Preliminary First Draft of the Proposed 2015 Edition of NFPA 652 Standard

The National Fire Protection Association (NFPA) has released the Preliminary First Draft of the proposed 2015 edition of NFPA 652. The standard will provide the basic principles of and requirements for identifying and managing fire and explosion hazards of combustible dusts and particulate solids. The standard will provide the user with general requirements and direct the user to the appropriate industry or commodity-specific NFPA standard for additional requirements.

The document establishes the basic principles and requirements that shall be applied to all facilities where combustible dusts or particulate solids are present. Where an industry or or commodity specific NFPA standard exists, its requirements shall be applied in addition to those in this standard. The proposed 2015 edition of NFPA 652 is very detailed in explaining specific definitions of all items contained in the document and applications where the standard will be applied.

You can read the entire document and learn even more at the links below.

Proposed 2015 Edition of NFPA Standard 652

National Fire Protection Association

Industrial Dust Collectors and Fume Collection Equipment

Article: 10 Ways A Dust Collection System Can Contribute To Your Plant’s Sustainability

A dust collector is designed to clean a factory of dust and fumes, thus making it fundamentally green.  By designing a dust collection system properly you can contribute to sustainability in many additional ways. An article appearing in Green Manufacturer magazine titled "10 Ways a dust collection system can contribute to your plant’s sustainability" written by air pollution control expert John Dauber, gives an easy overview in helping increase and maintain sustainability.

Make sure that the dust collector is compliant with the new U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and National Emission Standards for Hazardous Air Pollutants (NESHAP) Rule 6x regarding weld fumes and other airborne contaminants.   You can request a written guarantee from the equipment manager stating the dust collector meets the standards.  Size the collector properly for the application and area.  An undersized dust collector can result in high pressure drop, frequent filter changes, high energy usage, and a host of larger maintenance issues.

If you are being accountable for a  high standard of sustainability shouldn't you require your dust collector supplier to do the same.  You can request a sustainability report or other documentation as evidence of its green manufacturing initiatives.   The use of a VFD variable-frequency drive controls fan speed effectively and efficiently.

To read the full article and learn additional steps to consider for a truly sustainable dust collection system please visit Green Manufacturer Magazine.
You may also find more information regarding the EPA Standards here.

FAQ: Do you have general guidelines about when to replace cartridges?

Typically, cartridges are changed out when they become plugged and reach a high pressure differential range where the cartridges do not clean down enough to maintain airflow. Usually when the differential pressure reaches 5-6 in. water column, it is time to change the cartridges. Many control panels have a high pressure alarm that can be set to warn that the cartridges need to be changed or that something is wrong with the collector, such as loss of compressed air for the cleaning system.
Many companies follow a routine preventive maintenance program and change out the cartridges no matter what the pressure drop. This is often due to fear that a cartridge may develop a leak and cause downtime.

A good quality cartridge with a reinforced pleat can extend the time between filter change-outs. An open pleat design will extend cartridge life by using all of the media for filtering and not just the outer third of the pleat pack. The open pleat will also increase filter life due to the ease of pulsing the dust out of the wider pleat. Because of the open pleat, you can often recover the cartridges even if they have reached 6 in. or more of differential pressure due to an upset, like loss of compressed air.

A continuous spacer in the open pleat design also helps strengthen and support the cartridge media, also allowing longer time between change-out by preventing cartridge failure.