Paint spraying with a spray gun must be done inside a spray booth when in a location where other people are present. In general this means in manufacturing and vehicle bodyshops.
Totally enclosed spray booths are required for car and truck bodyshops, but are optional for industry where an open-sided booth is often used. A totally enclosed booth has the advantage of being able to keep out dust and is increasingly used in industry. Spray booth design must meet the requirements of the Secretary of State's guidelines PG6/23(97) and Health and Safety Executive Guidance PM 25. PG6/23 is likely to be upgraded soon, to new European standards. Filtration of the exhaust air is now done with dry filters as the older wet-back design leaves the operator with the high cost of disposal of the contaminated water.
The present regulations require a spraybooth to meet the following:
1. Filter the exhaust air to contain particles of less than 10 micron in size and less than:
- 10 mg/m3 particles for an automotive booth
- 50 mg/m3 particles for an industrial booth
2. The exhaust chimney must be vertical and not fitted with a cowl or cap, with the top at least 8m above the ground and at least 3m above any roof ridge within 15m, with an eflux velocity greater than 15m per second.
3. Automotive spray painting booths must be totally enclosed and operate under negative pressure with automatic shutdown of the spray equipment if this is not maintained.
- They must have at least 4 air changes per minute
- Contain any internal fire for at least 30 minutes
- Be fitted with explosion relief panels
- Be fitted with at least 2 panic escape doors in addition to the main doors
The purpose of the high vertical chimney is to pump the exhaust gases high into the air where they will disperse to avoid offensive smells at ground level. Authorisation is required to operate a spraybooth and may include a specific requirement to remove odours from the exhaust according to local conditions such as nearby housing or high buildings. This can be achieved by the use of activated carbon absorption towers that absorb the volatiles during spraying and release them slowly over a long period when not spraying. The spraybooth will require planning permission for change of use within an existing building or for the construction of a new one.
If the booth is heated and the air is recycled to conserve energy; then the recirculated air must be mixed with at least 10% of fresh air. Whilst spraybooths are usually built from modular components, the final design is likely to be unique and requires considerable practical experience to achieve a user friendly and environmentally acceptable result. A poor design may result in a high energy consumption, poor airflow leading to extended drying times and problems when it is tested by the Local environmental Health Officer. Lion Industries represents the French manufacturer OMIA in the UK, who are one of the largest suppliers of quality spraybooths worldwide, that fully meet the latest European and UK norms. OMIA has supplied spraybooths large enough to spray an airliner or railway rolling stock, or small enough to spray half a private car.
If you would like Lion Industries to provide a quotation for a spraybooth, please let us know if it should be enclosed or open on one side, the internal dimensions, the dimensions of the space available to install it, the dimensions of the main doors, if it should be heated and if an outlet chamber can be cut into the floor.