NKK welding fume remover (1990s)

NKK welding fume remover (1990s)
During the 1980s and 1990s, the Japanese steel industry made progress in pollution control, but the problem of fine particles in the work environment became a new issue. Welding fumes generated in welding operations are fine particles produced when metal evaporates at high temperatures, cools, and recondenses. Inhalation of these particles causes lung damage and metal fume fever, and has been drawing international attention as an occupational health risk. Conventional ventilation could not sufficiently prevent the diffusion of fumes, and localized countermeasures were considered essential in the large indoor spaces of steel mills.
Against this background, NKK has developed a device that suctions welding fumes directly near the source and removes them efficiently using a filter or cyclone method. By placing the suction nozzle near the welding torch, the dust can be collected before the worker inhales it, greatly reducing the dust concentration. In addition, the local exhaust system is more energy-efficient than the system that ventilates the entire large space, which has advantages in terms of both improvement of the working environment and energy reduction. It is important to note that the local exhaust system contributed not only to occupational safety but also to the preservation of the local environment by reducing the diffusion of particulate matter outside the factory.
Since the 1990s, PM has begun to be discussed internationally as a health risk, and NKK's technology was a pioneer in this trend, and is highly regarded as an industrial technology that simultaneously achieves safety and environmental preservation.