A Kansas City area custom countertop fabrication company had a dust collector that was inadequate. They were getting fine dust particulate throughout their shop. They needed a machine that could keep up with multiple CNC routers and filter the fine dust.
Application
The application involves processing a material called Solid Surface. This is a manmade material manufactured from a variety of resins. It is often used to manufacture customer countertops and other kitchen/bath products. This facility was producing dust with two CNC routers and two chop saws.
Challenges
This customer had fine dust particulate bypassing their current dust collector. They were using an open bag-style dust collector that was not designed to capture fine dust. The dust generated was potentially combustible, which had to be considered when designing this system. There were a few specific issues that had to be contemplated during system design. First, they had no way of putting the dust collector outside because they were landlocked with other companies on every side. Second, they are leasing the building, so they could not put holes through the roof. Lastly, they needed to have a larger hopper to avoid emptying dust too often, and needed to keep the system under 19’.
The customer’s goals were to filter the dust and have a system that would effectively capture even the finest material from the countertop fabrication operation. In their process, they also had a small amount of wood that was used while cutting the Solid Surface.
Solution for Countertop Fabrication Dust
Patrick Mulligan of Imperial Systems worked with the project manager on this plan to purchase a new system. They first started working with Imperial Systems when they found us on the internet. Patrick reviewed their application and concerns to start the development of this system and then scheduled a site visit to review. With the concern of the potential combustible dust Patrick created a system that included:
Flameless Explosion vent to protect the interior of the building from flame if there was an explosion. They did not go with a chemical explosion suppression agent or a ducted vent to the exterior of the building because the cost was prohibitive.
IDA Inline Deflagration Arrestor – The customer wanted to return the air to the building to save on utilities and in addition, their lease caused issues venting outside. The Imperial IDA system stops a flame front in the event of a deflagration without the need for expensive secondary filters or other outlet isolation devices.
DeltaMAXX Filters – MERV 15 rated Nanofiber Fire Retardant IDA filters. These filters are designed to capture the fine particulate
The beginning of the quoting process started in September of 2017 and the customer decided on Imperial Systems being the best partner for this project at the end of February 2018. After the order was received we designed, manufactured, and installed this turnkey system by the middle of April.
If your own company does countertop fabrication using Solid Surface, granite, or some other material, contact us today to have a CMAXX sized and configured for your specific application.
It is a new year and a new season, and we also got a new studio. Donovan got a minute to talk with Chalmer Ritzert our VP here at Imperial Systems. Chalmer talks about his tier 1 auto manufacturing background and how that helped build the future for a more efficient and better company. He also touches on all of the new things going on in the shop, and how we are always continuing to get better.
Narrator: Welcome to the Dusty Jobs Podcast from Imperial Systems, industry knowledge to make your job easier and safer.
Donovan: Hello, and welcome to another episode of the Dusty Jobs Podcast. We’re in our new studio today filming our second season, episode one of the Dusty Jobs Podcast. We’re glad that you guys could all make it back. If you like how this looks and you think we’re doing a good job here we’d be glad to show you our entire facility. We do virtual tours and virtual demos now. If you like that, you can log on to our website and let us know. We’d be glad to give you a full tour. Today as a guest we have our Vice President, Chalmer Ritzert. How are you doing today Chalmer?
Chalmer: I’m good Donovan. How are you?
Donovan: I’m doing great. I’m doing great. Thanks for taking a moment out of your busy schedule to come and tell us a little about yourself and your history. We’re going to talk a little bit about how Imperial is growing and changing and some things we have going on here.
Chalmer: Absolutely.
Donovan: Yeah, so that’s exciting stuff. Now, if I remember this correctly, you haven’t always been in dust collection your entire career, right? Your career started somewhere else, right?
Chalmer: No, I have not been in dust collection my entire life. I’ve been in manufacturing over twenty five years now. I actually started in the automotive industry.
Donovan: Now, that was straight out of college?
