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The thought of designing a difficult manufacturing floor is often enough to send even seasoned professionals into fits of stressful rage. Even the easy parts like building a dust collection ductwork system may seem like an easy task, but planning for future renovations, longevity of tubing materials, and long-term cost effectiveness quickly raise the difficulty level. Often an integral part to the success of any fabrication room, ducting systems require the same level of thought and research as is necessary for machine purchasing and process planning. One of the most important things to remember, when designing or constructing ducting systems of any sort, is that any occurrence of static charge must be kept to an absolute minimum. Science tells that is very easy to create static charge, and nature shows how damaging static can be: one need only witness the damage from lightning strikes, or feel the pain from being shocked when touching a metal object. Static can be particularly damaging when present in a dust collection duct, and for a number of reasons. For one thing, static makes dust cling to surfaces, which is problematic in ducting systems used to move or filter dust. The presence of dust can encourage the buildup of other materials like dirt or other debris, which further hampers the ability of any filter to do its job, and in fact causes filters to have to be replaced more often. The end result of an excessive buildup of dust and debris due to static means sections of dust collection ductwork need to be replaced more often as well, and this in turn makes ducting more expensive and less efficient. Perhaps the most important reason static must be avoided in ducting systems is that large amounts of static can create sparks, which are an enormous fire hazard in the presence of large quantities of air and flammable materials. Ductwork often traverses the entire area of the top of a building, making a potential fire especially dangerous because ceiling fires are hard to extinguish before they completely destroy a building. A dust collection duct has to be able to work efficiently while mitigating the risk for fire hazards. Finally, static in ducting systems can wreak havoc on sensitive electrical or radio equipment that happen to be nearby. In buildings that surround operations such as manufacturing, and utilize Wi-Fi connections or radio readings, static can hamper performance and damage equipment that is not adequately grounded and insulated against such interference. However, the ease of protecting against static does not require fancy equipment, only the proper type of tubing and a few countermeasures in the right places. About the Author: Lynn Roberts has provided financial analyst and consulting services to companies around the nation for projects ranging from dust collection ductwork implementation to manufacturing floor layout. Due to the potential damage that can be caused by incorrectly setting up a vacuuming system, great care should be taken at the planning stage. It is because of this that Lynn suggests always working with an experienced analyst before purchasing even the first piece of dust collection duct tubing.
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Ducting Systems, Dust Collection Duct, Dust Collection Ductwork,
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