Dust control system design: Allowing for your range of process conditions and establishing baseline performance values

摘要

The best time to think about designing a dust control system that can protect your workers from processing dust is early in your process design. This allows you to consider from the start how powder-handling factors in your process will affect the dust control system. You should also work with a dust control expert, such as an independent dust control engineer, to help you choose system components that can reliably handle your powder and process conditions. These system components include an exhaust fan, a dust collector, and ductwork leading to one or more dust-controlled openings (that is, capture hoods or enclosures; also called pickup points) at your process's dust sources. Early steps in designing your dust control system include minimizing particle momentum in your process, learning your dust control system's exhaust airflow limitations, and keeping dust out of the system [topics covered in the au-thor's previous articles. The following sections take this design process to its conclusion with information on how to design a system that can handle your range of process conditions and how to establish the system's baseline performance values to aid system monitoring and maintenance.