Chalmer: That was straight out of college. I did my internship, and then I worked for a company in the automotive industry, a tier one automotive manufacturer. We made parts for General Motors, Ford, Chrysler, numerous companies. Our main customers was General Motors. We were actually an injection molding company. We made interior and exterior doors, dashboards, those kinds of things, and then exterior bumpers and side fascias and boilers. You know, all the things you’d see on the outside of cars and we shipped them directly to the automotive manufacturers to put on the cars.
Donovan: Got you. So you guys were in a parts facility and had machines that shot injection into a mold and then it popped out a part? Is that right?
Chalmer: We had enormous injection molding machines. We would make hundreds of thousands of parts a week. If they were exterior we would paint them and assemble them, send them, really, all over the world, but send them to assembly plants where they would put the parts in, sequence them in place, and put the parts on the cars. We would do the same thing with door panels, with dashboards, with center bezels, and those kinds of things.
Donovan: Now, you weren’t working the paint line there or –
Chalmer: No.
Donovan: What was your role?
Chalmer: So when I first started out of college – my degree is actually in environmental health and safety. So, I was first hired as environmental health and safety and there was about seven hundred employees in one facility and we had another seven hundred in another facility and I was responsible to do environmental health and safety. In a painting operation, environmental is a huge piece. Safety is another huge piece. So I kind of cut my teeth as a twenty-two year old kid doing that kind of stuff. I did all the permitting. I did all the reporting. I did all the inspections. I did everything for that. That was kind of what I went to college for. Somewhere along the line I got the opportunity to fill in for the manufacturing manager of the company. He had left and they said, “Hey, will you fill in for this guy?” I was into everything.
“Will you fill in for this guy while we try to fill the position?”
I said, “Sure, I would love to fill in for him. The only thing I ask is that you give me an opportunity at the position as well. Thats kind of where everything started. I slowly started to move out of the environmental health and safety. I still maintained all those responsibilities, but I moved into manufacturing manager where I had about four hundred employees at that time and I was responsible for all the injection molding in the company. Three shifts, seven days a week. Just a very high stress, high volume, high quality – you know, I got all my experience in terms of lean manufacturing, in terms of high pressure, in terms of making sure that parts were on time and parts were perfect and those kinds of things early on in my career. I used to have this full head of hair, and then I got into automotive.
Donovan: Didn’t we all?
Chalmer: Now look at me. That is a direct result of being in the automotive industry. Anybody who’s in the automotive industry will tell you that it is one of the most high stress, high volume. It can just be crazy at times.
Donovan: That’s so interesting that from that environmental position into that management position, and I’m sure when you were in that environmental position it just gave you an opportunity to see how everything was working. That just lent itself to probably having a better understanding.
Chalmer: So, for me, first of all I had some people in my life in the company that were great mentors. Second of all, being the environmental health and safety person you’re kind of involved in everything. You’re involved in the day-to-day, doing this and moving people around. You have to be, from a job rotation and ergonomic standpoint, making sure people are fitted for the job and work stations are right. You get into engineering. You get into machine design. You get into all those kinds of things. So I’m involved in the day to day operations and I’m kind of around it all the time. I’m kind of involved. I’m kind of having conversations. I’m doing those kinds of things and the guy that was the manufacturing manager, he literally just left one day. They were kind of high and dry. So they’ve got a three shift operation, four hundred people with no manager, but what was really interesting was the very next day they put me in charge and the very next day they were going to the people in the department saying that I was the safety manager yesterday. Today I’m in charge. Oh, and I’m twenty three.
Donovan: How long were you in that role? Did you stay with that company for a while? Did you move on to another company?
Chalmer: I did. I stayed with that company for eleven years doing that same thing, and that company, unfortunately, closed, which was a sad day. It closed in the mid 2000s. I went from there to a different type of automotive company where they made shipping containers for automotive parts for the tier one suppliers. So when you would make the parts at the tier one supplier they would buy a reusable metal rack and those racks had to be specially designed for all those parts to go back and forth.
