(244c) Theory and Practice of Dust Collector Protection

The handling of fine particles of a combustible material is a major and inevitable part of many industrial processes. The objective may be fugitive and emission controls or the collection of a product. The challenge will increase as the use of finer particles increases. Simultaneously the risks will increase as the hazard properties such as ignitability increase with the reduction of particle size. Dust collectors are a component, if not the most common component, of particle handling and are also often the origin or termination of an explosion. The design of dust collector protection is a systematic process that includes and requires process information as well as protection objectives. The theory of protection and the selection of protection techniques will be reviewed. The practice of dust collector protection is often less routine due to many physical and process complications. Examples of both simple and complicated applications will be presented with brief illustration of the consequence of no or inadequate protection.