When running any kind of tank, truck, or personnel vehicle or almost any military vehicle, dust and other unwanted particles in the air are inescapable problems. Opening a door or hatch to get in, a window for air, or any kind of ventilation is going to bring in unwanted dust and particles and cause harm to the operator. Some activities bring in more than others, but more often than not controlling that dust is a key need of any heavy machinery or tank operations. It seems like a simple fix to blow in clean air, however having clean air readily available all the time is no easy task, especially in a dirty environment such as the desert.
The Air Cleaning BlowerTM (ACB) was developed specifically to remove dust, pollen and other particles from the air in dusty and harsh environments while eliminating the need for filter maintenance due to clogging filters. After removing most kinds of desert and military dusts, without using any filter elements or media, the ACBs blow out clean air into your truck, tank or any other military vehicle.
The Air Cleaning Blowers work by pulling that dirty air into their housings like any other fans would. The impeller and housing are specially designed to use the momentum of the contaminants to separate them from the air (or almost any other gas) and fling them toward the outside of the housing and eject them, most commonly back into the atmosphere from where they came. The clean air continues toward the application to help with ventilation or pressurization. ACBs accomplish all this without any type of filter elements, sheets, cartridges, bags or other media to maintain.
Media filters remove contaminants from air and other gases by stopping and collecting them. As a result, they all clog and need maintenance and, sooner or later, replacement. In addition, as they clog, media filters and air purifiers increasingly impede the flow of air. When they do, the blower has to work harder and consume more electricity or other power to maintain the same airflow and air pressure at the application. In contrast, because they do not trap debris, ACBs do not clog. Without clogging, the filter maintenance is almost eliminated, and, consequently, so is deferred maintenance. Perhaps more important, particularly to designers of the systems, when ACBs supply the air moving and air cleaning, they eliminate the fluctuations in airflow, air pressure and power consumption, which makes it much easier to predict and calculate the air-systems’ performances, and therefore, to design optimal systems.
Rugged, light-weight and self-contained, and easily transported, mounted and removed without training, and often by one person, ACBs can readily travel with troops. Civilian air conditioner manufacturers already integrate them into their air conditioners to reduce maintenance—and deferred maintenance. They can be designed to run on virtually any type of electricity, even direct current from vehicles. Therefore, they can bring improved comfort and health conditions, even in expeditionary activities.
Another key feature is that the ACBs can remove rain, mist and snow from the air, helping the air stay dryer and reducing the load on any air conditioning, refrigeration or dehumidifying equipment. In addition, because there is no filter media catching that rain or snow there is nothing that will become wet or freeze up and prevent the air from passing through.
In addition, ACBs can pressurize the spaces so that air will flow out of the vehicles or tanks and help prevent dusts and sand from blowing in. That same air pressure will help increase the number of changes of air per hour in the vehicle, which will help reduce the concentration of airborne pathogens and other contaminants. Since they do not collect the debris, ACBs will not create dangerous hot spots in the filter media if there are CBRNE particles in the surrounding environment. Further: all ACBs can be adapted for use with virtually any explosive or flammable gas or dust, Division/Zone 1 or Division/Zone 2.
Our ACBs were tested independently at an internationally-recognized filter-testing laboratory to establish their effectiveness. The testing found that standard models remove up to 98%+ of the mass of dust and other particles from the air. The laboratory results show that they remove virtually all particles larger than 10 microns and about 40% of the particles down to 3 microns from the air. The smallest particles most people can see are about 50 microns. Models under development will consistently remove sub-micron contaminants. Hence, they will help keep bugs and dusts out of vehicles in the jungle while blowing cool air through them.
Originally developed to work in harsh environments such as steel, mining and fertilizer plants, the Air Cleaning BlowerTM can help no matter what kind of vehicle you operate, or where. Our ACBs are so effective that they are being used today by the US Military in the Middle East to keep air conditioners cooling, even in sandstorms.
Potential applications:
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Removing dust and particles from the air to keep equipment clean
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Keeping mist and humidity out of the air for the machinery operator
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Remove dust and particles form the air for the operator to breathe more easily
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Eliminating the need for replacement filters in hard to access locations