Donovan: So that’s a little more heavy fab?
Chalmer: It’s very heavy fab. So I went from injection molding to metal work. To welding, to that kind of thing, and I was with that company for a while. It was, unfortunately – I laugh, but it also closed. None of this is my fault, but I like to say that I learned a lot of lessons along the way because of the failures of the companies that I was with. You know what I mean? Manufacturing is manufacturing, but you start to learn different processes. From a manufacturing standpoint I was really good at the automotive kind of thing. I could play the game and I could make things happen. I was solid in the environmental portion of things. Who would have guessed that I would ever end up in dust collection?
Donovan: Well, yeah. How in the world did you go from…
Chalmer: Well, it gets even better, because I leave the automotive industry and I actually got involved in the largest company in the world that made promotional products. We made and decorated promotional products. It’s the largest company in the world that does it.
Donovan: When you say promotional product, I’m not even sure I know what that means.
Chalmer: Water bottles, pens, MP3 players…anything that has a logo on it from a company we made.
Donovan: So you’re saying that if I go to a trade show and I’m filling my bag up with stuff, all the stuff is what you guys made?
Chalmer: It’s got to come from somewhere. There was a boom in manufacturing and in the economy in 2006 and 2007, around there, and this company had grown and then they had bought a new facility, and it was just an empty building. They hired me as the plant manager to take over and build that facility up, and I did that. We got up to about three hundred employees in about a 400,000 square foot manufacturing facility. It was pretty neat. It was a real good opportunity for me. In 2009, the economy dropped and the place closed.
Donovan: We all know what happened in 2008.
Chalmer: So, the company that Chalmer was at closed down. As they were starting to announce that the place was going to close there was an ad in the local newspaper that said “Operations Manager Needed.” I called the number. It was just a little short note. I called the number and the rest is history. Here I am.
Donovan: You got Jeremiah on the other line.
Chalmer: I actually didn’t get Jeremiah. I got the lady who was the accountant at the time. She said, “He’d like to meet with you. Come in and bring your resume.” That kind of stuff. We met a couple of times. It was weird for me because I had been a high volume automotive, you know, doing those kind of things. Lots of employees, hundreds of employees. Managing all the workings and that kind of stuff. I show up for my interview and its a small place. They’ve got, like, eighteen employees at the most. It was just a different vibe altogether. I pulled into the parking lot for that first interview and I’m thinking, “Maybe this isn’t my fit.” Something pulled me inside and I went in and I met with Jeremiah and he and I hit it off. We have a good relationship and we’ve had a good relationship since day one. I was like, “You know what, I’m going to give it a shot.” I’ll be honest with you, it was the best decision I ever made in my life.
Donovan: As a person who works here, we’re glad to have you. We’re glad you chose to come here. You’re a great go-to person for a lot of things.
Chalmer: I appreciate that.
Donovan: And if anybody is out there listening, this is not the announcement of the shut down of Imperial Systems. We are still going strong.
Chalmer: So I would like to reiterate all of the good lessons that I learned by being involved in those. Because I know now not to do those kinds of things, and I know the kinds of things that will make us successful.
Donovan: I’ll speak to this. The success we’ve had in the last year and the way we’ve been able to pull through it as a company, the year 2020. Where that could have went and where we are actually at is incredible. I think that is largely due to you and Jeremiah and everybody here pulling through and using a lot of wisdom in what we have, and knowledge, and experience. In my opinion, I think we came through 2020 stronger than we went into it.
Chalmer: Absolutely. You can say about the pandemic and you can say about the issues that it caused but I believe that issues like those will only make you stronger. I believe we make good decisions. We made some poor ones. I wouldn’t say that we’re perfect, but we made some good decisions. We managed things well. To be honest with you its easy to make good decisions when you have a backing of really good people. I would say that’s the blessing of Imperial Systems for me. It’s the people that work here.
