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Welding fume
Management
Welding fume Management
In what units is fume generation
measured?
What units apply to particulate TLVs?
A FCAW welder produces how much
fumes per year?
Fume emission level versus shielding atmosphere
100
0
0
20
0
80
10
5
85
5
5
90
0
8
92
0
1,5
98,5
200
400
600
800
1.000
740
470
350
290
190
150
Fumes (mg/min.)
CO2
O2
Ar
Wire ER 70S3 dia.: 1,2mm
280 - 300 A
28 - 30 V
Ar + 18% CO2
Ar + 13% CO2 + 5% He
Ar + 10% CO2
Ar + 6% CO2 + 2% O2
Ar + 5% CO2 + 4,5% O2
Ar + 3,5% O2
Influence of CO2 content in the shielding gas on CO emissions
0
50
100
150
200
160
130
120
80
40
0
CO content (ppm)
A
r

+

3
,
5
%

O
2

Wire ER 70S3 1,2mm
Wire = 10 m/min
I = 280 / 300 A U= 32 / 34 V
I
Airborne particulates
Typical size range
Atmospheric dust
Very fine (10E-8 cm) Fine (10E-4 cm) Coarse (1 cm )
Welding fume and dust
Tobacco smoke
Coal dust
Cement dust
Respirable particles
Factors affecting fume generation rate
Type of shielding gas if applicable to the process
Welding current
Welding voltage
Arc length
Polarity
Current density
Humidity
Base plate
Electrode angle
Electrode type
Formulation of the electrode and wire

Fume emission testing device
Filters weighed
before and after test
Welding time known
30 seconds/1 min
exhaust
fume emission rate
calculated: average
of five readings
measurements in
mg/minute
Air exhaust fan
Filters
Conical column
Rotating table
FCAW gun mount
Observation window
AWS F 1.2-92( Laboratory method for measuring fume
generation rates
and total fume emission for Welding and Allied Processes)
20mm plate, 20 inch dia, 4 inch efffective, 120 lbs .
Typical fume generation
Rates
Process Range g/min
SMAW 0.2 - 1.2
FCAW 0.5 - 3.5
GMAW 0.1 - 0.5
GMAW(AL) 0.1 - 1.5

The filter is about the size of a medium
PIZZA!
Clean and used filter, after 30 seconds!
Welding fumes composition
EEEllleeemmmeeennnttt CCCooommmpppooouuunnndddsss
Fe Fe
3
O
4
- MnFe
2
O
4
- K
3
FeF
6
- CaFeSi
2
O
6
Mn MnFe
2
O
4
- MnSiO
3
- MnTiO
3
Si Fe
2
SiO
4
- K
2
SiF
6
- CaFeSi
2
O
6
Ti MnTiO
3
Ca CaF
2
- KCaFe
2
O
4
- CaSiO
3
K KCaF
3
- K
3
FeF
6
- K
2
SiF
6
Welding fumes composition
E El le em me en nt t C Co om mp po ou un nd ds s
Na NaF - NaFeO
2
F CaF
2
- KCaF
3
- K
3
FeF
6
- K
2
SiF
6
- NaF
Ni ( Fe,Ni)O
Cr III Cr
2
O
3
- FeCr
2
O
4
- K
2
NaCrF
6
Cr VI K
2
CrO
4
- Na
2
CrO
4
- NaK
3
(CrO
4
)
2
Potential Health Effects
Fumes Potential health hazard
Iron Oxide Respiratory irritant in high
concentrations
Cadmium
oxide
Lung irritants and kidney toxins
Chromium Cr VI is a recognized carcinogen
Copper
oxides
Irritant, may cause fume fever
Fluoride At high exposures, lung irritant & can
affect bones and kidneys
Lead Systematic poisoning and affects the
nervous systems
Magnesium
oxide
Fume fever
Nickel Dermatitis and respiratory irritant
Zinc oxide Fume fever
Manganese Nervous system disorders Parkinson
disease like symptoms
Hexavalent Chromium
Hexavalent chromium is a known lung
carcinogen
SMAW stainless steel electrodes produce high
level of Cr VI ( 50% - 70% of total chromium)
Lithium compounds reduce Cr VI significantly
FCAW stainless steel electrodes produce high
level of Cr VI ( 30% - 60% of total Chromium)
GMAW of stainless steel produces very little
Cr VI ( < 10% of total Chromium)
ANSI/AWS F3.1 - 89 : Guide for Welding Fume
Control
Composition by % weight:
GMAW
Element Mild steel Stainless
Fe 45 - 55 30 - 45
Mn 5 - 10 1 - 20
Si 3 - 5 1 - 4
Ni N/A 2 - 8
Cr Total N/A 8 - 25
Cr VI N/A 0.2 - 1
Li N/A N/A
Composition by % weight:
FCAW
Element Mild steel Stainless
Fe 30 - 50 10 20
Mn 5 - 15 4 - 20
Si 2 4 2 - 8
Ti 0.02 - 4 0.5 - 5
Ca 0 20 0.1 - 5
K 0 - 10 3 - 10
Na 0 - 10 2 - 20
F 1 20 2 - 10
Ni N/A 1 5
Cr Total 6 - 12
Cr VI 1 4
Li 0 1
Welding fumes
Welding amperage
fume
generation
g/min
?
Influence of the shielding gas and parameter set up
on fume emission level in GMAW
(Wire: ER 70S3)
Ar + 3% CO2 + 1% O2 Ar + 10% CO2 Ar + 18% CO2
Tension (V)
15 20 25 30 35 40
0
200
400
600
800
1.000
170 A
Fumes (mg/min)
300 A
350 A
100 A
3-D representation of fume generation
for non pulsed GMAW
For a given wire feed
speed or amperage:
Low fume generation in
short circuit range
As voltage is increased,
transfer transits through
globular range causing a
first maxima
Fine tuning of spray
transfer gives a minima
As voltage increased
beyond the optimum,
fume generation rate
increases

