generated by these machines.

Pure Air Systems has been making HEPA and Carbon based fan powered, air filtration systems since 1985. These systems, ranging is air volume from 50 CFM to 2,000 CFM, are made from all metal housings, using commercial grade HEPA filters and variable speed drive ECM motors. The units come in a number of configurations and control options so they can be attached to any HVAC system , used as stand-alone units and the fans can be controlled to run at any speed.

These systems come with a ring panel prefilter, scanned HEPA certified to 99.99% at 0.3 microns and a large Carbon filter for odors and gases.

In a 3D Printing/Additive manufacturing environment the PAS systems could be used as stand-alone units pulling air from one to four machines and removing the fine airborne particulate. Many newer printers are enclosed so it is easy to attach a small duct to the enclosure and pull that air into the PAS HEPA system.

Another option is to attach the PAS system to the main HVAC units in the lab or production area and remove the particulate and odors using the main HVAC ducting system to pull all the contaminated air back to the filtration unit.

The Pure Air Systems HEPA units have been used on almost every application requiring filtration in almost every corner of the world. They have been used in applications where toxic gases and dangerous airborne particulate are present. Their rugged durability and history of high performance over long periods of time are the reason Pure Air Systems has been in business for 33 years.

For more information on our complete product line please go to our website at: http://www.purairsystems.com    or call us on our toll-free number at: 800-869-8025.

For the past two years I have been using 3D Printers to develop prototypes and promotional items for a wide variety of individuals. From High School students to entrepreneurs and small businesses, we have designed and printed objects from promotional key chain fobs to new guitar pics and hand held water filtration devices. The ability to utilize 3D printing makes this process possible.

Since its inception in 1985, 3D printing has made huge advances in the quality, types of materials, software and ease of use ( for the technically inclined) along with prices under $1,000.00 for some printers. We have tried a number of printers, all under $3,000.00 and have settled in on the Open Source printer designs. These are made to print in over 25 different materials including ABS, PLA, HIPS, Nylon, Poly Carbonate, Laybrick, Laywood, Bronze, Brass, Copper and other new materials. This allows us the ability to create some very unique prototypes and limited production products for 1/100th of traditional fabrication techniques.

Pure Air Systems, Inc. a company that designs and builds HEPA based commercial grade, fan powered air filtration systems. Their newest portable unit entry into the medical market required some unique design concepts including the use of 3D printing to create some component design that would have been very difficult in the aluminum materials used in the balance of the unit. Most of the 3D print models are created in Solid Works, CAD, or Auto Desk Inventor. And, whenever possible we use STEM engineering High School students to do the 3D modeling to give them an opportunity to work with real-world problems and the clients like it as well.

As more companies begin to look to 3D modeling to create and re-design products the ability to introduce 3D printing or Additive manufacturing into the mix becomes a reality. The innovation compression cycle for 3D printing is one of the fastest I have ever seen. And, as Pure Air Systems discovered, this technology can bring prototyping costs and time down to a few weeks rather than a few months.

For more information on the complete line of HEPA based air filtration systems go to our website at: https://www.pureairsystems.com or call us on our toll free number at: 800-869-8025.