How to reduce Welding Fumes with more than 65%
There are many brands that claim to offer welding wires with lower welding fume emissions. Are the claims true or do they only publish what suits them?
In this blog we clear up the welding fumes for you!
Welding with flux cored wire is very popular in certain sectors and in some cases even necessary to keep up with the times in terms of weldingcosts. The use of rutile flux cored wire in ship and section construction, among other things, is mainly chosen for the higher current carrying capacity when welding in position where large parts can not be turned for downhand welding. However, with rutile flux cored wire we see an increase in smoke emission compared to a solid or metal flux cored welding wire.
The metal-cored welding wire is generally chosen for its pleasant welding behaviour and good current density and is actually only used for downhand position (80% are fillet welds). The metal powder filling in this type of welding wire is easier to melt than a full solid welding wire. In the metal powder-cored wire, the smaller droplets are more sensitive to the high temperature than the coarser droplets. This is also the explanation why a metal cored welding wire generally produces higher welding fume emissions than a solid welding wire where the droplets are less small.
In the Netherlands, the most commonly used shielding gas consists of 82% Argon and 18% CO₂. It is possible to choose 80/20 or 85/15 and even 92/8. CO₂ is an actively reacting gas that has a negative effect on the amount of welding fumes, more CO₂ therefore produces more silicates and also more welding fumes.
Expressed in real figures;
If we compare Ar/CO₂ 80-20 with Ar/CO₂ 92-8, the amount of welding fumes is no less than 35% less.
Pulsed MAG welding is growing in popularity and offers several advantages when welding solid welding wire. By alternating between high and low currents at high speed, we gain control over the droplet separation and the average current is considerably lower than with spray arc welding at the same wire speed. As a result of the lower heat input with pulsed MAG welding, we see an impressive reduction in welding fumes of no less than 65% as a result of the lower heat input.
Copper-coating welding wire has been the standard welding wire that we encounter in practice every day for years, but why is copper actually on it?
An electrolytically applied copper layer on welding wire looks great and should ensure better current transfer in the contact tip and has of course proven itself over the years. However, applying a good copper layer to the welding wire brings with it many difficulties and is becoming an increasingly greater environmental problem for the manufacturer due to the discharge of the copper waste bath that has to be refreshed weekly/daily.
This is also where the possible instability of the copper layer thickness lies, but this is also the most important source of increasing contamination as the bath is used longer and more wire has passed through. Both copper and drawing soap residues, but also other contaminations contribute to more welding fumes and we want to avoid this in the welding process.
CEWELD Ultra Clean III is tested as the best by the Rheinisch-Westfälische Technische Universität in Aachen.
The Ultra Clean III welding wire is a complete copperfree wire, even in the wire itself the copper content has been reduced to less than 0.01% in order to eliminate welding fumes as much as possible.
Ultra Clean III is provided with a new high-quality industrial lubricant that reduces the resistance in the liner, which means that the wire feed motor requires no less than 55% less power to feed the wire. Ultra Clean III shows in independent practical tests that on average 35% less welding fumes occur with the same process parameters.
Below you can download the smoke test that was carried out by the Rheinisch-Westfälische Technische Universität in Aachen. In this smoke test, the Ultra Clean III is compared with a copper-plated equivalent welding wire.