Fume Concentration

Fume concentration is measured in
Milligrams per cubic meter (mg/m3)
Some terms used in the welding fume legislation
OSHA: Occupational Health and Safety Administration
PEL: Permissible Exposure Limit (8 hours)
TWA: Time weighted average (8 hour exposure)
NIOSH: National I nstitute of Occupational Safety and Health
ACGI H: American Conference of Governmental I ndustrial Hygienists
OEL: Occupational Exposure Limits (8 hours)
TLV: Thresh hold Limit Value (8 hours)
TWAEV: Time Weighted Average Exposure Value (8 hours)
STEL: Short Term Exposure Limit ( TLV-STEL : 15 minutes)
C: Ceiling value ( TLV-C : instanteneous max value not to be exceeded)
General ventilation must move 2,000 cu feet per minute
Each welder should have 10,000 cu feet of barrier free work space
Serious violation : $ 7,000 per violation
Repeat violation: $ 70,000 per violation


Occupational Exposure Limits
(OEL) for Ontario, Canada
Welding fume 5.0 mg/m3
Chromium Metal 0.5 mg/m3
Chromium - trivalent 0.5 mg/m3
Chromium - hexavalent 0.05 mg/m3
Nickel metal 0.5 mg/m3
Manganese 1.0 mg/m3 ( 0.2 mg/m3)
Fluorides 2.5 mg/m3
Barium soluble 0.5 mg/m3
NO2 3.0 ppm
NO 25 ppm
Ozone 0.1 ppm
CO 35 ppm
Air Sampling Meter
Daily variation of Fume Concentration
08:00 12:00 16:00
Fume
concentration
mg/m3
Exposure limit

Time weighted
Average
Actual Exposure
Fume weight per welder per year ?
Fume generation rate of 1g/minute
2000 hours/yr at 20% duty cycle = 400 hours welding time
400 hours X 1 g/minute X 60 = 24,000 grams = 52.8 pounds

Equal to the weight of one coil of wire per year!

FUME GENERATION 1.6 mm FCAW : 200,000 HOURS OF ARC TIME
NOTE: 200,000 hours of arc time at 18% duty cycle translates to
approximately 556 welders.

STATUS WIRE Fume g/min Wire feed i.p.m VOLTAGE GAS Fume Burden
Current Wire A 1.066 350 29 V CO2 12.79 MT
Proposed Wire B 0.783 380 29 V B/S8 9.39 MT
Proposed Wire A 0.881 380 29 V B/S8 10.57 MT
Proposed Wire C 0.949 380 29 V B/S8 11.38 MT
Benchmark Wire B 0.67 350 29 V Arcal 211 8.04 MT
Through choice of gas and wire fumes reduced
Annually by 4.75 MT!!
Source capture
Applications?
Source capture?
Fume extracting gun
Test results of air quality
Sample

Location

Sampling
time in
minutes

Volume
sampled
in
liters

Lab results
(micro
grams per
sample)

Concentration
(mg/m
3
)

99V001

Welder under general
exhaust fume hood,
fume hood switched
OFF

61

122.1

3424

28.0

99V002

Welder under general
exhaust, fume hood
switched ON

61

122.1

1969

16.1

99V003

Welder under fume
hood, with a smoke
extracting gun

62

122.4

171

1.38













Ontario Ministry of Labour, TWAEV for welding fumes

5.00

Welding Fume management
Questions?