Upgrading Your Dust Collection System To Meet Tougher Government Standards And Increase Profits

By Mike Althouse, Schenck Process 

Dust Collection system upgrades are a hot topic in the bulk solids industry these days. Users are improving their systems not only to comply with increasingly strict government emission and safety standards, but also to increase system operating efficiency and company profits. This article provides practical advice on how to upgrade your dust collection system to meet government standards and boost the bottom line.

Effective, safe dust collection is becoming a more challenging issue every year for industrial plants.  The primary drivers are increasingly stringent government regulations for fine particulate emissions and explosion protection and manufacturers’ increasing focus on the bottom line by using smaller, more efficient dust collection systems.

Improving Dust Collection To Comply With Government Air Quality And Safety Regulations
An update to the Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA’s) national air quality standards revised the primary annual standard for fine particles (particulate matter less than 2.5 microns, known as PM2.5) to 12 μg/m³ of air. The revised standard will become effective in 2015, and 99 percent of U.S. counties are projected to meet it by 2020. The revised PM standard will affect clean air permits issued to pollution sources such as manufacturing plants, industrial boilers, and power plants; the permits ensure that emissions from pollution sources don’t significantly worsen air quality in areas with clean air.  To ensure a smooth transition to the revised standard, the EPA also is finalizing a provision that grandfathers pending pre-construction air permits for new or modified pollution sources to prevent construction delays.¹