The aim was to eliminate any possibility of dust clouds that could affect
employees or the local environment.
Morgan Cement operates a 24/7 manufacturing and filling plant where it fills bulk bags and trucks using a hopper system fed with dry cement product by screw conveyors.
The original dust collection system had performed exceptionally well, but Morgan decided it was time to modernise its technology as part of forward planning.
A key characteristic of the original system was that it used a reverse pulse action that tried to pull too much air through a small filter area as part of the cleaning action.
The original system was considered to be very well designed, but the reverse pulse action now had the potential to cause a small dust cloud, and this problem occurred occasionally when the hopper bins were being emptied.
The air from the pads and airslides fed back through the screw conveyors and escaped from under the screw covers. With the old system in place, the plant operator said it was sometimes hard to see through the dust fog.
Donaldson Australasia engineers replaced the original dust collector system with a new technology – the PowerCore CPV3 dust collector.
The PowerCore CPV3 took over the duties of the old system which was
exhausting two finished product bins each being fed by screw conveyor plus exhaust air from the fluidising pads and air slides at the bin discharges. The bins are basically fed 24/7 with product having a temp around 50°C.
This is new technology and the differential pressure gained was originally higher than anticipated because the fan was delivering a higher volume than required (3,000m3/hr).
This gave a DP that finally stabilised around 85-88 mmWG. So a damper was put in place to control divided air coming through the system and since fitted all parties can instantly see the high level of dust and control gained with each pulse.
When the exhaust damper was fitted it reduced the exhaust volume to a more realistic 1,400m3/hr, which in turn reduced the DP to 34 mmWG which slowly crept up to an ideal 40 mmWG and it has since been stable around that level.
It cleaned down quite freely and dropped rapidly to an optimum level expected. The system is on DP control and hasn’t yet reached the set maximum point of 50 mmWG.
The PowerCore CPV3 is working exceptionally well and the plant operator said that occasionally he would not have been able to stand in the vicinity if the old system was still in place.
One of the less recognised successes of the project was that it was done quickly and seamlessly so as not to obstruct Morgan Cement's generally round-the-clock operation.
This installation has been running since August 14, 2008 and has been checked with the operators regularly. No problems or issues have been reported.
