Addressing 3D Printer Fume Emissions

Greetings,

Recently I surveyed the RepRap community for people's opinions on the fume emissions from 3D printers (that can be found here). Thank you so much to everyone that participated. The results showed that the majority of people would be willing to buy a filtration system for under $50.

With this knowledge in hand, my high school senior design group set out to generate concepts that could provide adequate filtration for below $50. I would love your opinion on some of the various concepts that we have come up with.

Concept 1 - The plastic bag tent
The idea here is to create a very cheap enclosure by using something like a vacuum bag with a frame to contain the fumes. There would be a rubber seal between the bottom of the frame and the top of the table. A NATO gas mask filter would filter the fumes from the enclosure. To access the 3D printer one would lift the cover up and off. Please see the attached picture.

Onshape (CAD) link: CAD Model

Concept 2 - 3D printer in the fireplace
This idea started more as a joke but holds a lot of water. Most fireplaces have covers that prevent smoke from leaking back into the room that could be used to seal the fumes in. Furthermore, the venting built into the fireplace would evacuate a lot of the fumes. This idea is pretty much free and great if you have a fireplace that you never use.


I would love some opinions on these ideas!

Thanks,
Trexation

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 10/27/2017 01:10PM by Trexation.

Regarding the Plastic Bag Tent: Where do you suck the fumes away, and where does fresh air re-enter the bag?
Is it really useful / neccesarry / a good idea to seal it with a rubber seal?

Or do you want to make a closed filtration system inside of the bag?

We are planning on doing closed filtration by pushing the air through a gas mask combination filter inside of the plastic bag tent. The reasoning behind a closed filtration system revolves around the ability to use a smaller lower flow filter, the retention of heat around the printer, and there does not need to be venting to the exterior increasing ease of use.

with your concerns about the seal, we are not sure if we are going to use one, it could be a place that we end up cutting costs to keep the total cost under $50.

Thanks,
Trexation

Greetings,
After six months of development my senior design group has developed the plastic bag tent concept to the point of being a functional prototype. We have used a combination of affordable nylon rods, small simple plastic connectors that are easily 3D printed, and a normal 60 gallon trash bag to make an affordable enclosure that easily captures the majority of the fumes emitted by the 3D printer. The fumes that are collected by the enclosure are then sucked through a 75mm radial fan that pushes the fumes through a standard 40mm gas mask filter. The radial fan can either be powered directly from the 3D printer’s power supply or using a seperate 12v transformer. The total cost of both the enclosure and the filtration system is about $35 and 100 grams of filament.

"IMG_0018.jpeg" is close to the final prototype with a few small changes. There is a window that is cut in the trash bag that has been filled in with clear packing tape so that it is easy to see the 3D print in progress.

The CAD model for the frame can be accessed here: CAD Model

We would love to hear your feedback on our design as we continue to work on it. I will add instructions on how to make your own depending on the interest level.

Thanks for your feedback,
Trexation