With rising health care costs and the increased need to retain a strong, reliable workforce, protecting employee health has become a top priority. Implementing dust collection equipment can help safeguard your personnel from dangerous levels of inhalable minerals such as crystalline silica dust. Processing plants that handle materials such as soil, glass, concrete, rock and sand materials produce the highest levels of this substance. Exposure to silica dust often causes scar tissue to form inside the lungs, producing nodules that inhibit proper breathing. This condition is known as silicosis.
According to OSHA, the best way to reduce the risk for silicosis is by eliminating or controlling airborne crystalline silica dust. Dust collection systems have proven to be highly effective tools for silica dust control and should be used on or near machines that have been identified as the key sources of this material. For optimal results, choose cyclone-based dust collection since it doesn’t require much maintenance and easily handles abrasive, granular substances.

Across the country, foundry managers are choosing to implement industrial dust collector equipment to protect personnel and minimize the environmental impact of daily operations. Why? Because coal combustion by-products like fly ash and coal dust contain particles like metals, polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons and silica. If employees are exposed to these potentially hazardous particles on a regular basis, they could damage their lungs or skin. According to a study published by the Transportation Research Board of the National Academies, fly ash leached into the environment contaminates the air and drinking water, which then harms the animals and plants that consume these natural resources. Clearly, an industrial dust collector is a necessary first line of defense to protect against the hazards of fly ash. Be sure to select a durable industrial dust collector that is designed to handle the extreme conditions common to a foundry environment. Counter-cyclonic dust collectors are ideal for these applications since the secondary air stream reduces wear on the cyclone walls and increases efficiency.

For facilities that handle relatively large, abrasive materials like sand, coffee, foundry dust, limestone dust and other minerals, a double-dump valve provides long-term functionality with minimal wear and air seepage. While a rotary valve is an excellent choice for processing low-abrasive, free-flowing particles, its blades and housing may experience excessive wear after short-term use in a rough material application. In contrast, a double-dump valve doesn’t have rotating components that are prone to damage. The tandem gates of the double-dump valve offer an easy, reliable way to dispense hard, rough materials without compromising the positive or negative pressure in the system. Bottom line: choosing the wrong dry solids material handling valve can end up costing you a fortune in expensive maintenance, lost time for personnel and system downtime. If your material is large and abrasive, save time and money by selecting a double-dump valve that’s specially designed to avoid wear.

How do you know if a rotary valve is the right choice for your dust collection system? The secret lies in the dry material your facility is processing. A rotary valve is ideal for handling low-abrasive, free-flowing particles such as chemical powders, pharmaceutical powders, flour and sugar. With a rotary valve, these light substances won’t get stuck in the blades and housing of the valve. This type of rotary valve effectively controls the feed or discharge of free-flowing materials without compromising the negative or positive air pressure used in the system. Large, abrasive particles should not be handled by a rotary valve since its components may develop excessive wear over a relatively short period of time. Remember: when you're looking for the best value in a rotary valve, it helps to do some comparison shopping. Many manufacturers have competing products at widely differing prices. Constructed of heavy duty steel, the Rhino Rotary R Valve is a great value, ideal for low-cost handling of low-abrasive, free-flowing materials.

By installing high-performance industrial dust collection equipment in your glass processing plant, you can safely collect and remove glass dust—providing valuable protection for both your personnel and machinery. Processing glass through sanding, grinding or cutting produces dust particles that can create multiple hazards. Fine glass particles that settle on equipment surfaces and moving parts may cause erosion over time. Unprotected personnel may inhale airborne glass dust and develop severe health problems resulting from long-term exposure. Durable dust collection equipment, such as the SplitStream Dust Collector, can be used to effectively filter a variety of particles including fine, granular glass dust. At glass processing plants, dust collection equipment should be installed in key locations such as near large furnaces to safely control glass dust found within the exit gases. The SplitStream’s unique design is ideal for handling glass dust because very little abrasive material contacts the interior walls of the collector, enabling reliable, efficient dust collection throughout its operating life.