Donovan: Thanks. I know we all appreciate hearing you say that. I think the other thing that really helped lean towards our success during this year is that our whole model, our whole idea, our whole process here is being a lean manufacturer and not having a lot of waste, and not having a lot of overhead because we’ve taken this lean model. I know that’s something you champion a lot and that’s a lot coming from you and your history in automotive. Can you speak to that and our philosophy on that here?
Chalmer: So, automotive is very high on the lean manufacturing principles. It could be Six Sigma. It could be 5S.
Donovan: Let me pause you for one second, because maybe we’ve got somebody out there listening who doesn’t understand what lean manufacturing is. So we might have to define that for them. Could you give us a quick definition on what lean is?
Chalmer: For me, the best way to describe lean is “how you can do your job easier”. For me that is the most simple, broke down way to explain how we can make the job easier for people. If you’re looking at lean, at the ultimate end of the day, how can you make it easier for that person and eliminate waste, time, or whatever.
Donovan: Taking less steps. Using less material.
Chalmer: Sure. To be honest with you, it’s a lot of common sense is what it is.
Donovan: I think the other thing you say that we talk about – we have a Wednesday morning meeting and one of the things I’ve heard Jeremiah say and you say is, “If there’s something that annoys you, let us know because we will try to fix it.”
Chalmer: Absolutely. Fix what bugs you.
Donovan: Sorry, I didn’t mean to interrupt you there. Keep going. How has that impacted our company, our culture, our community here?
Chalmer: So, when I was involved in those lean manufacturing projects – huge manufacturing projects – and I saw success. Where I saw success was where it was broken down individually and kept as simple as possible. Then I would see that grow. I would say about five to six years ago we were made aware of a local presentation on a process called 2 second lean. I had been skeptical. To a certain extent I can be skeptical about a lot of things. I had been traditionally trained in the Six Sigma, 5S, and those types of processes. I went to this conference and they were talking about this 2 second lean. It is such a simple process. It is so simple. It literally is ‘fix what bugs you’. Jeremiah and I both fell in love with it right from the get go. Its really hard to institute a huge, sweeping thing, but 2 Second Lean is so simple that people just kind of buy into it and go with it. For us, we identify waste. We empower people to identify waste, to look for waste, but the key to it for us is that I don’t want you to come to me and say, “I’ve got a solution. What do you think about doing this?” I want you to come to me and say, “Look what I did, and I made my day better, and I fixed this,” or, “I did this,” or, “I moved this, and I made my day better.” We’re trying to empower people to have the authority to change their own day, to fix things on their own. It’s been hugely successful. They don’t need that kind of permission to move…
Donovan: That garbage can two feet closer.
Chalmer: Yeah, sure. I mean it’s that little stuff that makes such a huge difference in people’s day. When you add that all up at the end of the year the process is so much better. The product is so much better. People are so much happier.
Donovan: It’s great. If you do a virtual demo with us, and you do a virtual tour with us you can go through and you can see all our carts and how everything is labeled and there are shadow spots where all the tools go. It just helps the guys in the shop to stay organized and allow them to not be wondering where things went and not having to pull all your tools from here to there. Everything’s on a cart on wheels. It’s really neat to see all that.
Chalmer: You just put a little effort behind that stuff. A lot of that stuff is not very expensive to put into place. A lot of that is Harold in assembly doesn’t want to walk twenty feet every five minutes to pick up a different tool. Well put all Harold’s tools right there where he’s working.
Donovan: Let him load the cart up with all the bolts he needs and wheels the whole thing over.
Chalmer: It’s common sense, but if you don’t do it, if you don’t put some effort behind it, you’re going to waste all that time.
Donovan: And I think the other thing that I’ve noticed since I’ve been here is that not only are we willing to do the little things to make our process more lean and efficient and possibly one of the most up to date fab shops in our area, I couldn’t tell you how far, but I know we’ve been making some moves to…I mean, you could talk more about that. You’ve been pretty essential in making all that happen.
