Reducing the load of dust by safely loading
Many production plants have big issues with big amounts of dust and the unpreventable resulting problems. The material that is conveyed from one end of the production to the other spills over to the sides and has an influence on the entire working environment (Lead figure). The conveyor system and all connected parts get covered in fine dusty material and over time it will build up to the point where it can negatively influence the production process or even create a fire and explosion hazard.
To avoid this, companies often decide on taking the easiest approach: cleaning it up (Figure 1). Regularly. Over and over again. A person from the existing staff is chosen and appointed the glamorous task of shoveling, brushing, wiping, vacuum-cleaning or even blowing away the material from all the areas it should not have gotten to in the first place.
This of course only partially solves the problem of the contaminated machine parts and the production environment. Once the dust has been airborne and started traveling through the production, it will eventually find its way into even the...
