Necessity is the mother of invention. There ar times when certain tools or processes create odors that you want to reduce or better control. When 3D printing ABS (Acrylonitrile Butadiene Styrene) or ultra violet cured resin, there can be a strong odor dues to the heat in printing ABS filament and curing of the resin. After much research into various methods of controlling these specific odors it was determined that an activated charcoal air filter would complete the task of reducing the order.
We considered two options to controlling order. Option one was to exhaust the air around the process outside the building. Option two was to filter air in place. Option one was not used because this method required fresh air to replace the air being exhausted. The fresh air would also require heating in some cases to prevent print failures of ABS filament. We opted for option two, filter in place. This allowed the filtration of air in the equipment enclosure by recirculating the air through a filter over and over during printing processes. This also meant that we did not effect air temperature in the enclosure, however we did need to minimize drafts across the part.
Our final design would draw air through an activated charcoal medium by a 12vDC 120mm box fan. Fiberglass mesh covered the top and bottom of a 100mm diameter by 75mm deep charcoal cartridge, ultimately venting out the bottom. There are two openings allowing the out flow of air to be spread along the floor of the enclosure and away from the printing parts. This allows for efficient air movement in the enclosure and reduces drafts that can over cool ABS parts.