Chalmer: Sure. Again, we learn by failing. When you first start out in a business and you’re growing a business, you use what’s available to you to get the job done, and you use what you can afford. As you grow you start to look at different options. We make investments in equipment and processes that make people’s lives easier and that make our product better. What we find is that inevitably every one of those things pay for themselves very quickly. For example, in the olden days, in the first iterations of the CMAXX, those were all wet painted. It was a brutal process to wet paint these things. It wasn’t environmentally friendly. It just wasn’t. So we invested in one of the largest batch powder coating operations around.
Donovan: When you’re saying large, you could fit…
Chalmer: I could park two of my trucks in our bake oven easily. We make big stuff. We make big stuff. You make big stuff, you’ve got to paint big stuff. We invested, and we did a lot of research on how these various powder coating operations worked and what kind of material handling system we wanted to use and what kind of guns and what kind of powder. There was a lot of research that went into it. We came down to this operation now where we can paint a fourteen or fifteen foot diameter baghouse and put it in our oven and bake it. There are no batch ovens around that could even come close to doing something like that.
Donovan: Not only did that make our product stronger, it lasts longer. It’s healthier. It’s more environmental, but it also made it faster.
Chalmer: We went from in an eight hour shift maybe painting two rounds with wet paint to painting twelve to sixteen rounds with powder coat, made the quality better, made the product better. In addition, we have zero environmental footprint here. There’s no exhaust from the paint. The wash that we use is environmentally safe. It doesn’t go anywhere. It’s evaporated off.
Donovan: It’s great for all those guys working on the paint line. It’s healthier for them.
Chalmer: And for the community. Theres nothing going into the water here. Theres nothing going into the air here. We’re very conscious of our environmental footprint.
Donovan: And it cuts our lead times down for our customers. It lets us get our products out to our customers a lot faster. So we’ve done that. That’s our one thing. That’s one of many. You got anything else you want to touch on that we’ve done recently?
Chalmer: So, we invested in a new brake press to try and speed the process up. The newer brake presses are fast and they’re considerably more accurate. What happens is we are able to break parts quicker. We’re able to brake more parts, eliminating welding in a lot of cases, or shortening up the amount of welding that’s necessary. Our parts fit better together. We’re able to brake the parts that we do brake faster. What once was a huge bottleneck in our process is now one of our best manufacturing efficiencies out there. We have just recently gone down the road and started to invest in a laser. For years we’ve used plasma cutting. With plasma cutting you have high accuracy. It does a great job. I’m a huge fan of it. You can do big stuff on it. We needed to pick up some speed and a laser is faster. It has its limitations in terms of size and those kinds of things, but it certainly gives us the speed and the clean up afterwards. Theres no slag or anything on the steel. The cleanup afterwards is considerably better. So we’ve invested in one of the newest and greatest lasers for our facility. It will be installed here before too long.
Donovan: So if you have a cleaner cut and a better bend, that just takes less time for the guys to weld it. It’s less grinding.
Chalmer: Absolutely. You think about in a normal manufacturing process for sheet metal there’s a lot of grinding and buffing and cleaning up corners and knocking off slag and that kind of stuff. If you can eliminate those kinds prior to paint and stuffs coming out nice and clean we’re making a better product and we’re making it faster.
Donovan: And that’s healthier for the guys too.
Chalmer: It’s absolutely healthier for the guys.
Donovan: Now who was it? One of our welders, his name is slipping my mind. He does all our tubes.
Chalmer: Terry.
Donovan: Terry. Terry was telling me that he got to try a new welder out. Something happened with that. He had to go back to the old one. He felt like he was welding in sand or something. He was telling me it was so slow. What’s this new welder that Terry got?
