by Erin Long | Jan 24, 2020 | Hidden from Archive
This year at FABTECH, the new Shadow Compact Fume Extractor made its debut. With a huge demand in the market for a compact, low profile option for noncombustible dust, the Shadow definitely got a lot of attention. People looking for Imperial Systems quality at a lower price point are paying attention.
The Shadow is appropriate for indoor use only and for noncombustible dust. With premium filters it is equipped to handle applications like laser cutting, light loading weld fumes, and robotic welding. The Shadow may also be available for other applications; talk to us about your dust and we can determine whether this is a good choice for you.
Because the Shadow has been specifically designed for noncombustible dust, it is safe to install inside your facility. It doesn’t require any of the extra safety devices that are needed for combustible dust. Some applications will require a fully equipped CMAXX with fire protection. Feel free to get in touch to find out if your application is suitable for a Shadow.
Like the CMAXX, the Shadow will feature the new DeltaMAXX Prime filters. The Shadow includes anti‑ramp lift rails, which prevent filters from ramping over each other during installation. It also features a lift rail door stop system. This prevents the door from being closed unless the lift rails are locked in position. The Sure-Stop System adds an extra layer of protection, with a door indexing bar that interacts with the filter pans so the door can only be closed with filters in place.
Many of the features on the Shadow have been perfected on the CMAXX and now appear on its new, smaller cousin. The high quality DeltaMAXX Prime filters and the on-demand pulse cleaning make sure the Shadow runs just as efficiently and protects your facility from harmful dust and fumes.
The Shadow is backed by our 15 year limited warranty, and support is provided by our experienced ServiceMAXX team.
To learn more about the Shadow Compact Fume Collector, click here.
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by Erin Long | Jan 24, 2020 | Hidden from Archive
FABTECH is exciting every year, but 2019 was a special one for all of us. First, this year we invited all of our Imperial Systems representatives to join us in Chicago for a yearly sales meeting, after which many of them joined us in the booth to meet potential customers.
Second, this year we introduced two brand new products, the Shadow Compact Fume Extractor and the DeltaMAXX Prime filter. Along with these new products, the booth also included two CMAXXs and several other products on display.
Despite Chicago unleashing some unpleasant weather on the first day of the show, everyone who attended agreed that FABTECH and the sales meeting were both great successes. Reps from all over the country joined us in the booth, and we met people from all over the industry and all over the world.
One of our team noted it was a great learning experience, getting to see industry products and innovations from around the world.
“Fabtech is always a great opportunity to see what other companies are doing in comparison to what we are,” aftermarket salesman Donovan Karki reported. “I felt that the best part was seeing all of our competitors crawling all over our innovation on our equipment because theirs is just the same as last year.”
Competitors and potential customers alike took note of the innovations. Tomm Frungillo, Director of Sales and Marketing, noted that the reps at the sales meeting were also excited about the new products, and about the direction of the company in general. Due to growth during the year, several new faces were present at the meeting, and everyone seemed to find it beneficial.
South Central Territory Manager Justin Ferrainola observed that “there was a lot of buzz from the new Shadow unit. People seemed to really like the overall design and look of it.”
The DeltaMAXX Prime also impressed people by fitting 400 square feet of media into a cartridge that’s still light and easy to handle. The Safety Pentagon drew attention by preventing any errors or accidents in filter installation. Redundant features prevent the doors from closing on incorrectly installed filters, making it nearly impossible for someone to install them in an unsafe manner.
Erin Long, Graphic Designer, appreciated the chance to see the products being offered by our competitors, and to get a feel for how they are marketing themselves. As we move forward as a company with our marketing efforts, knowing the competition will help us stay ahead of the game.
With so much attention and interest drawn to our booth this year, we feel like FABTECH 2019 was a great success and another step toward establishing ourselves as one of the industry’s most innovative manufacturers.
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by Erin Long | Jan 13, 2020 | Uncategorized
If you have a cartridge dust collector, you’re probably aware of the compressed air pulses that clean the filters. Although our header tank design controls noise levels, the cleaning mechanism isn’t exactly silent. If the dust collector pulse cleans the cartridge filters during normal operation, why would you need to run an offline filter cleaning?
Offline cleaning of your cartridge filters can remove extra dust from the filters, improve efficiency, and increase filter life. Keep reading to learn how offline cleaning works and what it can do to keep those expensive cartridge filters in service longer.
What is offline filter cleaning?
Offline cleaning means cleaning the filters while the dust collector is not in operation. For some baghouses, the fan can only clean the bags when they are offline. These baghouses have separate sections, and one section goes offline for cleaning at a time. Because this means part of the baghouse needs to shut down often, the system operates less efficiently. Some baghouse designs to avoid this and clean all the filters while still in operation.
