wax in laundry exhaust ducts

[evapcoil]

Good evening Colleagues
I am facing a small issue with wax accumulation in an exhaust duct connected to a mangler in our main laundry.
The personnel in the laundry has been intructed to reduce the use of wax but still this has not solve the problem completely.
On this duct it is installed a regular mesh metallic filter, but it seems to be not very effective.
I fear that it is installed too close to the mangle, therefore the wax is still too hot when it is passing through the filter but later on it cools down and stick to the duct walls.
Has anybody encounter this problem before?
If so , how did you fix it?
Or maybe somebody knows the right tool for this task... ;-)
Thank you in advance
Evap

[Brian_UK]

Intrigued about the use of wax in a laundry.

What purpose does it serve?

Researching as we read....

[Edit] Is it waterproofing wax that you are dealing with? nikwax eg?

[Magoo]

Weird problem.
where does the wax come from, is it for water proofing jackets, clothing etc..
Perhaps a hot steam purge up the duct will let it all run out on the floor.

[evapcoil]

Good morning Guys
The wax is sprayed on napkins, table clothes and so on when pass through the mangle to lubricate the rollers while ironing, therefore a small amount vaporize and it is sucked through the exhaust.
We have an exhaust duct running straight from the mangle to the main exhaust line to extract the heat at the source.

[B G Scott]

Best plan would be to do some tests.
Check the temperature of the duct where the wax is condensing, this will give you some idea of the dew point of the air/wax mixture.
The best solution then would be to fit some type of labyrinth filter in a location where it will be at, or below the dew point you have established by your test.
You will not stop it all but it will be better than you have and with less fire hazard as you can clean the filters frequently.

[Magoo]

Hi evapcoil.
you have silver service dining in Antarctica. Must be some ship/cruise liner. Tell us all more about the ship.
I would mention the waxing of napkins and table clothes to the wife , but would not get a good reaction, I would end up doing the ironing so will not mention it.

[install monkey]

http://www.tesco.com/groceries/Product/Details/?id=250992790
an alternative to wax, clogged ducts

[Brian_UK]

Thinking sideways, as I do sometimes...

Would it possible/feasible to install a water spray in the duct to condense the wax and to flush it out through a drain?

[install monkey]

why's there a hyperlink in your post- whats mainlining?


[Edit]Offending post deleted, Brian

[evapcoil]

Hi All, thank you for your replies, let me comment on them..

To Joseph, I am in the maintenance team(Chief Refrigeration Officer) and I have to solve the problem, unfortunately the people ironing do not work for Me and we tried few times to mention this issue to their supervisor, they are careful for a while but with the crew continously changing, it is not easy to keep track of it.

To Magoo, search online for "Seabourn Quest", that is the lady that I am sailing on.. Pretty classy... :-)

To Scott, I will look into your suggestion as it could be the easiest to apply in my envinronment.

[evapcoil]

112311123211233

Hi Guys, just a couple of pictures of our mangle, not really a domestic iron... :-)

[evapcoil]

To InstallMonkey, I guess that we will need a lot of these cans ;-)

[install monkey]

just thought- how about fitting filter media at each grille- they can be changed frequently thus keeping your duct cleaner

[evapcoil]

there are already metallic mesh filters installed on the exhaust vents but the one that is giving me problems is the one that is exhausting directly from the mangle, there is a filter in there but it is not enough