VENTILATING IN HEAVY DUST ENVIRONMENTS
- Electrical enclosures in harsh, dusty environments like mining and tunneling are prone to problems. Despite efforts like fans with filters or regular cleaning, maintenance remains high, leading to frequent breakdowns. ACBs offer a solution by improving ventilation in heavy dust applications, reducing the need for constant cleaning and enhancing equipment reliability.
- The Air Cleaning BlowerTM (ACB) is designed to effectively remove dust, pollen, and other particles from the air in harsh environments, such as mining and tunneling sites. Unlike traditional filters that require frequent maintenance due to clogging, the ACB eliminates this need by not using filter elements or media. By blowing clean air directly into electrical enclosures or equipment rooms, it ensures optimal conditions without the hassle of filter upkeep.
HOW ACBs WORK
- The Air Cleaning Blowers operate by drawing in dirty air like conventional fans. Their specialized design utilizes the momentum of contaminants to separate them from the air or gas. These impurities are then expelled from the housing, typically back into the atmosphere. Meanwhile, the purified air continues toward its intended application for ventilation or pressurization. Notably, ACBs achieve this without the need for filter elements, cartridges, or other media that require maintenance.
- Unlike media filters, which trap contaminants by collecting them, ACBs do not rely on such mechanisms. Consequently, media filters inevitably clog over time, necessitating maintenance and eventual replacement. As they become clogged, media filters impede airflow, forcing blowers to work harder and consume more power to maintain airflow and pressure. In contrast, ACBs do not trap debris and therefore do not clog. This unique feature virtually eliminates the need for filter maintenance, thereby reducing deferred maintenance and associated costs.
- ACBs offer significant benefits to system designers by providing consistent airflow, air pressure, and power consumption. This consistency simplifies the prediction and calculation of air-system performance, facilitating the design of optimal systems.
- Additionally, ACBs have the capability to remove rain, mist, and snow from the air, thereby helping to keep the air and protected equipment dry. This feature reduces the load on air conditioning, refrigeration, or dehumidifying equipment. Unlike filter media, which can catch rain or snow and potentially become wet or freeze up, ACBs avoid such issues, ensuring uninterrupted airflow.
PRESSURIZING IN HEAVY DUST ENVIRONMENTS
- ACBs can pressurize spaces to facilitate outward airflow, preventing the ingress of dust and sand. This pressurization enhances the protection of computers, electronics, and electrical equipment, as well as operators. As ACBs do not collect debris, they eliminate the risk of dangerous hot spots in filter media, especially when hazardous particles are present in the environment.
- Moreover, all ACBs can be adapted for use with various explosive or flammable gases or dust, meeting Division/Zone 1 or Division/Zone 2 standards. Independently tested at an internationally recognized filter-testing laboratory, our standard models have demonstrated impressive effectiveness. They remove over 98% of dust and particles, with virtually all particles larger than 10 microns and around 40% of particles down to 3 microns being eliminated. Notably, models currently in development will consistently remove sub-micron contaminants.
- Originally designed for harsh environments like steel, mining, and fertilizer plants, the Air Cleaning BlowerTM proves invaluable in safeguarding electrical components and motors across diverse applications. From mines and tunnels to conveyors, railcar loading docks, and heavy equipment operations, ACBs ensure uninterrupted functionality. Notably, our ACBs are trusted by the US Military in the Middle East, where they effectively maintain cooling systems even amidst sandstorms.
COMMON APPLICATIONS
Removing dust and particles from the air to keep equipment clean
Keeping mist, rain and snow as well as dust out of exposed enclosures
Retrofitting enclosures with sufficient problems from heat and dust
Cooling and/or heating enclosures with clean air and pressurization
Clean air canopies (Safety Halos®) to protect equipment not located inside an enclosure with a cone of clean air. For More information on this, click here
Control enclosures on stationary equipment such as conveyors, crushers, motors