Many spray equipnment companies regard a downdraft booth to be a large booth and they design for the 50 ft min target.
Spray booth air flow requirements.
Once you have measured the air flow you will want to see what the original design specification for your paint booth airflow was.
Osha 29 1910 and nfpa 33 have minimum requirements for air flow to decrease the concentration of flammable materials in a spray paint booth.
We consider the painting area a spray area rather than a spray room or booth.
Aside from these minimum requirements for paint booths there are some essential safety practices to make sure your booth is maintained properly.
The three main styles of paint booths are cross draft down draft and side down draft paint booths.
Velocity and air flow requirements.
Controlling the paint booth air flow going into the booth with relation to the air being exhausted from the booth is critically important to maintain the proper flow of air over the item being painted and remove the over spray effectively.
Using the example from above 80 square feet multiplied by 100 feet per minute equals 8 000 cfm.
One hundred feet per minute is the guideline for air movement in the booth area.
Some booths are designed so that air entering at the back of the booth but from the ceiling moves to the far end of the booth where exhaust filters are.
This is the size of the fan needed.
The spray booth should be located to allow for proper air entry and flow through the booth.
1910 94 c 6 i except where a spray booth has an adequate air replacement system the velocity of air into all openings of a spray booth shall be not less than that specified in table g 10 for the operating conditions specified.
Restrict access for anyone with asthma allergies and respiratory illnesses.
In the past nfpa dictated paint booth air flow needed to be 100 fpm for non electric static coating application downdrafts were usually between 50 100 fpm.
The old standard was 100 linear feet per minute lfm and this is still stated in the international fire code ifc.
Spray painting performed in the hangars will be primarily spot maintenance but large areas of the aircraft could occasionally be painted.
A critical step in selecting a spray booth system is establishing the minimum air velocity and volume requirements.
Fans to push and pull the air being pushed in and pulled out are done with two types of fans.
Multiply the booth s face area by 100 feet per minute to achieve cfm.
Typical paint booth air flow values can be read about here or just remember typically a cross draft paint booth will have air flow of about 100 feet per minute based on the width and height of the booth a downdraft will have air flow of about 50 feet per minute.
Spray areas appear to be covered under 29 cfr 1910 107 which does not specify a minimum design airflow rate.
From your question is it not clear what you mean by semi downdraft booth.