Chalmer: Terry makes the header tanks for the CMAXXs. He’s the main guy for making the header tanks on the CMAXXs. It can be a tedious process. We had reached out to the welding supplier and they had brought us a demo unit of what’s called a pulse welder. Its just a different way to weld. Terry fell in love with it. It was faster. There was no BBs or slag coming off of the weld, the cleanup or anything like that. It was great. It was a demo. It was a very expensive demo. Terry kept stopping me. “Are we going to keep this? What are we going to do?” Finally we had to give the demo back. So Terry had to go back to his old welder. I remember the day I got to walk out there and tell him, “Hey Terry, your new welder will be here in a week or so,” and he got a new welder. In fact, the new welder worked so well that we’ve actually bought more of those welders for the facility. We’re using them in other areas. Less cleanup, faster, those types of things. There a little more expensive type welder, but they pay for themselves very quickly. So when you’re thinking about things that bug you, and thinking about things that go quicker, and do those kinds of things these are investments that Imperial makes to, even in the downtimes, to try to make our product better, and faster.
Donovan: It benefits our employees. It benefits our environment. It benefits our end users in the end. That’s why we can offer a lifetime warranty on our products because we are so assured of the quality of what’s going out that we feel confident in doing that.
Chalmer: This facility right now is operating at the highest its ever operated from a quality standpoint, from a speed standpoint, from an efficiency standpoint. It’s never operated like this.
Donovan: We’re excited for 2021 and continuing to be a lean company, continuing to make those improvements. Who knows? Maybe we’ll have to have you on again in two years and see where we’re at then.
Chalmer: We’re going to continue to invest. We’re going to continue to grow, and we’re going to continue to push forward and be the best. That’s the intention. If we are the best here, then we’re putting out the best product that you can buy.
Donovan: Well, Chalmer I just want to say thanks for coming on. I know you’re busy. You have a lot on your schedule. Thanks for taking a minute to catch everybody up on what’s going on in our company and how we’re continuing to improve and move forward. I just want to say that if you guys enjoyed this and there’s anyone out there listening we have some more backlog that you can listen to too. If you want to subscribe we’re putting these out every month. Like us on Facebook. We put this on every social media aspect out there. Like, subscribe, do that, and until we get a chance to talk to you again stay healthy, stay safe, and have a good day.
Chalmer: And again, thank you.
Narrator: Thanks for listening to the Dusty Jobs Podcast. Breathe better, work safer.
How a Tier 1 Automotive Parts Manufacturer Solved Their Robotic Weld Fume Issue Using the Imperial Systems Shadow Compact Fume Extractor
The Situation with Robotic Weld Fume
An automotive parts manufacturer located in the Atlanta Metro area had an issue with welding fume. It was causing unsightly and unsafe conditions in their robotic manufacturing area. Not only was there a haze in the air, but dust and fume settling on the walls and floor was causing a cleanliness issue.
The customer had equipment from one of our competitors installed for fume extraction of robotic weld cells. These three cells are where most of the fume was created due to the inadequate dust collectors. They were not handling enough air volume in the space to extract the fume, which was escaping into the facility through the weld positioners.
The Solution
Four Shadow SH06 Compact Fume Extractors were installed on their two types of robotic applications. The first three are installed on fully enclosed robotic welding cells. The fourth Shadow is being used on an enclosed robotic metal brazing cell.
Metal brazing is a process that joins two or more pieces of metal items together by melting or flowing a filler metal into the joint. This process is different than welding because the metal being joined is not being melted. This customer’s specific process generated a larger than normal concentration of weld fume that needed to be filtered from the manufacturing facility.
In the initial problem-solving process, Imperial Systems’ sales manager Justin Badger and a factory rep from HutchCo in Suwanee, Georgia made a site visit in early 2020. They spent time with the customer and the machine operators to determine their goals and see their problems. On the first visit, it became very clear what needed to be done.
