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Nick Lees
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Posted at 09 June 2020
Cutting out the dust
Dust in industry isn’t something you can deal with using a feather duster or a vacuum cleaner. And it’s not just something unsightly. It can be a danger to health, as well as a potential fire risk, depending on what kind of dust it is. Using a high-quality industrial filter is essential to eliminate the risks, as a manufacturer in Austria producing cutting dies discovered.
As part of the process of making sophisticated punching tools, this Filtration Group customer operates laser-assisted laminated wood processing to produce cutting dies. This can involve a variety of carrier materials, such as wood, aluminium or plastic.
When wood is being used, the process generates sticky wood dust, which has proved to be highly flammable. In fact, there have been three fires at the customer’s plant, directly caused by the dust resulting from the process. With a minimum ignition energy of > 10mJ – a standard measurement of the minimum energy required to ignite the dust when mixed with air or oxygen – it was clearly essential for the dust to be extracted, before it could become a fire hazard.
The customer asked Filtration Group to find the most appropriate and effective filtration for their specific dust problem.
Filtering better, for longer
After a thorough assessment of the customer’s specific dust problem, Filtration Group experts made a number of recommendations for optimum filtration.
The first was to employ conical filter elements, as these offered the optimum shape for the customer’s particular filtration application. The second was to employ a Ti 15 polyester fleece as the filter material, due to its key properties [see end section]. In particular, the Ti 15 fleece is characterised by excellent separation efficiency, and a high level of air permeability.
However, the solution didn’t stop there.
Knowing the sticky dust was likely to prematurely age the filter elements, Filtration Group also recommended feeding filter aids onto the filter elements, to form an additional filtration layer. This is done via an SDG 100 dosing unit. The result is improved cleaning behaviour of the sticky wood dust, more reliable operation of the filter, and a longer service life for the filter elements.
Prevention is better than fire
After suffering three fires at their plant in the past, the customer was understandably concerned about fire risk. Filtration Group’s solution was to equip the dedusting system with both spark pre-separation and a spark extinguishing system.
The customer’s process occasionally creates glowing particles, which can enter an unprotected filter unit. Spark pre-separation is designed to prevent this as far as possible. However, it can never be 100% effective, which is why a spark extinguishing system is also part of the installation.
This system detects sparks entering the unit, and extinguishes them before they have time to ignite a fire or spark an explosion.
Monitoring done and dusted
As well as designing and engineering a highly effective filtration system for the customer, Filtration Group have continued taking care of it after installation, using remote condition monitoring.
This Industry 4.0 system monitors important parameters such as differential pressure, pressure, humidity, temperature and so on, and transmits the data over an internet connection directly to the Filtration Group service team.
If the monitoring throws up any issues, the team will immediately alert the customer. Fast mitigating or remedial action can then be taken by making any necessary adjustments to the filtration system. The result is uninterrupted and optimum operation for longer – meaning no unexpected, unplanned downtime.
Because no-one wants an asset to be just gathering dust.
The optimum filter choice
The Ti 15 polyester filter media has a number of advantages which made it a particularly suitable choice for this customer’s filter application:
- improved separation efficiency
- high air permeability
- low pressure loss
- exceptional stability
- high mechanical strength (elongation at break 70 %)
- smooth surface
- good cleanability
- resistance to a large number of chemicals
- hydrophobic properties aiding wet cleaning
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