SFS’s Mist Filters were installed on one of client’s wet machining clusters. Recognizing the excellent performance of these mist filters, client’s team turned to SFS to solve their challenges in filtering the fine dust generated by dry machining of parts.
CLIENT
Consistently delivering high-quality castings for over 75 years, the client is today a market leader in centrifugal castings. The client is a sole supplier for engine parts for several large OEMs in India and across the globe. The client Foundry is recognized for it’s high-quality parts with precision machining.
As a part of its expansion plan the client was setting-up machining line to manufacture engine parts for exports to Europe and the USA. The large-scale dry machining processes for cast iron parts created huge amounts of fine dust. The internal maintenance team was struggling to keep the shop-floor clean through manual de-dusting.
CHALLENGE
The fine dust generated in the dry machining process settled on the machines, floor and every other place. Thick layers of fine metal dust (up to 1”) formed on the machines and surroundings within minutes from start of the shift. Further, it was very difficult to clean this dust at a faster rate than it was created.
Client’s team tried solutions from other filtration providers, but failed to get the desired results. The maintenance team on an already busy shop-floor, working in three shifts, was finding it almost impossible to keep the machines and premises dust free.
The fine dust posed several challenges for client:
Consistent inhalation of fine dry dust posed severe risk to the health of operators
Dry dust settled on the floor and premises in thick layers creating hurdles for operations
Abrasive, fine metal dust also settled on fixtures, slides and damaged the parts
With dry dust settled on electronic parts such as robots, present on the line, this equipment stood the risk of damage
SOLUTION
SFS’s team studied the characteristics and dust generated at each of the machines on the line, plant layout and process variations to the last possible detail. The most polluting cluster on the shop-floor, with nine CNC machines and a six axis robot, was taken up to test the dust collectors offered by SFS.
Capturing the fine dust
During the study, SFS’s team observed that the fine dust also escaped through small gaps in the machine and emerged like smoke. A target to not let out any dust in the air was set jointly with the client’s team. To effectively capture the fine dust, SFS’s team designed the solution that created a negative pressure near the machining area. This ensured that the air always flowed from out to in thereby preventing any escape of fine dust. The calculations by SFS’s team, on the pressure required in case of each of the machines, ensured the best filtration performance.
Ducting design
A detail ducting layout was prepared and the dust collector was located outside the workshop.
SFS’s design ensured that a perfect suction pressure was available for dust capture at the point of creation. Another challenging task was to achieve suction pressure for the dust to transport it to centralized collector placed at a distance of 20-15 mts. from the machining center. The ducting design by SFS ensured the right suction pressure was available at the machining center with lowest power consumption.
Centralized Dust Collector
A cutout position was arrived at after detail calculations pertaining to ducting design, distance from each of the machining center and the volume of dust generated. SFS’s team installed the solution jointly with the team from client. The client’s operators and maintenance team started feeling the difference from the very first day of installation.
SFS’s centralized system collected and conveyed the dry machining dust from each machining center to the cyclone. The filter bags in the cyclone filtered the dust to release the clean air back to the environment. Client’s team continued to experience totally dust free operations and environment with very little scheduled maintenance of the dust collector.
Given the superior filtration performance of Centralized Dust Collectors, SFS was invited for a discussion to clean the air from all of client’s dry and wet machining clusters as well as processes generating smoke in the plant.
BENEFITS
- Economical, low-cost operations with centralized dust collectors
- Lowest disturbance to operators and production processes
- Easy maintenance as the Dust Collector was placed outside the shop-floor
- Lowest noise with specialized design from SFS
- Zero intervention and footprint with most efficient suction of the dry dust at the point of creation
