What Are Industrial Dust Collectors and How Do They Work?

What are industrial dust collectors? A lot of people are often uncertain of what dust collectors are and why there are necessary for any company or facility. Most people are familiar with blowers and ducting, but incorporating a dust collection system and familiarizing all of its components can be confusing. Hopefully this article can shed some light on the how a dust collection system works and why certain types are better than the other.

Industrial Dust Collectors Design

Industrial dust collectors are designed to purify air or gas by removing contaminants or dust particles from the air. Dust collectors can be classified into four main types:

• Filtered collectors
• Wet scrubbers
• Inertial separators
• Electrostatic Precipitators

Most dust collectors come with ducting that is connected to the inlet of a collector, a way to filter the dirty air inside of the unit, a blower system to create airflow through the ducting system and the dust collector’s internal body, a cleaning system for the filters, and a discharge system for collecting dust particles for waste or reclaim purposes. All of these parts may vary slightly depending on the application simplifying these essential components to dust collection systems.

What’s the Best Industrial Dust Collector?

Because there’s a wide selection of brands and types of industrial dust collectors on the market, it’s important to narrow down your search based on some important questions that needs answers: What is your application? Will you be using your dust collector indoors or outdoors?  What characteristics does the contaminant or dust particle have? Are you going to use the dust collector continuously or intermittently?

It is very important to address these basic questions so that a professional can determine and set up the appropriate dust collection system for your facility. If you’re aiming for something that has low maintenance costs, low cost of ownership, effective suction ability, meets any local or national NFPA/OSHA regulations, and create the cleanest work environment possible, then you need to invest proper time and consideration on each application. This is in order for the dust collector to work for your individual process needs.

The best dust industrial dust collector is obviously one that is sized appropriately, comes with a good warranty, has a cleaning system that is effectively handles the exact dust the system is encountering, has a properly engineered ducting system, and comes with a filtration method that can handle the type and size of dust particles going through the unit.

What Industrial Dust Collector Do You Need?

It should be noted that there are no “wrong” types of dust collectors. But, each type has its own strength and weaknesses. Choosing a particular type or model of dust collector depends on different criteria that suit the company’s needs.

We’ll try to provide a simple overview of some of the features of the three most common types of dust collectors found on the market. They are as follows:

SHAKER DUST COLLECTOR

Manual or motorized shaker dust collectors use old technology. But, they are not right choice if you are looking for a continuous, high-performing option for your industrial facility.

Details:

• Long, required periodic breaks to clean the filter bags
• Preferable to operate this dust collector at a low air-to-cloth ratio to minimize downtime.
• Best used occasionally or alternately, ideal for mid-sized cabinet making shops and/or vocational schools.

CYCLONIC DUST COLLECTOR

In order for this unit to be effective, it needs a huge amount of larger dust particles. This type of dust collector uses the cyclonic effect to keep larger particles separate while collecting finer particles using filter bags.

Details:

• This design requires higher space.
• The cyclonic effect results to high-static pressure, which leads to high-energy consumption.
• Its self-cleaning filter bag system allows for continuous use.

RECTANGULAR DUST COLLECTOR

This type of dust collector offers a number of customizable options that caters to the client’s needs. This type is among the most effective when it comes to filtering capacity versus energy required for proper operation of the unit.

Details:

• Its self-cleaning filter bag systems allows you to use it continuously
• Low pressure loss is caused by high-performing, low-energy blower.
• Design requires less height.

Choosing an Industrial Dust Collector

There are several factors that influence your choice of industrial dust collectors. The first would be according to the dispersion of dust.

Dust dispersion has a huge effect on how an industrial dust collector functions. So, when choosing the type of dust collector, you need to understand the dispersion of dust first.

Second, you need to consider the dust concentration.

The greater the concentration of dusts in the inlet, the better the industrial dust removal power. But, this usually leads to the increase of dust concentration of the outlet. Therefore, we cannot completely say that higher industrial dust removal power equals to better quality device. This simply depends on the many factors.

If you’re using a filter dust collector, do note that lower the initial dust concentration translates to better overall dust removal capabilities. In the case of high initial dust concentration, you’d be better off choosing a continuous cleaning method with minimal change in pressure loss.

Third would be adhesion to dust.

The adhesion method between dust and wall is and can be very complicated. The smaller the dust’s particle size, the larger the specific surface area becomes. This also means the adhesion is greater too. If you’re using a cyclone dust collector, dust adheres to the wall due to the centrifugal force and therefore results to a higher risk of clogging.

Conclusion

Educating yourself on what industrial dust collectors are and how they work can help you in making an informed choice. Making the right choice in dust collection equipment for your business can be a good investment. It’s important to look closely and not be afraid to ask questions about the options available for you. It’s also good to compare products and prices as well. Not only will you be able to keep your workplace a safe and dust-free place but you’ll end up saving money in the long run as well.