Dust control system design: Allowing for your range of process conditions and establishing baseline performance values
This article explores two important elements in designing a reliable dust control system for your process: making sure that the system can handle your range of process conditions and simplifying system monitoring and maintenance by establishing the system’s baseline performance values. Information here, which builds on the author's previous Powder and Bulk Engineering dust control articles,1 presents problems and solutions from real processing plants to explain how you can design and maintain a reliable dust control system.
The best time to think about designing a dust control system that can protect your workers from processing dust is early in your process design. This allows you to consider from the start how powder-handling factors in your process will affect the dust control system. You should also work with a dust control expert, such as an independent dust control engineer, to help you choose system components that can reliably handle your powder and process conditions. These system components include an exhaust fan, a dust collector, and ductwork leading to one or more dust-controlled openings (that is, capture hoods or enclosures; also called pickup points) at your process’s dust sources.