Spray booths are widely used in industry and in the manufacturing and automotive sectors in particular. Their purpose is to circulate air throughout the spray chamber and then remove it, along with any excess paint particles, through an exhaust.
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Working with spray paints in an enclosed area without the use of a spray booth can be damaging to employee’s health, and the Health & Safety Executive provides guidance for businesses about how to control the risks.
But what are spray booths made up of and how do they work? Essentially there are three main components.
Air in
At the front of the booth there is an air chamber which brings air into the system. The air can either flow into the chamber parallel to the floor or from above. As air enters the chamber it is filtered to remove any foreign bodies such as dust or dirt which could contaminate the air and spoil the paint job.
It’s critical that these filters are correctly maintained and replaced when necessary. If you’re looking for new spray booth filters, companies such as https://www.dustspares.co.uk/spray-booth-filters supply a wide range suitable for a variety of spray paint applications.
Depending on the nature of the paint and items being sprayed the air intake source may be external to the premises.
Working section
This is the main section of the booth and it must be large enough to accommodate the product being sprayed as well as allowing the operative sufficient space to move round the chamber and access all sides of the product. The size of this main section will, therefore, depend on the industry sector and size of products to be sprayed.
Air out
Finally, the air needs to leave the booth, at which point a further filtration process takes place. The type of filters used here will depend on the volume of overspray generated throughout the spraying process, but generally either pads or rolls are used.
Alongside these three main components a spray booth may include other features, in particular to provide additional safety. These might include auto shut-offs which will close down the system if overspray exceeds pre-set limits or the doors to the main chamber are opened during the spraying process.
In certain industry sectors the internal fixtures and fittings may also vary to include lighting, which is explosion proof, for example.