First, they determined the size of the enclosed robot area and the expected fume load. With this information, they calculated the amount of air needed to properly ventilate the robot cell and keep escaping fume to a minimum. Next, they reviewed the layout of the building to determine the most convenient spot to install the dust and fume collector.
Once all the above information was gathered, they were able to create a fully engineered solution to solve the robotic weld fume issue. Following several months of COVID-19 related delays, the complete air filtration system was installed in early November 2020.
Success Extracting Robotic Weld Fume
Several weeks following the installation of the equipment, Imperial Systems did a standard follow-up call with the end-user. This was to get feedback on installation service, the sales process, and their satisfaction with the solution.
The customer (who wishes to remain anonymous due to company policy) said, “We are so happy with the results and cannot believe how clean the air in the building is now. Imperial Systems installation technicians were very professional. They worked very well around our extremely busy production schedule and finished ahead of schedule. We plan to have Imperial Systems back in January to install another (Shadow Compact Fume Extractor) machine on a new welding robot.”
When you need to replace filters for your industrial dust collector, what kind of filters do you need? There are certainly many filter manufacturers offering lots of choices. However, most dust collector filter types come in a few common materials. So, the type of filter you need depends on your system and type of dust.
Overall, the industrial dust collector filter types listed below are some of the most common. But if you have a special challenge, or questions about your filter needs, our filter experts can help you. We’ve figured out filter problems for other customers so we can help you.
Choosing from Many Dust Collector Filter Types
Dust collector filters require replacement on a regular basis. Some people may get a year out of their filters, while some may get a few months. Because of the expense, people might look for the least expensive filters.
We’ll talk about what makes those cheap dust collector filters so cheap, and what other choices you have. The right type of filter will maximize dust collector performance.
Highest MERV rating for standard cartridge filters
Improved filter life
Captures more particles on the surface
FR filters treated with fire retardant
SPUNBOND
Different basic filter material
More resistant to damage
MERV rating lower than nanofiber
The choice for challenging dust or fumes
Can be tried if nanofiber doesn’t work
SPUNBOND HYDROPHOBIC/OLEOPHOBIC
Specialized material for certain applications
Resists damage from water or oil
For filters exposed to moisture or oily material
Specialized or challenging applications
Higher cost but sometimes necessary
SPUNBOND PTFE
PTFE repels most materials
Nonstick coating for sticky materials
For very challenging applications
Increased cost for special coating
Suitable for very tough applications
How to Choose the Right Type of Filter
Our filter experts know which filters have worked on applications like yours before. We can offer some advice on choosing the kind of cartridge filter you need. Still, every application has different challenges. Below you’ll find some suggestions for choosing the type of filter for your dust collection.
Your challenge: small dust or fume particles (down to 0.3 microns)
Possible solution: standard nanofiber filter
Your challenge: collecting flammable or explosive dust
Possible solution: nanofiber FR to resist fire
Your challenge: filtering dust that could damage filters
Possible solution: spunbond
Your challenge: oil, humidity, or water entering collector
Possible solution: spunbond hydrophobic/oleophobic
Your challenge: sticky problem materials most filters can’t handle
Possible solution: spunbond PTFE
These are possible solutions, not guarantees. All dust collection systems have their own challenges with their own materials. Some special applications require unusual filters not listed here. These types of cartridge filters will cover most dust collection needs.
The field of dust collection often presents you with difficulties that can cause problems for your business. The type of filter you use may contribute to the problem.
Contact us at Imperial Systems for help finding the right filter for your system. If you know what type of cartridge filter works for you, ask us about competitive pricing on replacements for all types of dust collectors, including Donaldson Torit, Camfil Farr, Robovent, Micro Air, and many others.
How do you prevent falls from your dust collector? Often, people need to access doors and panels above ground level. So ladders or stairs are a requirement. But how do we make sure our dust collectors meet all OSHA ladder or stair safety rules?
OSHA recognizes several types of fall protection. For dust collection systems, expect to see ladders, especially on tall baghouses, or stairs with platforms on a cartridge dust collector.
