Dust Collector Industry Information

Dust collectors minimize air particle contamination in workshops, plants and manufacturing facilities. Particles are released from material processing in nearly every fabrication industry, from large wood shaving or metal shaving particles to fine, respirable chemicals and smoke particles. Air particles released during manufacturing processes are hazardous to both worker and equipment health, quickly leading to a number of problems if particles are not captured by dust collection equipment and filtered from facility air. Dust collection addresses this problem by drawing contaminated air through a filter, trapping harmful particles and releasing clean air back onto the work floor. Both industrial dust collectors and small dust collectors are used in various applications, including fabric filter baghouses and jet dust collectors, cyclone dust collectors, wet dust collectors, cartridge collectors, portable dust collectors, workstation downdraft tables and dust collecting systems complete with overhanging ductwork.

Dust collection is a vital process for coal handling, cement fabrication, metal fabrication, mining, chemical processing, woodworking, recycling and agricultural industries, among many others. Any process which emits smoke, dust or particles into the air is held by industry-specific state OSHA regulations to filter facility air. Baghouses, the most common dust collector design and often the most efficient, draw contaminated air in through ducts to a hopper-shaped baghouse containing fabric filters. The air is pulled through the fabric bags by a vacuum-creating fan, leaving behind dust, smoke and particles; clean air exits through the fan at the outlet, while dust particles settle into an airlock at the bottom of the hopper, which is routinely emptied. Baghouse dust collectors are sometimes equipped with vibrators which shake filters free of dust. Similarly, jet dust collectors are baghouses which use jets of reversed air to shake the dust-caked fabric bag filters free of dirt.

Cyclone dust collectors are inertial separators which use centrifugal, or cyclonic, air movement within a hopper-shaped chamber to separate particles from the air; the particles, being heavier than air molecules, are thrown against the outer wall of the hopper and fall to the bottom, where they are collected. These may be single-cyclone multi-cyclone dust collectors; non-cyclonic inertial dust separators include settling chambers and baffle chambers. Facilities usually incorporate baghouses, jet dust collectors and inertial separators into large dust collecting systems, with overhead ductwork and capture arms (suction hoods) which hang over the workspaces where dust is formed. In large facility applications, the dust collector, baghouse or chamber is often located outside, connected to the interior through ductwork. Portable dust collectors, which generally use fabric filters, can be moved around to various workstations for localized dust collection.

For individual processes, downdraft tables are work tables used for stationary dust collection in a particular workspace; processes such as welding and wood sawing are performed over this table, which captures dust particles in the constant stream of air which is pulled down through the table's filtering body. Although wet scrubbers and electrostatic precipitators are generally considered to be air pollution control equipment rather than dust collecting equipment, wet scrubbers and electrostatic precipitators perform similar functions on molecular levels by removing soot, smog and fine chemical pollution from the air of oil refinery and similar facilities. As the dust collecting industry advances, smaller and more efficient filtering equipment is being developed to meet increasingly strict environmental regulations. The benefits of employing effective, efficient dust collecting systems in one`s facility can be seen in equipment longevity and worker health, saving companies significant maintenance and worker compensation costs.

Dust Collector and Industrial Dust Collector Systems Image Provided by Dustex Corporation

Dust Collector and Industrial Dust Collector Systems Image Provided by Ultra Flow Dust Collectors