How do you collect dust from hand sanding over a large area before the people doing the sanding have breathed in the dust?
NZDuct+Flex were asked to help remove dust caused by two staff manually sanding a large vertical ceramic plate, around three meters square, which lifted up through 90 degrees and then dropped down again and removed, so the next one could be swung into place.
Initial ideas had involved a powerful fan, mounted above or to the side of the work area sucking up the dust from the general area and removing to a filter unit placed nearby. The problem was, the staff would have already breathed in the dust by then. Of course, masks can be used but they not always comfortable to wear.
NZDuct+Flex South Island Manager Scott Saunders explains – “The problem we had was removing the dust from the source without having any type of fixed ducts. Not only were the staff sanding from the ground level up to above head height, but this was in a tight area with only around one meter or so between the ceramic plate and the wall behind it.
“We came up with the solution: an extraction rail, from Danish manufacturer Geovent, was fixed to the wall above and behind the working staff. Onto this was attached two Geovent moveable trolleys with telescopic extraction arms fitted to them.”
The ‘trolley’ is pulled along the rail to the right position and then the ‘arm’ is pulled down to the level at which the staff wish to sand. The arm is close, inches from the point the dust is produced, the power comes on and the sanded dust is sucked up the fume arm via the trolley to the extract rail and then filtered.
The Dust is collected by the small light and compact filter unit, with its own electronic control for the compressed air cleaning of its six internal dust filters. The clean air is extracted from the filter by a 4kw fan made by another Danish manufacturer JKF Industri and finally, via a silencer, to atmosphere.
All product was supplied by NZDuct+Flex from stock in Auckland and installed within a month of receiving the order, by NZDuct+Flex staff, who flew down to Invercargill on the Monday morning and left on Thursday – job complete”.
The Danish GEOVENT GFB filters are a compact and lightweight solution for cleaning extracted air efficiently. The filter removes around 99.97 percent of hazardous particles from the extracted air. Used in a wide range of industrial businesses, with different cartridges fitted they can be used for filtering air from welding, grinding, sanding, plasma-/laser cutting, powder coating and a wide range of other uses.
The models range comprised three, six, nine or 12 cartridge units and can handle air and fume / dust flows from 1,000m3 to 7,200 m3/h. They can be connected in parallel, if extra capacity is required. Delivered with an inclusive automatic electronic controlled compressed air cleaning system, the filters use shots of compressed air, to clean the filter cartridges from excessive dust build-up. An easy to remove collection bucket makes the whole operation very simple. Made from galvanised sheet metal, with easy service access via wide opening double doors.
“We are often asked why we use Danish fume and dust extraction products” says Geoff Ebdon GM of the company, “simply it’s because historically the Scandinavians have led the world in safety and environmental systems for decades, just like NZ farmers are top in dairy or Kiwis are always at the pinnacle of the sailing world. It’s in the DNA of the people.
If you look around the world including the Australian and New Zealand fume / dust extraction market, you will see a number of companies and brands selling Scandinavian companies’ products. Even those that claim to be ‘Local Brands’ often have their names and contact details on their Scandinavian suppliers websites!”
NZDuct+Flex are the NZ and Australian distributions for two Danish companies which, being geographically close to each other, means they can mix their products into the same containers and get faster delivery and lower costs to pass onto New Zealand Customers.
If you have a dust or fume problem, call 0508 69 38 28 or visit wwwnzduct.co.nz
