Clearing The Air With Cartridges (continued)

Dust Collection System Design

Camfil Farr APC worked closely with Air Improvement Resources to customize a 17,000 cfm dust collection system to fit Thermal Ceramics' unique requirements. The collector uses 32 cartridges arranged in eight rows of four cartridges each. In addition to using premium filtration media with wide pleat spacing to handle the irregularly shaped dust fibers, "inlet design was also a big concern, because this unit sees heavy inlet loading of abrasive dust," says Soncrant.

To prevent the cartridges from abrading, the manufacturer put in staggered channel baffles at the inlet to knock out the heavier, more abrasive strands of fiber before they can enter the collector. The baffled inlet design also serpentines the air through the inlet channel for better airflow distribution through the unit. "We also sized the system very conservatively to ensure proper airflow and conveying velocities," Soncrant adds.

Ricky Criss prepares to open heavy duty access door to the dust collector.

Since the collector housing is powdercoated to withstand the elements (a standard feature on this collector design) and is made of heavy duty 7-GA and 10-GA steel, Thermal Ceramics was able to locate the collector outdoors. Using hard connections to the machines in the work area, the contaminated air is pulled through about 75 ft. of ductwork to the collector.

As the cartridges load with dust, the system relies on pulses of compressed air that automatically release the dust from the cartridge surfaces and down into a hopper. Extended support legs and bracing were used for the collector, allowing ground clearance for the use of a trough type discharge hopper with a 10-in. diameter extended length screw conveyor and rotary valve. Dust is discharged directly into portable tote bins, simplifying the disposal of collected dust without creating secondary dust.

Operator Frank Blount makes custom shapes on the band saw.

Downstream of the collector, the air is clean enough to recirculate back into the plant, where it could eliminate the energy required to heat or cool the replacement air - an important benefit of cartridge collection in locations that experience extreme temperatures. Due to the temperate climate in this area, however, Thermal Ceramics finds it more efficient to exhaust the cleaned air outdoors and maintains Georgia Environmental Protection Division permitting for this practice.