Kappa A.I.R.TM indoor air purification system ensures compliance with the general dust limit value of 1.25 mg/m³.
LEMKEN GmbH & Co. KG: A company that has been in existence for seven generations and is one of the leading companies in its sector leaves nothing to chance. With attention to detail and know-how acquired over many decades, every detail has been perfected. Every single LEMKEN system is therefore an original. The company specializes in the manufacture of ploughs, cultivators, compact disc harrows, seed drills, power harrows and field sprayers. More than 1400 employees worldwide work every day to make agriculture more productive and sustainable.
It is therefore not surprising that LEMKEN GmbH & Co. KG, based in Alpen, also demands high standards when it comes to occupational health and safety. In 2014, a new, innovative hall air purification system from Kappa Filter Systems was therefore installed in the steel construction hall. This made it possible to fall significantly below the new dust limit value of 1.25 mg/m³ and also save energy and heating costs.
The initial situation
However, the initial situation was not easy. LEMKEN had already recently invested in a new hall air purification system which didn't meet the specifications, as the limit values could not be adhered to and the hall was filled with smoke. After several attempts at optimization by the original manufacturer, it was decided to invest in a new system.
The solution: Kappa AIRTM indoor air purification system
In the first step, the existing steel construction hall was equipped with the Kappa A.I.R.TM hall air purification system. Fresh air is introduced into the hall via Kappa DiffusorsTM placed on the hall floor. As the fresh air diffuses in, it is distributed draught-free throughout the entire hall without mixing with the contaminated hall air. All obstacles are surrounded and the employees are supplied with fresh air. After just a short time, a stable lake of fresh air forms in the work area. It actively displaces the released emissions and waste heat from the working and occupied areas upwards to the hall ceiling.
The emissions and waste heat are completely and extensively captured and dissipated at the hall ceiling with adjustable Kappa COC extraction panels. The filtration of the fine dust and smoke emissions happens at Kappa Mykron® fine dust filter.It ensures 30% better separation of ultra-fine particles compared to a conventional filter - this is also confirmed by the clean gas concentration measurement carried out with a clean gas value of 0.02 mg/m³. Due to the very high separation efficiency of the Kappa Mykron®, the cleaned air can be fed back into the workplace.
The outstanding performance of the Kappa A.I.R.TM indoor air purification system is also confirmed by the TÜV Rheinland measurement. The workplace concentration of A-dust (respirable dust) is only 0.12 mg/m³ and is therefore well below the new, stricter general dust limit value of 1.25 mg/m³.
Based on the excellent results and experience gained in the existing hall, the newly built production hall was also equipped with the Kappa A.I.R. indoor air purification system . This supplies the cutting (flame cutting), steel construction and storage areas. The emissions from flame cutting are recorded via the existing flame cutting tables and integrated into the exhaust air purification unit of the Kappa A.I.R.TM hall air purification system.
The function of the Kappa A.I.R. hall air purification system in the new hall is identical to the system in the existing hall described above. In total, around 250,000 m³ of exhaust air per hour is purified to a high degree in the existing and new halls and simultaneously supplied with the same amount of clean fresh air.
Due to the very high separation efficiency of the installed filter systems, the waste heat can be recovered with a high degree of efficiency using the integrated low-temperature heat exchangers. A total of 2,173,764 kWh of waste heat is recovered each year. This is used to heat the fresh air during the heating period.
What does the customer say?
Thomas Heenen, safety specialist at LEMKEN, is delighted: "The air quality in steel construction is very good. Our employees also confirm this. Last winter, we hardly had to heat the building as we were able to cover our heating requirements from the heat recovery system."
Automatic synchronization of power with current demand saves energy:
The air flow rate of the hall air cleaning system in the existing hall and in the new steel construction is controlled synchronously with the respective demand. In phases with a high material throughput, the performance of the hall air cleaning system is increased, in phases with a low material throughput it is reduced. The actual power requirement is regulated continuously. This means that exactly the power that is needed is always available. Individual real-time adjustment is made possible by the Kappa AirdynamicTM system. It permanently monitors the emission load in the production area and adjusts the power requirement of the hall air purification system throughout the entire hall accordingly. The intelligent and demand-oriented system Kappa AirdynamicTM Systemsaves 547.533 kWh of electricity per year.
"The system works completely automatically and reliably. If more is produced, i.e. more emissions are generated, the system reacts immediately by increasing its output. If the machines are underutilized, the output of the ventilation system is reduced fully automatically," explains Karl Riegler, Technical Manager at Kappa.
The required air output at the existing flame-cutting tables was also equipped with a demand-based control system. As a result, an additional 259,067 kWh of electricity can be saved each year.
