Commercial Air Quality Solutions: Applications and Brands

Workers in industries that use heavy-duty equipment such as construction, mining, oil and gas, agriculture, and military sites are constantly exposed to high-risk toxins. These harmful chemicals include nitrogen oxide, carbon monoxide, volatile organic compounds (VOC), and semi-volatile organic compounds (SVOC).

Unfortunately, the risk of developing asthma, cancer, heart disease, and respiratory illnesses increases in these environments. The air that ventilates in the equipment’s chamber alone can include mold, mildew, bacteria, bio-aerosols, viruses, dust mites, and other particulates.

This highlights the importance of having a proper air quality solution that can be installed on virtually any heavy-duty equipment. While the most important benefit of air quality equipment is that they reduce the health risk of workers, air quality solutions also increase the lifespan of equipment and reduce downtime costs.

We detail two of Polar Mobility’s air quality solutions below.

Engine Air Pre-Cleaners

With pre-cleaners, the air that enters through the ventilation system is 90% purer. The cleaner air results in less wear on engine components, reducing maintenance costs and fuel consumption. Engine air pre-cleaners come in powered and non-powered versions. While both works to effectively remove pollutants, powered systems are a more advanced form of filtration and are ideal for dust-heavy environments such as construction, mining, and oil and gas.

Engine air pre-cleaners work by:

• Using a fine-mesh pre-screen to filter particulates before they enter the machine.
• Streaming the pre-filtered air down through fixed vanes that spin the air.
• Activating the rotor that pushes any residual contaminants out of the air stream and through discharging points at the bottom of the unit.

Carbon Enclosure Filter Pressurizers

Occupational Health & Safety research has determined that internal cabin air can be more harmful than the outside environment. Workers consistently breathe in the unfiltered air circulating inside the cabin and are at risk of:

• Lung inflammation
• Black lung disease (pneumoconiosis)
• Fibrosis
• Necrosis

Enclosed cabin filter pressurizers effectively clean the air by pulling external air into the air conditioner and using a pre-cleaner to remove large dirt particles. The air pump then draws the air into the intake duct which is then delivered in high volume to the enclosure. Cabin pressurization works by creating positive air pressure on the inside to force dirt out of unsealed areas. Negative pressurization allows dust into the cabin.

Cleaner cabin air not only protects workers but also protects equipment by limiting the amount of dirt and dust that can clog up the system.

Polar Mobility Air Quality Products

Polar Mobility is a leading name in custom air quality solutions for heavy-duty environments from small mobile equipment to large remote sites. Top applications include:

• Emergency field hospitals, military command centers, tent sites, and temporary buildings – Polar Mobility’s P-8500 Ultra Air features an Emergency Containment System that shuts down the main blower and reverses the fresh air system when possible contamination enters into an enclosure. This system keeps particulates out by circulating and processing the structure’s interior air and adding filtered ambient air to pressurize the enclosure.
• Small mobile equipment, large transit cabins, and other transportation units – The P-8000M Ultra Air can be installed into an existing HVAC unit and customized to fit virtually any application. This system uses Sy-Klone HEPA filtration to clean interior and exterior air, which then passes through a HEPA purification filter and is sterilized by UV light.