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.

What does it cost to own your dust collector filters?

"When it comes to choosing filters for a cartridge dust collector, powder and bulk processors sometimes regard these items as more or less of a commodity. If Filter A and Filter B both offer the same rated efficiency and fill any special requirements – say, for example, the need for fire retardant media – then the lowest-priced filter would appear to be the better choice. In fact, the opposite may be true. But it requires a 'Total Cost of Ownership' (TCO) calculation to know for certain. Similar in concept to life-cycle costing, TCO is a very useful approach for deciding what filters to select for a dust collection application. TCO incorporates a step-by-step evaluation process encompassing three categories..." Read this full, informative article here.