Filter

[CrashDummy11]

Hi guys. I am looking for advice on what type of filter I should be using/looking for. We are testing an inc jet printer by spraying the inc into one end of a sheet metal box. The other end has a strong fan to ensure that all of the inc particles at the print head are captured and pulled into the box. The bottom of the box has a drain. With our current filters, we are having trouble with inc getting through them and the fan is spraying small amounts of ink out the back of the box. I would like to use 2 filters inside the box, approximately 10.5 X 11.5'' but we are willing to cut a larger filter to size if it is easy to do. Any suggestions as to the filter that should be used in this application?

 

[Compositepro]

Get rid of the fan. Do you see fans on printers?

 

[CrashDummy11]

The fan is necessary in this application to collect all of the small ink particles that fire out of the print head. Otherwise a fine mist of ink would escape every time it prints.

 

[MintJulep]

You should use a filter capable of capturing particles the side of ink mist at whatever efficiency you deem necessary to reduce the amount of ink leaving to enclosure to an acceptable amount.

 

[IRstuff]

I don't get it. You're spraying into a box with a drain on it. Why do you need a fan, or why such a powerful fan?

TTFN

FAQ731-376

 

[vc66]

Doesn't the filter mess with the air flow? I.e. if the filter is fine enough, doesn't it negate the effect of the fan?

V

 

[zekeman]

It's not the filter. You have to experiment with the amount of suction you need to just capture the ink particles without them getting to the filter.A DC motor drive on the fan could be used since it would be easy to control the speed and thus the vacuum to come up with an empirical solution.
Also, maybe the box idea is not the best way to do this, but perhaps a type of separator (e.g. see the cyclone separator concept)

 

[berkshire]

This sounds like a job for a settling box, a tapered box with the filters on top.
The idea is to slow the captured air down, to allow the ink particles to fall out of the entrained air and settle to the bottom.
I am presuming that the ink takes several seconds to dry hence the drain in the bottom to accommodate the wet ink.
A commercial paint arrestor should do your job.
B.E.