For cartridge dust collection systems, offline cleaning means pulsing the filters with compressed air while the system fan is shut off. With no air moving through the system, equal pressure exists on the clean air and dirty air side of the filters. No air is pulling through the filters.
Why is offline cleaning good for cartridge filters?
With the dust collection system online, the pulses of compressed air blow down through the cartridge filters to remove dust. At the same time, however, the air being cleaned moves in the opposite direction, upwards through the filters.
Online pulse cleaning keeps the filters working well while the dust collector operates. However, the compressed air pulse and the system airflow move in opposite directions. To get maximum cleaning power from the compressed air pulses, run a quick offline cleaning.
With the system shut down, no airflow blows back against the compressed air pulse. This lets it release more dust from the filters. Regular offline cleaning can extend filter life significantly by removing this extra dust.
What if we don’t have time for offline filter cleaning?
Taking your dust collection system offline for filter cleaning doesn’t have to take a lot of time. Our service technicians recommend that for offline cleaning, you manually pulse the filters twice. Often, you can do this in less than ten minutes of downtime.
Employee break time or lunchtime can allow you to shut your dust collector down for a short time. On a dust collector with an integrated control panel, manually running two compressed air pulses just takes the push of a button.
After a short offline cleaning, the cartridge filters should work more efficiently. While online cleaning will keep filters working, regular offline cleaning makes them last longer. Also, keeping the filters at maximum efficiency helps to protect HEPA or other expensive after-filters.
Need some personal advice about offline cartridge filter cleaning?
You can contact us here at Imperial Systems for advice on keeping your filters performing well. If you need more help or would like a hands-on education in dust collector maintenance, our ServiceMAXX team can pay a visit and help you establish a maintenance schedule.
If you take the time to run offline filter cleaning, you should see it pay off in longer filter life. Not only does this save money, but it also cuts down on the much longer downtime needed to replace old filters. If you have questions about how often you should run offline cleaning or any other questions about your dust and fume collection system, please contact us.
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by Erin Long | Jan 7, 2020 | Uncategorized
OK, stay with me for a minute. Any factory that produces dust needs some type of industrial factory dust control. Now, that dust from your factory processes may not eat all your leftover spaghetti or drive an obnoxiously loud car. But it does have some things in common with that guy your daughter keeps bringing around.
Without factory dust extraction, dust will settle and lay on every flat surface in your facility. Likewise, without a method for removal, the annoying boyfriend will find a flat surface, sprawl out on it, and stare at his phone. If you don’t capture dust at the source, it will escape into the factory and become a cleanup problem. In the same way, if you don’t deter the annoying boyfriend at the front door while attempting to enter, he will come inside, hog the Netflix, and mumble about memes he saw on Instagram.
See? They do have something in common.
Factory Dust Collection: Will It Remove Annoying Teenagers?
Unfortunately, an industrial dust collection system will not remove your daughter’s annoying boyfriend. It will, though, extract dust and fumes. In many factories, dust control comes down to basic housekeeping, like sweeping or vacuuming up dust.
Unfortunately, poking the annoying boyfriend with a broom will not get rid of him. Vacuuming his face with a shop vac seems to be frowned upon. Brooms and shop vacs in your factory will spread dust around, but not remove much of it. If you want to really control dust (or your daughter’s boyfriend), you can’t just move it around.
Unlike boyfriends, who usually settle on couches, airborne dust settles on beams, overhead lights, and other places almost impossible to reach with basic cleaning. In the event of an explosion, this dust can shake loose and disperse in the air. This can cause a deadly secondary explosion when this loose dust ignites.
(Side note: if you attempt to force your daughter’s boyfriend to become airborne, your daughter will probably create an emotional explosion, which you will then have to deal with.)
Dust Collection and Control
Once that boyfriend is in the door and sprawled in your living room eating your last blueberry muffin, you’re going to have a hard time getting rid of him. And once dust covers your factory, you’ll have an uphill battle trying to control it.
Fortunately, we can often identify where most of the dust originates. Many factories will have certain processes that put a lot of dust into the air. Examples include grinding, batch mixing, material transport, etc.
Source Capture
Installing an industrial dust collector allows you to capture dust or fumes at the source. This is called source capture and can use hoods, downdraft tables, or flexible fume arms.
Using source capture to control factory dust helps control worker exposure. This benefits people who work close to the machines. But it also benefits those in other areas of the factory from contaminants that can drift through the air.
Sadly, this method will not protect anyone from the horrific music that your daughter and her boyfriend contaminate your house with. The recommended solution for this problem is to use earplugs. If this method is not effective, covertly snipping a few wires and blaming it on mice can be useful.
Ambient Collection
Another option for industrial dust and fume collection in factories is an ambient system. This removes and cleans air from the entire facility. Many systems return the air to the facility after filtering it, which saves heating or cooling costs. For a factory that often has a haze of dust or fumes in the air, this type of system can clear things up effectively.
