Laser technology has become established as common practice in numerous industrial manufacturing areas as well as in other sectors such as medical technology and research and development. Cutting and joining processes, surface finishing, marking, and modern production methods such as additive manufacturing benefit significantly from the diverse advantages offered by laser technology.
Laser cutting generates airborne pollutants such as fine dust, flue gases, and particle emissions, which can adversely affect people, machines, and product quality alike. High-performance and reliable dust filtration is therefore essential. Pleated dust filter elements with a fine-pored meltblown layer ensure highly efficient separation of even the smallest particles while simultaneously reducing energy consumption and extending the service life. This makes laser cutting processes not only safer and more environmentally friendly, but also more economical – for a clean and sustainable production standard.
SCHURTER ELECTRONIC COMPONENTS
SCHURTER GmbH is a leading innovator, producer, and supplier of components for device protection, as well as device connectors, switches, and EMC products. Working closely with its customers, the company develops and produces input systems and customized HMI solutions. It also offers services in the electrical industry in the field of printed circuit board assembly.
Challenge
Our customer SCHURTER GmbH uses star-pleated dust filter elements from Filtration Group Industrial for the extraction of three laser cutting machines, which also generate the vacuum.
Depending on the specific laser technology, airborne pollutants commonly referred to as laser smoke, laser dust, or laser vapor are produced during laser cutting. These emissions consist of particles of various sizes and compositions and can have a wide range of effects on the human organism, production equipment, and the quality of the manufactured products.
Approximately 100 m² of various transfer adhesives and decorative front films for input systems are laser-cut daily. The dust filter elements used serve as a carrier for the cleaning medium (rock powder) to clean the laser fume gas before it is released into the environment.
Solution statement
- Schurter GmbH uses cylindrical dust filter elements of type 852 908 with a cellulose/polyester carrier and polypropylene meltblown material (Ti 19/2 material) for its application.
- The Ti 19/2 filter material is an optimized composite material for cleanable, pleated dust filter elements. A thin, fine-pored meltblown microfiber layer enables maximum filtration efficiency with low air resistance.
- Thanks to the innovative use of pleat spacing by camming, the filter cartridges have a very long service life. The pleats are perfectly distributed by the camming of the filter material and exhibit excellent cleanability at very low differential pressures.
Customer benefit
- The elements capture the system's laser dust from the ambient air. The smaller the resulting laser dust particles, the longer it takes to completely separate them from the ambient air.
- For this reason, it is particularly important to capture and extract the pollutant directly at its source.
- The elements are exposed to dust-laden air from the outside, and the cleaned air stream exits upwards. The captured dust is cleaned by a compressed air pulse with a rotating air nozzle.