OSHA Ladder Safety for Dust Collectors
OSHA has increased its focus on injuries caused by falls. Fall protection affects almost all industries. Specifically for a dust collector, this rule will affect the ladders or stairs used to access the doors and panels. Because of this, employers must make dust collector ladders and stairs safe for worker access.
OSHA recently updated and made changes to its personal fall protection standard. However, not all fall safety standards will affect your dust collector. For instance, some dust collectors have a set of stairs leading to a platform. From the platform, workers can access the doors to the dust collector filters.
Further, if you have a tall dust collection system like a baghouse, you may use a ladder to access it. Many ladders for baghouse dust collectors have safety cages. OSHA has changed some of the rules about safety cages. They have also changed some of the rules about platforms and stairs. So both OSHA fall safety changes can affect your dust collector in the future.
Why Do We Need New Fall Safety Rules for a Dust Collector?
OSHA estimates that almost 350 workers die each year in fall accidents. OSHA’s fall protection standard affects dust and fume collection systems. These usually have hoppers under them. This makes them tall enough to require fall safety.
The standard says that workers need protection if they could fall four feet or more. In construction, this limit is six feet. Construction has traditionally had different standards than the general industry. This includes dust collection and other products that need access.
Citations plaque the construction industry for falls and related injuries. The new regulation offers employers more, not fewer, choices in how they use fall protection.
Ladders and stairs for dust collector access need to meet these regulations. Most dust collectors stand on legs above a hopper, or you need a ladder to reach the access doors.
What are the Options for OSHA Fall Safety?
The new fall and ladder safety regulation brings the construction industry in line with other industries, making all the different regulations easier to follow. It also cuts off a few options that allowed certain exemptions from fall protection.
First of all, each work surface above 42 inches must have a guard rail. Stairways need to be uniform and safe from slips. The CMAXX dust collector meets these standards with heavy-duty stairs, safety railings that exceed the requirements, and a safe working platform.
Your BRF or other baghouse needs fall safety that meets the new standards. Since one can usually access these taller dust collectors with a fixed ladder, new ladder safety standards apply. Above 24 feet, all fixed ladders require an approved safety system or personal fall arrest system.
Cages will not be considered certified ladder safety, or ladder safety of any kind. OSHA set the date as 2036 for the point at which all ladders, including those for dust collectors, must have proper personal fall arrest or other approved safety system.
Why is OSHA phasing out ladder cages as a safety device? Based on research, cages don’t actually make falls safer and can cause worse injuries. If your dust collector installation includes a new ladder, it requires an approved fall protection system even if you have a cage. This also applies if your dust collector ladder has damage and requires repair.
Your Dust Collector Needs OSHA Approved Fall Saftey
Many companies sell approved fall safety devices. This can include a PFPS (personal fall protection system), which usually attaches the worker to a fall arrestor. This allows them to attach their safety harness to the dust collector ladder.
One danger to watch out for is that ropes or cables that support a worker can catch on the edge of a surface. This can keep the cable from sliding like it’s supposed to, or it could damage it. While accessing your dust collector, make sure safety devices don’t rub or catch on other surfaces.
If you use a cartridge dust collector, you may access it with a ladder or stairs. A baghouse probably requires a ladder. Both ladders and stairs must meet safety standards. If your dust collector stairs have sturdy safety rails, they should be fine. If your ladder is more than 24 feet tall and protected by any type of cage, you’ll eventually need to install a personal fall protection device. Cages will no longer be approved safety devices.
To keep up with OSHA standards, we include new recommended safety processes before they’re required. If you have any questions about how to make sure your existing dust collection equipment is in line, give us a call or email today.
If you have other equipment accessed with stairs or ladders, and you’re not sure if you will be okay with OSHA’s ladder and fall safety standards, we can help you find an occupational health and safety professional. Process hazard analysis specialists also make a career of figuring out situations like this.
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