The removal of airborne dust produced by abrasive blasting is arguably the most important aspect to consider when setting up or maintaining a Blasting Chamber. The dust is typically removed using a dust extractor filter system. In the abrasive blasting industry, not any dust collector can do the job! There are many elements that need to be considered when operating such machinery on a commercial scale such as;
- the harsh environment
- the finance impact ; and
- the filters in the dust collectors which are one of the most important considerations.
Sandblasting or abrasive blasting produces a very fine dust so it is important the correct filters are used in the dust collector and ultimately in your blast booth. The two most important things to consider are:
- Filtration area
- Filtration efficiency
Filtration area is the surface area of filter media each filter has. This is important as it is used to calculate the correct amount of filters needed for the volume of air. At Protoblast we call it Air-to-Cloth ratio which in simple terms is the velocity at which the air passes through the filters. The smaller the surface area the higher the velocity will be through the filter media which leads to premature failure and higher dust loadings.
Filtration efficiency refers to how fine the dust filter will catch. Th most widely used filter is the ASHRAE 52.2-2007 (American Society of Heating, Refrigerating and Air Conditioning) which uses a MERV (Minimum Efficiency Reporting Value) rating. Protoblast uses Cellulex filters with a minimum of MERV 10 rating which in simple terms will filter 99.99% of particles 1.0µm and over.
If you would like expert advice please contact the team at Protoblast.