Cardinal Air Design was approached by a Western Pennsylvania home goods manufacturer to address issues with their buffing system. The process was operational 24/7.
Their process utilized robots that would secure the product and bring it to a nine (9) step buffing station.
The product was sprayed with a buffing compound and then a rotating cloth wheel was employed to buff and polish the product. Each wheel had a source capture hood connecting it to the main trunk line via flex hose.
The dust being processed is combustible.
Problems:
• Their existing system was undersized and prone to catch fire.
• It also had severe issues with product bridging in the hoppers.
• Their ductwork was having issues with particulate settling out and eventually clogging.
Cardinal Air Design did a complete evaluation of the system.
This is what we determined:
• The existing blower was not sized properly for volume and static pressure.
• The hoppers came to a small radius opening with an undersized rotary air lock that consistently jammed and plugged, causing
bridging issues in the hopper.
Solution:
We offered the following solution.
A new IMPERIAL SYSTEMS cartridge collector with a cyclone pre separator.
Buffing dust is especially difficult to process because it is fibrous and sticky, making it extremely prone to bridging. So, we made several modifications from the standard collector system.
• The collector was fitted with Spun Bond filters. These filters tolerate moisture better than other media. The pleat spacing on
the filter is much wider, allowing for better release properties.
• We used 16” diameter NFPA rated airlocks. This is an extremely large diameter for the amount of particulate we were processing,
but necessary to allow the product to fall from the hopper.
• A cyclone was added as a first stage separator, effectively removing the majority of the sticky dust BEFORE it entered the filter
house.
o A surge hopper was added to the cyclone so that we could have effective gas expansion for the airlock. This is an inexpensive
and necessary feature that is overlooked by many designers.
A new blower (provided by CHICAGO BLOWER CORPORATION) was selected based on the system pressure and volume requirements. We increased the ductwork convey velocity from 3,000 feet per minute (FPM) to over 4,700 FPM. This type of dust (sticky) must be conveyed at higher velocities.
The fan was put on a VFD to save energy and control convey velocity.
To meet insurance requirements, we added fire and explosion mitigation as follows:
o Explosion vents with burst sensors supplied by the FIKE CORPORATION.
This will rupture to release pressure in the collector in the event of a deflagration.
o Explosion Isolation Valves (EIV) supplied by BOSS PRODUCTS.
This is used to isolate the inlet and exhaust of the system to prevent a flame front from entering the facility in the event of a
deflagration.
o An ABORT GATE provided by IMPERIAL SYSTEMS.
This will divert the return air outside to the atmosphere in the event of a fire.
o A DETECT AND EXTINGUISH system supplied by FLAMEX.
This will detect a spark in the ductwork and release a small amount of water into the ductwork to quench the spark.
o A fusible link style sprinkler system located in the collector and the cyclone supplied by IMPERIAL SYSTEMS.
We were able to install the majority of the system without affecting production. When everything was plumbed, wired and tested, we made our final machine connections.
The system is now up and running. The buffing room is free of unwanted dust, and the collector is working properly with no bridging issues.
This was another extremely satisfying turnkey installation that contributed to the improvement of the company and its employees in some very meaningful ways.
If you have dust issues, we can help!
