MANUFACTURING some types of foods is a dangerous business. The fine powders that are produced from the blending of sugars and other additives, if left unattended can build up and result in explosions.
These conditions could evolve into optimum conditions (cloud formation, oxygen and ignition source) in a dust collector.
According to Dominique Ollitrault, a consulting engineer with Donaldson Australasia, dust in the atmosphere in a manufacturing environment like this poses a serious “likelihood for explosions”.
“Many people are unaware that foodstuffs can cause volatile dust clouds, so the removal of dust that carries this potential is naturally high on the agenda of an operations department,” said Ollitrault.
“As food processing utilises sugar blends and many additives, it is not uncommon to be in the middle of an undesirable mix, so constant monitoring of atmosphere along with appropriate technology upgrade is important for OHS issues.
“We have seen this a number of times and managed to overcome any potential for problems with solutions based on Dalamatic technology.”
As an air quality and carbon neutral specialist, in such situations Donaldson Australasia implements Dalamatic units that are continuous duty dust collectors to handle the most difficult product recovery applications.
“In the manufacturing process, the collectors are often used in conjunction with fans to extract the dust generated after the sugar or other additives added to a mixture – and often it is a confectionary mixture which can cause potentially explosive clouds,” said Ollitrault.
“This combination of technologies removes any hazardous sugar dust from the atmosphere.”
Firstly, a Dalamatic Cased (DLMC) standalone collector can be ducted into many different applications in the production plant.
Secondly, a Dalamatic Insertable (DLMV) is added to the configuration as it is a versatile collector that can be inserted into various applications such as bins, silos, bunkers, storage vessels or transfer points.
These technologies run non-stop for continuous collection and filtration of high dust concentrations at high filtration velocities and constant levels of resistance.
The products are compact in design, which enables them to be used for installation in restricted areas.
Envelope size bags increase the amount of media in a given space between bags and allow for greater space between bags. This minimises the scope for bridging.