Dust Collection Systems

Air cleaning systems are often used to remove dust or vapors from plant or process exhaust streams. Dust collecting systems such as filters or electrostatic precipitators that handle heavy loads of dust are usually designed to be self-cleaning, but it is stiU. necessary to enter the air cleaner periodically for inspection or repair. Dust deposits inside the equipment are likely to be stirred up and inhaled by unprotected workers. Baghouses are particularly likely to cause exposure because large amounts of dust may be retained in the cloth and released when the bags are handled. 

This subsection is concerned with the application of particle mechanics (see Sec. 5, Fluid and Particle Mechanics ) to the design and apphcation of dust-collection systems. It includes wet collectors, or... 

Torit, 1999. Torit Products a Subsidiary of Donaldson Company, Inc. internet webpage www.torit.com/Products, Industrial Dust Collection Systems, last updated December. 

The separation step requires (1) application of a force that produces a differential motion of the particles relative to the gas, and (2) sufficient gas-retention time for the particles to migrate to the collecting surface. Most dust-collections systems are comprised of a pneumatic-conveying system and some device that separates suspended particulate matter from the conveyed air stream. The more common systems use either filter media (e.g., fabric bags) or cyclonic separators to separate the particulate matter from air. 

Fabric-filter systems, commonly called bag-filter or bag-house systems, are dust-collection systems in which dustladen air is passed through a bag-type filter. The bag collects the dust in layers on its surface and the dust layer itself effectively becomes the filter medium. Because the bag s pores are usually much larger than those of the dust-particle layer that forms, the initial efficiency is very low. However, it improves once an adequate dust-layer forms. Therefore, the potential for dust penetration of the filter media is extremely low except during the initial period after startup, bag change, or during the fabric-cleaning, or blow-down, cycle. 

The primary mechanism for conveying dust-laden air to a central collection point is a system of pipes or ductwork that functions as a pneumatic conveyor. This system gathers dust-laden air from various sources within the plant and conveys it to the dust-collection system. 

Design and configuration of the dust-collection system varies with the vendor and the specific application. Generally, a system consists of either a single large hopper-like vessel or a series of hoppers with a fan or blower affixed... 

A large fan or blower draws ambient air into the clean side of the filter bags. However, unless the air is properly conditioned by inlet filters, it may contain excessive dirt loads that can affect the bag life and efficiency of the dust-collection system. 

Filter media used in dust-collections systems is prone to damage and abrasive wear. Therefore, regular inspection and replacement is needed to ensure continuous, longterm performance. Any damaged, torn, or improperly sealed bags should be removed and replaced. 

Within the range of their performance capabilities, cyclones are one of the least expensive dust-collection systems. Their major limitation is that, unless very small units are used, efficiency is low for particles smaller than five microns. Although cyclones may be used to collect particles larger than 200 microns, gravity-settling chambers or simple inertial separators are usually satisfactory and less subject to abrasion. 

In the blast furnace, the reaction of the nitrogen in the blast with coke leads to the formation of poisonous chemicals such as hydrogen cyanide and cyanogens, and each cubic meter of the blast furnace gas contains from 200 to 2000 mg of these compounds. The blast furnace gas is scrubbed with water in the dust collection system the cyanide compounds dissolve in the water, which is then discharged after the compounds have been destroyed. Another poisonous emission in blast furnace operations is hydrogen sulfide. The sulfur present in the coke is converted into calcium sulfide in the slag, the water-quenching of... 

In this process EAF dust, other zinc-bearing wastes, recycled materials, coke or coal, lime, and silica are mixed and fed to a rotary furnace. The zinc and other volatile nonferrous metals in the feed are entrained in the furnace off-gas and are carried from the furnace to an external dust collection system. The resulting oxide (zinc calcine) is a crude zinc-bearing product that is further refined at zinc smelters. A byproduct of the process is a nonhazardous, iron-rich slag that can be used in road construction. Solidification technologies change the physical form of the waste to produce a solid structure in which the contaminant is mechanically trapped. 

The vacuum exhaust and dust collection system Is Illustrated for buildings 04-M-40 and B-46 in Figure 10 and 11 respectively. 

Figure 10. Vacuum exhaust ducting and dust collection system for burster facing operation in Building 04-M-40.

Figure 11. Vacuum exhaust and dust collection system for grenade press operation in Building B-46.

Common dust collection system used for solid oxidizer and reducing agent/combustible material. 

So far there has been little research and development work on dust collection systems which are self cleaning and can be cheaply installed in livestock buildings. The papers suggest that improved livestock environment by dust removal can have an economic advantage in terms of earlier marketing of pigs. 

The first step of the process is performed in a separate, dedicated building. The drums of arsenic trioxide are opened in an air-evacuated chamber and automatically dumped into 50% caustic soda. A dust collection system is used. The drums are carefully washed with water, the washwater is added to the reaction mixture, and the dmms are crushed and sold as scrap metal. The intermediate sodium arsenite is obtained as a 25% solution and is stored in large tanks prior to further reaction. In the next step, the 25% sodium arsenite is treated with methyl chloride to produce the disodium salt DSMA (disodium methanearsenate, hexahydrate). This DSMA can be sold as a herbicide however, it is more generally converted to MSMA, which has more favorable application properties [8]. 

The location of dust collection system air handling plants external to manufacturing building... 

Adequate dust collection systems point of use are recommended in areas where materials are handled. Where recovery of product is required from the dust collector systems, it is desirable that the system be dedicated to a single process or product line. 

Palmgren and Lee (1984) collected samples of grain dust (dust accumulated in the dust collection systems of grain elevators) from six grain elevators located in the New Orleans, Louisiana, area to evaluate potential occupational exposures of grain elevator personnel. Diazinon concentrations in grain dust were <0.01 pg/g for all 31 samples collected. The authors concluded that the concentration of diazinon on the grain dust posed no hazard. 

Because most of the ash is removed as molten slag, addition of a bottom grate is not necessary.7 However, small TDF is required, because much of the combustion must occur in suspension.7 TDF that is too large to combust completely can get carried over into the boiler or dust collection system, and cause blockage problems.9 Therefore, particle size may inversely determine the amount of TDF that can be used in a cyclone boiler.11 Three cyclone-fired boilers at utilities have burned 1M x 1" TDF in test operation, one at the 2 percent, one at the 5 percent, and one at up to a 10 percent level.3,9,12 One pulp and paper mill plans the use of TDF in a cyclone-fired hog-fuel boiler.13... 

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