This type of system will not remove annoying teenage boyfriends. But it could be used to remove dirty t-shirt odor, smoke from over-microwaved pizza rolls, and teenage boy sneaker stench. An industrial dust and fume collection system wouldn’t be cost-effective for these purposes. So, you are probably stuck with air freshener and opening the windows.
A Safety and Health Issue
Factory workers may face serious health risks from exposure to dust and fumes. In addition, combustible dust creates an environment where a fire or explosion could occur. We won’t include any boyfriend jokes here, because combustible dust accidents cause fatalities every year in the United States alone.
If the boyfriend is inhaling some sort of harmful fumes, he’s probably doing it on purpose, but workers exposed to industrial dust and fumes don’t have a choice. A factory dust extraction system will remove those harmful materials from the work area.
Some factories use dust suppression, which usually means spraying a fine water mist to take the dust and fumes out of the air. This leaves damp dust accumulated around the facility that still needs to be cleaned up. While a sprinkler system can be a critical part of fire control, water misting doesn’t get dust out of the building.
(Side note: try misting the annoying boyfriend with water, which may be an effective deterrent, since it works on the cat.)
(Side side note: contact us at Imperial Systems to talk about a factory dust control system, and don’t shop vac your daughter’s boyfriend, as we will not be held liable for what happens if you do.)
(Side side side note: We do want to see a video of it on YouTube though)
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by Erin Long | Dec 19, 2019 | Uncategorized
Have you ever gone through your house and tried to spot everything that a curious baby might get into? If you’re looking at dust safety in your shop, start thinking about dust like a baby who just figured out how to open the kitchen drawers and pull things off the coffee table.
Like your adorable little force of destruction, dust in your shop can get into things you didn’t even think of. A dust hazard analysis is the first step in creating a shop safe from combustible dust hazards. Once you’ve identified possible problems, you can start fixing them.
Dust-Proofing Your Shop for Safety
Before the end of 2020, NFPA standards will require all dust-producing businesses to have a dust hazard analysis. A dust hazard analysis means going through the facility and identifying anywhere that dust could present a danger in the shop.
It’s important to identify whether your dust is combustible, but even noncombustible dust presents a safety issue in the shop. Finding every possible dust safety risk seems impossible. Of course, if you’ve ever tried to baby-proof a house with a curious little monster exploring everything, you know there’s always something you didn’t think of.
Shop dust safety requires ongoing work and awareness. If you’re baby-proofing, you may think you’ve gotten everything out of reach or locked away. Ten minutes later, you’ll be confiscating a bottle of laundry detergent that seems to have appeared out of nowhere.
Shop dust pulls the same kind of tricks. After you and your staff have put in hours of work cleaning up accumulated dust, or you’ve made a big investment in a dust collection system, dust will show up in places you didn’t expect.
The Ongoing Process of Shop Dust Safety
As soon as you think your home is baby-proof, you’ll turn around and realize you have a toddler who can now reach all kinds of new, exciting things. Your shop might experience some growth and changes, too. New processes or new machines can create new shop dust hazards.
To protect your newly mobile little darling, you’ll start finding hazards you hadn’t recognized before. After all, your crawling baby couldn’t yank houseplants off the coffee table. Every time something changes in your shop, new dust hazards could appear.
That doesn’t mean you’re being irresponsible. It just means that you need to reassess the problems and keep them under control. Just like a parent, you’ll have to keep adapting to change. Growing pains happen to children and to businesses.
Steps for a Dust Hazard Analysis
Lots of parenting magazines can guide you through baby-proofing the house. You have many resources available to help you conduct a dust hazard analysis. To start, here are a few important places to start looking for possible shop dust problems:
- Machines or processes that are producing dust in the facility
- Places where dust accumulates (in corners, under things, on overhead lights or beams)
- Possible ignition sources (sparks, heaters, hot surfaces)
- Shop activities that might spread dust or make it airborne (blowing with compressed air)
- Activities that need to be assessed for possible hazards (hot work that could ignite dust)
- Places where staff education is needed (housekeeping, situational awareness)
Shop dust safety should start with engineering controls if possible, as recommended by OSHA and the NFPA. A well-designed dust collection system will remove airborne dust before it can escape and accumulate around the shop. Source capture hoods can be put over machines that produce problem dust.
Parents probably wish we made a CMAXX that could clean up after a toddler. Unfortunately, no piece of equipment we’ve ever seen can keep up with that kind of disaster. There’s not much that can manage a two-year-old who tries to flush dinosaur toys down the toilet and throws pudding at the cat.
At least we can help you with your shop dust safety.
Look around our website and explore our CMAXX, Shadow, and BRF dust collectors. Feel free to call, and one of our equipment specialists will help you determine how to address your shop dust control. Check out this OSHA link for more information about dust hazard analysis.
As for the baby-proofing, we can only wish you luck.
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