Recirculating your cleaned air: Is it right for your plant?
Do you cringe every time you think about the large volumes of cleaned, conditioned air your dust collector exhausts out the stack? Recirculating your dust control system's cleaned air back to the plant can reduce your energy costs, increase your production flexibility, and provide other benefits while maintaining the right air balance in your workplace. This article explains how to decide if a recirculating dust control system is right for your plant.
In the typical dry bulk solids processing plant, a dust control system removes airborne contaminants from the workplace by capturing them at or near their sources and then transporting them to a dust collector (or other air cleaner). The collector filters the contaminants from the air and typically discharges the cleaned air outdoors. Exhausting large volumes of air in this way requires supplying an equal amount of fresh replacement or makeup air to maintain the air balance in the plant. The problem is, the cost of heating or cooling the replacement air can be significant.