Airborne dust generated from bulk material handling and industrial processing can pose environmental, health and safety challenges. In recent years, environmental regulators have taken steps towards passing more stringent air quality and emissions standards for bulk material handling facilities and operators, with particulate matter being a prime area of scrutiny. Dust particles less than or equal to 10 microns (PM 10) and 2.5 microns (PM 2.5) are a particular area of concern due to the harmful health risk these small particles pose if inhaled.
Among the dust suppression technologies available, many facilities have learned that using technology that mimics nature’s ability to clean the air can be the most cost effective way to control fugitive dust. Dust Solutions Incorporated (DSI) provides technology solutions based on these natural processes, without the use of chemicals and heavy water or power usage.
Dust suppression is accomplished by creating Dry FogTM. Dry fog systems utilize compressed air and plain tap water to create micron sized fog droplets, similar to fog that would occur after a rainy day.
How Does Dry Fog Work?
DSI dry fog systems have proven to significantly reduce fugitive dust from a variety of material handling points such as truck dumps, rail dumps, reclaim tunnels, crushers, screens, stack outs, ship loaders, and truck loading silos and conveyor transfer points.
The technology uses a special type air-atomizing nozzle that produces a very dry fog (water droplets 10 microns or smaller) to agglomerate and remove airborne dust particles (PM-10) from various material handling and processing operations. These ultra-fine water droplets attach (agglomerate) to like size dust particles, particulate matter 10 microns or smaller (PM-10). The slightly wetted dust particles are then heavy enough to be removed from the air by their added weight and fall back into the process.
It is important to note that the system only wets the dust, not the material, unlike conventional water spray and chemical spray systems. This makes it an ideal solution to combat dust generated from moisture sensitive materials such as coal, coke for fuel, copper concentrate, clinker and cement. Moisture addition to the material is typically less than 0.05% by weight and is often undetectable. Dry fog is the driest form of dust suppression available. Dry Fog is not designed to wet the process material, it only wets the airborne dust.
Dry Fog systems have been successfully implemented in the most challenging environments, including cold weather, marine, and underground mines in both stationary and portable systems. System are custom designed and engineered for specific new build applications or can be retrofitted into existing infrastructure.
Wind Fence Systems for Dust Suppression
For the prevention of dust from material stockpiles or areas where wind plays a factor in the generation of airborne dust, a porous fabric wind screen material called DustTamer can be used in several ways to slow the movement of air. One common application is the DustTamer Wind Fence System, which can reduce air movement across a material stockpile or reduce air movement along an open conveyor or transfer point. The fabric is knitted from an industrial grade woven polyester, resistant to UV rays, in-climate weather and temperature extremes. Its unique ability to be stretched and tensioned to over 500lbs. of pull prevents “flagging” of the material and consequential damage due to abrasion.
DustTamer™ fabric is specially designed to exert a drag force on oncoming wind velocity. Reducing wind speeds by 75% or more, the fabric allows a portion of the wind volume to penetrate through the screen while deflecting the remaining wind to the surrounding sheltered area. As a result, the velocity is lowered below the particulate uptake point, achieving minimal dust disturbance around the material.
DustTamer’s unique porosity allows air to pass through and equalize the differential pressure inside the wind-sheltered area. DustTamer can be used as a stand-alone system or in conjunction with fogging to provide protection to material stockpiles, truck, rail or loader dump pockets, conveyor transfer points, and stacker conveyors so that particular matter stays grounded where it belongs.
Wind Screen Systems work better than a solid structure in the above applications, because of the fabrics specially designed porosity. Approximately 30% of the ambient air will go through the fabric helping to equalize the pressure differential from one side of the fabric to the other. Solid structures generally have openings for equipment access, dumping or stacking activities. These open areas can be great sources of dust creation by allowing air to move from a high to low pressure area, increasing velocities and the amount of airborne particulate.
DustTamer wind screen systems are also effective in marine and port environments where material handling operators must take into account humidity and wind coming off the water.
Dust Solutions Inc. (DSI) manufactures dust suppression technology for Power Plants, Mines, Marine Terminals, Mineral Processing Facilities, Pulp & Paper, Wood Products, Hazardous Waste, and Bulk Handling industries. Headquartered in Beaufort, South Carolina USA, DSI has regional offices in Vancouver, Washington USA, Manila, Philippines and Santiago, Chile.
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