Agricultural Industry and Dust Collection

Clean Air Matrix

RoboVent engineers are experts in every category of air filtration and ventilation. The four categories below represent the major options for treating your contaminated air. RoboVent has designed solutions for each of these categories and has manufactured air filtration systems of unrivaled quality.

For more information about these categories, see Indoor Air Quality 101.

Ambient_Filtration

Large blowers and air filtration equipment draw contaminated air from the plant (typically at the ceiling level), filter it and return it to the plant. This is a proven solution in plants welding large parts with overhead cranes. It reduces the haze in the air, resulting in a cleaner working environment, with no negative pressure or heat loss.

SourceCapture_Filtration

Air in the immediate area of the welding activity is captured in a hood system, then filtered and returned to the plant. This is the best solution whenever possible. It allows for a more flexible system and removes the smoke directly from the operator's breathing zone. There are many types of source capture, including overhead hoods, crossflow hoods, fume arms and fume guns, some of which work better than others.

Ambient_Exhaust

Large exhaust fans draw contaminated air from the plant and exhaust it directly into the environment, typically through the roof or walls. This is a traditional method and often results in negative air pressure. Also, it is very difficult to climate-control your plant and the system may not work well in the winter.

SourceCapture_Exhaust
Air in the immediate area of the welding activity is captured in a hood, sent through ductwork, and exhausted directly into the environment. This is a lower capital cost alternative to filtration, but tends to result in high operating costs and large, unsightly ducting systems that work less efficiently with modifications. It also results in negative pressure problems.

Introduction to Agricultural and Grain Dust Collection

The agricultural industry has changed a lot in recent decades. Automation, specialization, fluctuating global prices and many other factors have created both challenges and opportunities for farmers. But one challenge that remains steady is agricultural and grain dust and how to deal with it.

Agricultural workers are routinely exposed to organic and inorganic dusts. When this dust occurs in contained areas, it can create multiple hazards to workers and property. For example, the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) reports that, over the last 35 years, 500 explosions have occurred in grain handling facilities in the United States. These have killed 180 people and injured more than 675. Grain dust is the fuel for these explosions. Besides the dangers of fire and explosion, inhaled dust is a threat to workers, as well.

Dust Collection Challenges in the Agricultural Industry

Agricultural operations generate a lot of airborne particles, including mineral, field, and barn dusts, chaff and pollen. Much of these agricultural dusts are around 10 micrometers in diameter. (For comparison, an average human hair is 50 to 70 micrometers across.) Particles that size can move past the nose and throat and lodge in the lungs, causing serious respiratory harm. Prolonged exposure to dust can cause many health problems, including pneumoconiosis, a lung disease that restricts breathing.

The most acute danger of agricultural dust, however, is that of explosion. The accumulation of grain dust in a facility poses this critical risk that farmers have known about for ages. If enough dust is present in an enclosed space, it can be ignited by a spark, cigarette, overheated bearing, or many other small ignition hazards. A grain dust explosion can be violent enough to destroy a grain elevator, mill or other such facility.

Grain dust accumulation and ignition sources are regulated by OSHA standards to prevent explosions. (See, 29 CFR 1910.272.) Employers must minimize dust accumulation, and failure to comply with regulations can bring serious fines. It is generally accepted that a layer of dust 1/8 of an inch thick is enough to fuel an explosion.

The National Fire Protection Association extends these cautions beyond grain elevators and mills. These include any facility handling agricultural materials, such as “facilities that receive, handle, process, dry, blend, use, mill, package, store, or ship dry agricultural bulk materials, their by-products, or dusts. . . “

Solutions for Dust and Fumes in the Agricultural Industry

RoboVent designs and manufactures dust collectors to fit any agricultural need. Decades of experience enable our designers to create the right solution for the right application at the right price. These collectors can help ensure worker and facility safety and regulatory compliance.

RoboVent’s leading edge technology allows its collectors to run at lower operating costs. Automated systems ensure the collectors run only when they need to. RoboVent filters are designed for longevity and minimal maintenance. With the ePad control panel facility managers can move beyond preventative maintenance to truly predictive maintenance.

Agricultural users will want a piece of ambient capture equipment, rather than a source capture one. An ambient capture system filters the air from an entire facility. These ducted systems create a flow within a facility to filter the air as efficiently as possible.

The Fusion Series of dust collectors is well suited to meet the needs of the agricultural industry. Its revolutionary design provides flexibility and efficiency. The freestanding collector is modular, which allows the system to be scaled up if needed.

Configurations

Manual Welding Source Capture

Source capture is a proven way to reduce weld fumes in manual welding operations. Collecting fumes at the point of welding ensures a more efficient means of capture and a higher degree of safety for workers.

Robovent Manual Welding Ventilation Solutions

Manual Welding Ambient Systems

Ambient solutions for manual welding stations capture weld fumes from the environment, improving the air for workers and the entire facility.

Ventilation Solutions For Portable Weld Fume Extraction

Portable Weld Fume Smoke Extraction

These self-contained systems enable workers to capture weld fumes from any location. When production lines or welding cells must remain flexible, these systems safeguard workers, no matter the situation.

Robotic Welding

RoboVent offers multiple systems for addressing the special concerns of robotic welding. Cutting-edge collectors provide workers and facilities the highest levels of protection possible.

Laser Welding

Laser welding is a growing field, and RoboVent offers solutions for the unique weld fume issues involved. Our enclosed capture solutions are ideally suited for the high-volume, precise nature of laser welding.

Resistance Welding

Resistance welding produces serious weld fumes. RoboVent offers powerful solutions for whatever kind of welding operation you have, in order to protect workers, comply with regulations and improve your facility's environment.

Laser Cutting

RoboVent's solution for laser cutting is a powerful ventilation system that both protects workers and ensures the air is as clean as it needs to be. RoboVent's engineers have decades of experience helping customers be leaders in manufacturing.

Plasma Cutting

Plasma cutting is growing in popularity, and RoboVent has developed a ventilation system that is perfectly suited to its demands. The Plaser Series offers powerful airflow, long filter life and the longest warranty in the industry.

Oil Mist Ambient Systems

RoboVent's ambient capture solution for oil mist is a facility-wide system engineered to address the problem in the broadest, yet most effective, way possible. This system's proprietary design creates a circulating airflow throughout your facility that produces extraordinary results.