There is more to dust collection media than meets the eye and, not all dust collection media is created equal. How media is developed is far more complicated than most realize so consider the following five things about media and media development to ensure you optimize your collector’s performance.

#1: Most industrial dust collection manufacturers design filters or collectors. Few design both.

The customer wins when a manufacturer understands the behavior of both the filter media and the dust collector and designs both. When a supplier can optimize the interaction between the filter media’s performance and the collector’s performance as a single consolidated system, the customer benefits by a more stable and dependable operation and lower operating costs.

#2: Effective filter media designs may require thousands of computer simulations before initial lab samples are produced or final media grades are released to production.

Filter media development is very involved and includes the testing of raw materials and properties of filter media blends. Raw material testing and media development labs often evaluate media components using: high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC), FTIR (Fourier Transform Infrared) Spectroscopy, TD-GC-MS (Thermogravimetric analyzer - Gas chromatography-Mass Spectrometry), and SEM (Scanning Electron Microscopy). These tools help ensure the optimal design and materials are being used to appropriately match the application conditions.

Development of Donaldson® media grades includes computer modeling to predict tensile strength, stiffness, permeability, and a variety of other filtration and efficiency levels. This modeling helps ensure a thorough understanding of the potential physical properties of a media recipe before a test recipe is even produced in the lab. When a recipe shows promise, samples are produced in the lab so physical testing can confirm the predicted properties.

Donaldson considers filter media development one of its core competencies. Even so, with all our background and experience, new media recipes still go through thousands of computer and lab iterations to achieve the optimized characteristics before we begin production of a new media grade.

#3: There’s more to manufacturing filter media than meets the eye.

The general process of developing any filter media should begin by identifying the application requirements. Then specifications are determined for not only the finished media grade, but for the final filtration product in which the media grade will be incorporated (i.e. cartridge, panel, or filter pack).

Factors to be considered in media recipe formulation include: a cost level which makes sense for the market; minimum efficiency levels needed to achieve acceptable emissions; the type and amount of material being filtered from the fluid stream by the media filter; and the physical environment to which the media will be exposed. Other factors include: pressure, vibration, temperature, humidity, and chemical composition of contaminants.

Pressure drop, or the resistance necessary to cause fluid flow through the media, is considered critical to media design because this impacts the energy it takes to move fluid through the media and, therefore, the operating cost of the filter developed.

All of these variables are considered important, and they must be balanced against one another to formulate an optimized media grade for an application. For example, a formulation may use expensive materials and provide high efficiency, yet the very dense filter media might be expensive to operate in the collector because of the high pressure drop of the filter and its replacement costs. A dense filter media design might also compromise the performance of a cleaning system and could result in shorter overall filter life and increased maintenance material and labor costs.

On the other end of the spectrum, a filter media comprised of low cost materials with low pressure resistance may offer initial benefits. However, if the media does not handle the physical challenges of the operation or becomes quickly plugged, the operational disruption and maintenance downtime and expense make it a poor choice. Optimizing the various performance measures is essential to overall collector performance.

#4: Some manufacturers offer 300+ grades of filter media from which to choose.

Some manufacturers are so serious about providing exactly what the customer needs they offer hundreds of choices to the market, each tailored to meet specific challenges and requirements. If an appropriate media does not exist for an application, new media development may be undertaken.

#5: Evaluating dust collection manufacturers pays off.

When evaluating dust collection manufacturers, look for one that offers media grades optimized for your application and for the collector in which they will operate. This will help optimize your filter efficiency performance, extend your filter life, and lower your cost of ownership. Choose a company with a strong history of providing expertise and technical support.

If you’re employed by a global company, consider a global dust collection manufacturer that can provide excellent customer support around the world – including stock inventory of common filters and parts so they are ready to ship when you need them. A company like this will provide you exactly what you need.

Soup Maker Uses Noodle to Add Gold Series to Mix

• Product: Gold Series
• Size: GS4
• Application: Powdered Food Ingredients
• Customer: Food Mfg. CA
• Representative:Dust Collector Services, Inc.

Challenge:

Food Mfg. is a food manufacturer of instant wonton and Ramen noodle soups. At their facility in CA, the existing dust collector which was intended to capture fugitive dust from food powder mixing was plugging up. Moisture from periodic washing of the equipment was a factor, but the collection system was just not drawing satisfactory airflow for proper pickup at the collection points.

Solution:

Jeff Schlentz of Dust Collector Services visited the food facility with his Gold Seriesdemo trailer in tow. Jeff found that the mixing operation included several different powdered ingredients for the beef, chicken and shrimp flavored mixes. The two-stage process was on two floors. Upstairs, mixing hoppers churned up and mixed the ingredients. Downstairs, the mixed powder was manually dumped into storage/transport drums.

Jeff provided an on-site, hands-on demo ofthe Gold Series on his trailer to Food Mfg.. For their application, he pro-posed a stainless steel GS4 system with Durapleat™ filter cartridges. The stainless steel construction would resist water corrosion during process equipment wash-out when ingredients are changed. Food Mfg. routinely washed down the entireprocess system between runs of different ingredients to avoid cross contamination. The Durapleat Hydro-Oleophobic DPO-200 cartridges are also washable.The DPO filter media is impregnated with an oil and water repelling material, which would reduce the possibility of plugging and an unproductive shut down of the process.The new ductwork would include 6 slotted backdraft hoods as pickup points for the fugitive dust upstairs. Downstairs, where the manual dumping took place, Jeff’s company would provide two innovatively designed "horseshoe" hoods to fit the storage drums (see below). These hoods would efficiently collect the fugitive dust. (Picture shown above)Three dumping stations where the powdered soup ingredients are mixed.

Food Mfg. considered acompetitive dust collection system before accepting Jeff’s proposal and choosing on the Gold Series.The unit was installed in March 2006 and has been running great for over a year, as of this writing. The stainless steel 7.5 HP blower and silencer keep noise levels down and maintain a comfortable working environment. Food Mfg. is pleased with the Gold Series’ performance and the service provided by Dust Collector Services.