Water wash paint booth??

[brittlediabetic]

Now retired, I'm building a one bay garage to continue my passion of minor auto restoration/spot repairs, part-time. Construction legalities have been followed throughout and oftentimes overdone. Instead of the typical air plenum with filters, explosion proof fan, etc. I've been intrigued by the old time honored WATER WASH PAINT BOOTH where a fine mist of water cascades in front of the plenum mounted fan which in turn causes the VOC materials to become immersed in water and later manually removed and/or filtered. I understand the water falls into a tray on the floor and is continually recycled. There is no floor drain and contaminated water would not be drained on the property. DOES ANYONE HAVE MORE INFORMATION, PHOTOS ON A COST EFFECTIVE DESIGN??

 

[larry4406]

Perhaps similar and something else to search on, massive marine and stationary diesel engines sometimes used a similar scheme for air filtration prior to the turbo inlets.

 

[RAYJAY]

I would like to know also

 

[Ogri]

This will end up being much more expensive to build and maintain than a conventional filtration system.
The refinish industry has gotten away from this mostly due to EPA issues. The water will get quite "gamey" in no time and will have to be replaced. This water will have to be disposed of as hazardous waste.
This type of system will not meet the area source rule that will come into effect Jan 10, 2011 as there is no documentation that the "filter" is 98% efficient.

 

[brittlediabetic]

... I had planned on putting a bank of filters in front of the water mist in an effort to capture as much atomized paint particles and odor as possible.
... I've heard only good reports about Water Wash Paint Booth Exhaust systems but can visualize cleaning the water nozzles, plenum and disposing of the contaminated water.
... I also wondered if this system would raise the humidity too high in the booth.
... The main advantage of the Water Wash would seem to be reducing the VOC's coating the interior of the plenum as well as the exhaust fan and motor thus reducing fire/explosion risks.
... If conventional filters, singlehandedly, will indeed remove 98% of the toxins for a lot less money and maintenance, I fully agree............that's the way to go!

 

[Ogri]

... I had planned on putting a bank of filters in front of the water mist in an effort to capture as much atomized paint particles and odor as possible.
... I've heard only good reports about Water Wash Paint Booth Exhaust systems but can visualize cleaning the water nozzles, plenum and disposing of the contaminated water.
... I also wondered if this system would raise the humidity too high in the booth. If you are using a solvent borne product this will not be an issue, but if you move to the newer water borne (which are outstanding by the way) products it will effect dry time.
... The main advantage of the Water Wash would seem to be reducing the VOC's coating the interior of the plenum as well as the exhaust fan and motor thus reducing fire/explosion risks. VOCs are the solvents that evaporate from the finish. They do not adhere to anything. I believe what you are refering to is the attomized paint. Using the proper dry filters and changing them at the needed intervals will provide necessary filtering to prevent the coating of your fan and plenum. As for the motor, I would use a belt driven fan, have the motor out of the exhaust stream as the solvents will not be filtered out using water wash or dry filter. The motor needs to be an explosion proof unit. If you find them to be cost prohibitive, take a trip to your local paint distributor and ask if they have any used/junk mixing banks. If so, they have explosion proof motors on them and after a mixing bank is removed from a shop, they are rarely reused. I'd be suprised if you couldn't negotiate one for a little of nothing.
... If conventional filters, singlehandedly, will indeed remove 98% of the toxins for a lot less money and maintenance, I fully agree............that's the way to go!Viledon and Viskon Air are a couple of examples of a manufacturer that provides the proper product that does in fact filter 98% of the particulate from the air that passes through them.

In their day, water wash paint booths were the deal. Now, not so much. There are much better answers out there that are easier and much less expensive to maintain.

 

[brittlediabetic]

Ogri: Thank you kindly for the info. In the eighties I owned my own shop and was a hands on operator working alongside my staff prepping vehicles plus doing all the painting..........although not with a water wash system. Your advice has been invaluable. Should I require further direction at a later stage hope you will once again extend a helping hand. All the very best.