Dust suppression benefits materials handling

25th September 2015

By: Creamer Media Reporter

  

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While dust prevention can be used in materials handling operations, dust suppression is the preferred option, owing to low water consumption, especially in areas where water is scarce, says dust-control company Dust-A-Side.

Other benefits of using dust suppression include a reduced probability of blockages on screens or in chutes, the technology’s effectiveness in capturing breathable airborne dust and the method’s ability to cover specific areas, which results in minimal waste of water and chemicals.

Dust suppression is also more cost effective, compared with other methods of dust extraction.

However, possible drawbacks of dust suppression include its being increasingly affected by external factors, such as wind, and being maintenance intensive with regard to filtration.

“Water quality is important and therefore it is crucial that you implement a proper filtration system. We have a fully automated filtration system,” the company says.

How it Works
Dust suppression involves atomising low volumes of water under high pressure exceeding 40 bar to create a fine mist that can effectively capture airborne dust.

Therefore, dust suppression can be focused on specific areas, and can be used, for example, to create a fine mist over a screen to capture airborne dust and put it back onto the material.

Further, dust prevention can be used to improve the effectiveness of dust suppression systems by using them together.
From an occupational-health perspective, dust can be classified by size into three primary catergories: respirable, inhalable and total dust.

Dust-A-Side states that most visible dust has a particle size of 10 micron and larger. Dust in this range can cause irritation, impair visibility and is a general nuisance.

However, an increased risk stems from dust that is not visible to the naked eye, in the form of dust particles smaller than 10 micron, and especially dust smaller than 5 micron – known as respirable dust. This is the type of dust that can pass beyond the human body’s natural clearance mechanisms of cilia and mucous and are more likely to be retained within the body.

Dust-A-Side note that when controlling dust using a wet suppression system, it is important to understand the crucial function of water droplet size. The company says that, to effectively suppress airborne dust, it is ideal to match each dust particle to a water droplet. Water molecules are attracted to each other through hydrogen bonds, with these forces being responsible for the surface-tension properties of water.

To assist in obtaining a smaller droplet size, Dust-A-Side uses their HydroPlus surfactant that helps to break the surface tension of water droplets to increase the water droplets’ potential as a wetting agent.

Custom Solutions
Dust-A-Side’s dust-control solutions are custom-designed to meet the requirements of individual customers.
Because water quality is paramount, Dust-A-Side ensures that self-cleaning filter systems are used, enabling clean water to be supplied to the dust-control infrastructure at satisfactory levels to ensure reliability.

Therefore, Dust-A-Side conducts water sampling to determine the quality of the water and adjust the filter system to accommodate specifications of the water available.

Its dust-control systems are fully automated and controlled through a programmable logic controller, thereby allowing for a system design that suits a client’s specific plant control philosophy.

Dust-A-Side’s solutions are containerised and air-conditioned to protect clients’ capital investment from the harsh environment in the mining industry. It is currently involved in projects in the commodity sectors of coal, nickel, chrome, iron and manganese. This includes new projects at coal miner Exxaro’s Leeuwpan colliery, and base metals and coal miner South 32’s Klipspruit colliery and South Eskom Plant, all in Mpumalanga.

Business Expansion
Dust-A-Side is constantly looking at new innovations allowing the company to be a step ahead of competition. In 2015 it expanded its dust suppression systems offering to include stacker and reclaiming dust suppression systems, fully automated dosing systems for all road surface applications and a new jet fan dust suppression tip application.

Edited by Creamer Media Reporter

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