Pollutants Emitted from 3D Printers onto Operators

Anna Karwasz, Filip Osiński and Krzysztof Łukaszewski
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Anna Karwasz: Faculty of Mechanical Engineering, Poznan University of Technology, Piotrowo 3 STR, 60-138 Poznań, Poland
Filip Osiński: Faculty of Mechanical Engineering, Poznan University of Technology, Piotrowo 3 STR, 60-138 Poznań, Poland
Krzysztof Łukaszewski: Faculty of Mechanical Engineering, Poznan University of Technology, Piotrowo 3 STR, 60-138 Poznań, Poland

Sustainability, 2022, vol. 14, issue 3, 1-18

Abstract: Volatile organic compounds are released during 3D printing, which can irritate the throat mucosa, cause cardiovascular disease and even, in extreme cases, cause a stroke. The survey research was carried out regionally, in the Greater Poland area, with students and lecturers of Poznań University of Technology. The survey was conducted in October and November 2021 among 31 students and 4 lecturers. Students in their third year of engineering studies in Mechanics and Machine Design, Mechatronics, and Biomedical Engineering who are interested in 3D printing have contact with additive manufacturing, personally print on their printers at home or at someone else’s, or submit their projects for printing outside. The survey showed how long, how often and from what materials the items are most often printed. The survey also showed that over 60% of respondents keep the printer in a room where they spend most of the day or sleep. A simulation was made of how contaminants were extracted from the printer when opening the door during or just after additive manufacturing. The tests were carried out in the ANSYS Fluent 2021 simulation environment. Three experiments were carried out, which show how the contamination, depending on the density, circulates around the printer operator and how quickly it spreads around. It has been identified that the operator, in less than 3 s after opening the door, is exposed to the pollution previously accumulated inside the chamber. The pollutants emanating from the chamber take the form of a cloud surrounding the operator’s head.

Keywords: additive manufacturing; air pollution; VOC; nanoparticles (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O13 Q Q0 Q2 Q3 Q5 Q56 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2022
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