If you are processing a dense, free-flowing material at your facility, you may be unaware of a low-cost solution for dust collection—the trickle valve. This type of valve uses a light vacuum to handle the continuous dispensing of materials such as wood chips, pharmaceutical pills, coffee, rocks and cereal. Unlike a motorized rotary valve, a low-maintenance trickle valve consists of a simple valve sleeve that requires no lubrication or power source, and has no controls or moving parts. With the trickle valve, you will not experience the hassle caused by dense materials getting stuck between the vane and walls of a rotary valve, which results in premature wear to the valve as well as an interruption of operations. Trickle valve sleeves are available in a variety of materials to fit the needs of your application—whether it’s operating at high temperatures or handling highly abrasive components. View our animated demo to learn more about trickle valve technology.

When choosing a rotary valve for your dry solid material handling application, durability is paramount. A recent article published on powderandbulk.com emphasized the importance of using a rotary valve that is constructed of highly wear-resistant material that can withstand abrasive minerals and metals such as silica sand, china clay, cast iron swarf, fly ash, grain, slate dust, petro-coke and granite dust. A rotary valve is key to controlling the feed or discharge of free-flowing bulk material without compromising the negative or positive air pressure used in the system. Since rotary valve replacement can be expensive and time-consuming, it’s important to implement a superior product from the beginning. Rotary valves fabricated from heavy duty steel plates like the Rhino Rotary H Valve™ provide exceptional performance and reliability in handling extremely abrasive materials when compared to competing cast valves. Available in custom sizes, this rugged rotary valve has hardened-surface rotor vane tips and added clearance outside the rotor shroud that allow it to operate smoothly without packing or excessive wear.

If you are like many plant engineers who are working within the confines of a limited work space, rest assured that you don’t need to compromise on the efficiency of your industrial dust collection system. A traditional, high-efficiency cyclone is not the best solution for facilities with low ceilings. If space limitations prevent you from properly orienting this type of cyclone in an upright position, this will result in a loss of efficiency due to particulate settling on the side of the collector and being carried out with the exhaust gas. Attempting to solve this problem by installing your vertically oriented dust collection cyclone outdoors may encourage condensation that can shorten service life and reduce efficiency.

How can you help your company become more green? One of the first things you can do is select a high-performance dust collector. As government standards and green initiatives push for increased environmental protection, more facility managers are implementing equipment and policies that improve both indoor and outdoor air quality. A timely article posted on an environmental weblog emphasized the dangers associated with industrial air pollution and offered some practical solutions for control. Pollution from high concentrations of airborne particles like dust can cause lasting damage to our planet’s atmosphere, while dust itself can inhibit an individual’s ability to breath. The article highlighted the value of a mechanical system such as a cyclone dust collector for reliable, efficient dust collection and control. One of the most efficient cyclone dust collectors utilizes a secondary, counter-cyclonic air stream to prevent the majority of particles from contacting the cyclone walls and causing damage. A counter cyclonic dust collector is especially beneficial because it can be used to recover particulate for reuse and is ideal for handling extra fine, highly abrasive materials. This leading-edge technology provides low-cost pollution control because it requires very little maintenance and has only one moving part—the blower.

When dry solids material handling is part of the manufacturing process, sometimes a traditional cyclone dust collector simply won’t do—especially when valuable materials are involved. This was the case for a diversified technology company that recently reengineered tiny glass beads used for reflective pavement markings so that they are more durable with excellent retro-reflective properties. During their propriety manufacturing process, the valuable glass and ceramic beads become airborne and need to be collected for reuse. While a cyclone dust collector seemed to be the logical choice for effective dry solids material handling, the spherical shape and high density of the beads caused most of them to bounce off of the cyclone walls and be expelled from the collector. To increase the efficiency of the dry solids material handling process, the company selected a SplitStream™ Cyclone Dust Collector. Its unique dual-air stream counter-cyclonic design prevents collected beads from hitting the interior walls and keeps them from being deflected out of the cyclonic vortex. It provided the best collection efficiency of any dust collection equipment tested, collecting nearly 100 percent of the airborne beads. View our animated demo to see how counter-cyclonic dust collection can improve your dry solids material handling application.