What You Need to Know About an Industrial Dust Collector
Industrial dust collectors help businesses comply with Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) regulations. They also keep production up and running smoothly.
Most dust collectors use a two-stage system that filters and separates the matter before releasing sanitized air. Other systems include wet scrubbers and electrostatic precipitators. The latter work by negatively charging particles that flow through an ionized field.
Choosing a Dust Collector
Many industrial environments generate a lot of dust. This is especially true of warehouses and factories that work with abrasive materials or products coated with chemicals and paints. These particles are often toxic or corrosive and need to be contained to prevent fires, explosions or damage to equipment. The right kind of industrial dust collector will help keep workers safe and production running smoothly.
One of the first things you’ll need to consider when choosing a dust collector is how much power you need. This can be a difficult question to answer without the benefit of knowing how your shop is set up and what tools will be used. There are several «rules of thumb» you can use, however. For example, if your workshop is the size of a two car garage or bigger and you own a number of high cfm tools, it is likely you’ll need to move up to at least a 3 HP dust collection system. These units are capable of handling the air volume and static pressure required for longer lengths of ductwork common in larger home or commercial shops.
Other factors to consider are how frequently your facility produces dust, and what kind of filtration is needed. If your processes produce dust only occasionally, you may be able to get by with an intermittent bag dumping station. However, if you’re producing dust continuously throughout the day, you’ll need a continuous-duty system.
The type of dust you produce is also important. If it’s abrasive, you INDUSTRIAL DUST COLLECTOR might need special filters that will not clog easily. You’ll also want to consider whether the material is combustible or not. If it’s combustible, you will need an explosion proof dust collector with accessories like explosion vents or abort gates.
Once you have decided on a particular dust collector, it is important to know if it will be easy to install. Many manufacturers offer a fully-assembled dust collector that is ready for operation, with the exception of requiring you to supply compressed air and electrical connections. This can save you hours of labor cost and ensure the proper installation of your industrial ventilation system.
Explosion-Proof Dust Collectors
When handling materials that are combustible, it is important to protect your dust collector system with explosion-proof components. This includes not only the filtration system itself, but also the hopper and inlet ducting, outlet or return ducting, and any other auxiliary equipment that may be used in your facility. The National Fire Protection Association (NFPA) recommends having a combustible dust analysis performed to determine if your material is combustible and what its Kst value and Pmax are. This information will allow you to find the best type of industrial dust collector for your facility.
An unprotected dust collection system is a risk for an explosion, especially since it holds a large amount of combustible dust in a small confined space. A dust collector explosion can be deadly, sending flames and projectiles into the workplace, causing critical injuries to employees. Explosion-proof systems prevent this from happening by having an explosion vent that opens when the dust collector reaches a certain pressure, releasing the excess pressure and flame front into a safe area away from personnel.
Explosion-proof dust collectors are typically required for any facility that processes combustible materials, such as food processing, plastics, metalworking, and other commercial and industrial spaces with high standards of cleanliness. They are usually housed inside facilities and are connected to the ducting systems of other equipment, but can also be located outside.
Besides the obvious benefit of protecting workers from an explosion, explosion-proof systems also offer many other benefits. These include reduced maintenance costs, lower emissions of harmful particles into the environment, and improved efficiency in your operations. When selecting a combustible dust collector, you must consider all of the factors that can affect your operation, including particle size, system capacity, and location.
For a safe and efficient way to capture combustible materials in hazardous locations, look no further than Tiger-Vac CD Stainless, a portable, explosion proof dust collector that is certified by NRTL and 3rd party to meet OSHA and NFPA Division 1 Hazardous Location requirements. This explosion-proof vacuum cleaner can be easily moved between locations with locking casters and is equipped with a spark trap, automatic filter pulse cleaning, and manual or auto filter shut off.
Single Bag Dump Stations
Bag dump stations allow the effective opening & unloading of sacks or bags of bulk solid materials without the need for manual cutting, turning and shaking. This reduces material waste and dust emissions, protects operators & prevents plant contamination. These systems are available in a wide variety of configurations and sizes to suit your needs. The design of the hopper depends on the type of bulk material, sack size, discharged medium and other factors that affect dumping operations.
The hopper is equipped with INDUSTRIAL DUST COLLECTOR an internal dust filter to collect airborne dust emitted during the dumping process. This dust is collected within the hopper and transferred to the dust collector via a vacuum fan. The bag dump station is an excellent choice for industrial workshops that produce low volumes of dust & for high-efficiency operation.
A vacuum fan draws ambient air & dust from the hopper through a baghouse cartridge filter. The filters are cleaned by pulses of compressed plant air from timer-activated solenoid valves. Short blasts of air from the pulse jet nozzles inside each filter on a timed cycle shatters and dislodges dust that has accumulated on the surface of the filters, allowing it to fall into the hopper. Stainless steel models are fabricated to meet industrial, 3-A and FDA standards with options for sanitary design.
After the hopper is empty, the operator can easily connect pneumatic conveying lines, screw feeders or conveyors to transfer the granular material to its destination. This eliminates the need for the operator to manually lift heavy 25- to 50-pound bags of ingredients up and into mixers.
ACT offers a full line of cyclone dust collectors for use in industries that work with particulates such as welding, sanding, metal fabrication, woodworking, powder coating, blasting, grinding, milling, foundry, metal machining, and more. Cyclones use centrifugal cyclonic/vortex action due to tangential rotation and can be used as primary separators in dust collection systems or as spark trappers in some applications. They are also useful for removing fine to moderate-sized particulates that would otherwise clog or damage fabric filters in a conventional baghouse system.
Centralized Dust Collectors
Located in manufacturing plants, facilities and other industrial environments, dust collectors are pieces of air pollution control equipment designed to remove harmful fine particulate contaminant matter from exhaust gases before venting them into the atmosphere. Depending on the application, they may also be used to recover valuable granular solid or powder from process streams or to filter out abrasive particles from exhaust during grinding and milling operations.
There are several different types of centralized industrial dust collection systems. Some of the most common are baghouse, cyclone and fabric collectors. These are often used in mineral processing, mining and metallurgical applications as well as in the food processing industry. They are commonly employed as a way to reduce abrasive particle accumulation in equipment such as crushers, grinders, mixers, conveyors, dryers and packing machines. They are also used as a way to remove toxic substances from fumes and exhaust from welding, grinding and other processes.
Centralized dust collection systems require ductwork to connect to the various equipment or workstations. This can add up to a significant cost when multiple ducts are involved as well as the expense of purchasing and maintaining ductwork in an environment where abrasive materials are present. Energy consumption can also be a concern as the system will pull air from all connected hoods even if only one is active.
Another issue with centralized placement is that it can be difficult to maintain only one collector without shutting down the entire operation. This can result in a requirement to service the equipment during weekends or holidays, adding to labor expenses. Finally, if the collected dusts are incompatible or not fit for reclamation, they must be hauled away to a landfill which can add up to significant transportation and disposal costs.
A more cost effective option is a more integrated placement approach. In this case, a smaller collector is placed at each point of dust production. It is then possible to service these units one at a time without shutting down the entire operation and the associated lost production. This also allows a more tailored energy usage as the collector only operates when the process is in use.