Effective Paint Fume Extraction at the Art Gallery of Western Australia

Case Study Overview

The Art Gallery of Western Australia approached RVT Group with a need for a filtration solution to extract the paint fumes from the area while the artwork was being completed.

The area where the art installation took place, was enclosed deep within the gallery. It was therefore not easily possible to vent the fumes out of a door or window, through to the atmosphere. Furthermore, the gallery remained open to the public, so a solution was needed to protect them as well from the health hazard that can be a result of fume exposure.

RVT Group was pleased to provide the gallery with an efficient paint fume control solution that would minimise the fume hazard to the gallery workers, and the general public.

Challenge

High levels of exposure to paint fumes can cause serious health problems. Fatigue, dizziness, and nausea, are common symptoms of such exposure. The most serious issues, caused by long-term exposure to fumes, can be nerve and organ damage (mainly to the liver and kidneys).

Being enclosed inside an art gallery, the fumes could not be efficiently vented out to the atmosphere. So a powerful and large-scale fume extraction and filtration system was required onsite to extract and filter the fumes - to protect the artist, other workers, and guests at the Gallery. The solution should also have been compact and temporary so as to not get in anyone's way.

Solution

A RAVEX Carbon Fume Filtration Kit was installed at the painting site to capture at source and extract and filter the fumes.

The RAVEX Carbon Fume Filtration Kit can be used to manage gases, vapours, and odours in situations where it is not possible to safely vent them out to the atmosphere.

A HEPA filter and a Carbon filter was used in this filter configuration along with a powerful VENTEX 300M Centrifugal Fan to extract as much fume as possible.

Carbon filters are up of activated charcoal. This charcoal works on the chemical process of adsorption, where molecules that make contact, adhere to the large internal surface area of the carbon. Carbon filters have the capacity to reduce most contaminants and will absorb and retain a variety of chemicals at the same time — including paint fumes.