Effective dust control solutions are necessary for any industry whose production processes generate fine particulate matter as a material byproduct. More than simply a health risk, material dust has the potential to disrupt or halt production, damage equipment, increase plant maintenance costs, and even cause fires or explosions. Keeping industrial facilities and plants dust-free mitigates risks and improves company profitability and productivity.
Once in place, dust collection systems reduce operational costs wherever they are implemented. The enhanced safety and safe work environments increase the efficiency of operations. Effective dust control increases equipment longevity, not only lowering cleaning and repair costs that lead to lengthy downtime but overall facility maintenance costs. Controlling dust is also the law. Dust collection systems must meet government-related regulations to comply with emission standards, particulate exposure limits safety codes, and protect against fire and explosion. Violations will draw fines and penalties.
What is Material Dust?
Material dust is an industrial byproduct of such dry material processes as crushing, sifting, sanding, cutting, mixing, abrasive blasting, or screening. These processes create a particulate-sized material residue that becomes suspended in the air through any number of ways, be it handling, grinding, motion, movement, further processing, transportation, and so forth. As the dust stirs and settles it reacts with its immediate environment. In the process, it poses health hazards, damages equipment, and, as it concentrates and builds up, presents the risk of deflagrating and exploding.
Referred to as combustible dust, it can be found in any industrial environment that generates material dust of any kind. The potential of dust deflagration or explosion is indexed by a KSt value, a generalized numerical system that estimates the anticipated explosive behavior of a given dust particle. If material dust with high KSt values is not managed properly, it can present a very real danger to the workplace and community.
The Importance of Dust Control Across Industries
Certain industries are prone to generating fine particulate material residue relating to production processes. Food and agriculture production facilities, grain elevators, chemical manufacturing plants, pharmaceutical facilities, paper mills, woodworking shops, furniture factories, and metal processing plants are a shortlist of industries affected by material dust control issues.
Dust control is essential to those industries that carry out dry material processes. Industrial dust collectors are necessary to meet the challenges caused by material dusting at facilities. The collectors help keep workplaces dust-free, thereby mitigating the risks associated with the particulate residue caused by material dust. Dust collection systems not only capture dry particulate residue from manufacturing processes that present hazards, but contain and collect nuisance dust and fumes, too.
Advantages of Implementing Dust Control Solutions
Having material dust particulates sucked out of the air will eliminate the costly problems associated with material dusting and dust accumulation while improving your workspace.
Cost-Effectiveness
However unlikely it may seem, even small amounts of dust can cause a big headache with substantial financial repercussions. In implementing dust control solutions, manufacturing plants and processing facilities operate more cost-effectively than a dusty facility. By every measurable metric, dust collectors are good for a company’s bottom line. They provide a clean, safe work environment that improves productivity and ensures employee retention, and protects the equipment vital to production, and associated repair costs.
Increased Safety
A safe working environment is important to ensure the health and safety of everyone—employees, managers, vendors, visitors, and the community in general. Keeping a work environment dust-free will obviously prevent citations and costly fines, but effective dust control will help retain employees. It costs money to train employees in methods of production. High employee turnover rates are counterproductive. When it is due to poor air quality and harmful dust particulates in the air, it will leave shifts understaffed and cause production rates to lag and drop, directly affecting the bottom line.
Efficient Machinery Operation
In addition to safety and staffing, the smooth operation of machinery and equipment throughout multiple shifts is vital to production. Dust accumulation can quickly build up on machinery parts and components, causing the machine to slow and run inefficiently. At some point the machinery will stop working altogether, requiring downtime to clean, repair, or replace a part. Any work stoppage will adversely affect production and cascade into delays down the line which subsequently cause late shipments to customers.
Dust control solutions first require research of a facility’s production environment, as it relates to the type of material dust generated and volume. It should be done in consultation with engineers who have expertise in dust control systems. Through research and consultation, recommendations for an appropriate dust collection system will ensure the application fits the production environment and provide the necessary air filtration and dust removal to help maintain a dust-free facility.
Implementing dust control solutions can ensure the health and safety of the workplace and productivity and profitability for companies. A custom-designed dust collection system will provide quality air filtration of dust and fumes, and collect dust that prevents particulate concentrations within production areas and the release outside of facilities. In such ways, dust control solutions can positively impact a company’s bottom line.
To learn more about our dust control solutions from CPE Filters, please contact us today.