Assessing the effectiveness of push–pull ventilation worktables in isolating air contaminants under dynamic interference conditions

The push–pull ventilation worktable achieves the objective of ensuring external environmental hygiene by separating contaminants from clean air with an air curtain. However, the air curtain may be broken by arm movements in the work area, causing pollutants to flow out. It is essential to investigate the push–pull ventilation worktable’s isolation properties when dynamic arm interference is present. This study combines experimental and simulation methods to first analyze the isolation characteristics of the worktable under static working conditions. Second, the worktable’s isolation properties under various motion speeds for arm extension, horizontal, and vertical movements are discussed. The results indicate that while under static working settings, the worktable exhibits good isolation qualities, under dynamic working conditions, the worktable exhibits variable isolation characteristics in various motion scenarios. The study’s findings can serve as a general guide to design a push–pull ventilation worktable that takes dynamic behavior into account.