Dust and mist collection (redirected from Dust collector)

Dust and mist collection

The physical separation and removal of solid or liquid particles from a gas in which they are suspended. Such separation is required for one or more of the following purposes: (1) to collect a product which has been processed or handled in gas suspension, as in spray-drying or pneumatic conveying; (2) to recover a valuable product inadvertently mixed with processing gases, as in kiln or smelter exhausts; (3) to eliminate a nuisance, as a fly-ash removal; (4) to reduce equipment maintenance, as in engine intake air filters; (5) to eliminate a health, fire, explosion, or safety hazard, as in bagging operations or nuclear separations plant ventilation air; and (6) to improve product quality, as in cleaning of air used in processing pharmaceutical or photographic products.

All particle collection systems depend upon subjecting the suspended particles to some force which will drive them mechanically to a collecting surface. The known mechanisms by which such deposition can occur may be classed as gravitational, inertial, physical or barrier, electrostatic, molecular or diffusional, and thermal or radiant. There are also mechanisms which can be used to modify the properties of the particles or the gas to increase the effectiveness of the deposition mechanisms. For example, the effective size of particles may be increased by condensing water vapor upon them or by flocculating particles through the action of a sonic vibration. Usually, larger particles simplify the control problem. To function successfully, any collection device must have an adequate means for continuously or periodically removing collected material from the equipment.

Devices for control of particulate material may be considered, by structural or application similarities, in seven principal categories as follows: gravity setting chamber, inertial device, packed bed, cloth collector, scrubber, electrostatic precipitator, and air filter. See Air filter, Mechanical separation techniques, Unit operations