Southern Institute and Technology (SIT) recently installed a new Egmont Air dust extraction system to compliment their high-profile joinery workshop facility.
SIT offers a new Joinery training facility that many believe is the best in the country. The large well appointed machine-shop houses high quality, modern industrial machinery required to manufacture kitchens, furniture, doors, windows, stairs and cabinetry.
Students manufacture full-size, quality, practical projects throughout the duration of the program and have the opportunity to use a wide range of traditional and advanced computer controlled machinery. A greater emphasis on including the latest technology in the workshop makes for a real-life situation and experience.
Having experienced numerous performance issues with a previous extract system, SIT engaged Egmont Air to provide a full on-site evaluation, testing and analysis of their dust extraction system and design a new system that would suit the needs of a modern workshop.
Todd Prestidge from Egmont Air says: “We quickly identified that the primary issue was created by the existing extractor unit. The filters were clogging quickly, sometimes within days, creating excessive back-pressure and poor suction at the machines.”
Of course this had a knock-on affect, dust levels in the workshop areas were excessive where health and safety was a priority for Southern Institute and Technology. A lot of time was spent cleaning up rather than working on projects.
“It is critical that the design of a dust extraction system is balanced,” says Prestidge. “The filter, fan and ducting are all inter-related and must be sized correctly to provide on-going reliable performance.”
High-performance computer machinery such as CNC routers, speed-sanders, dimensioning saws etc, require extra-high levels of extraction to cope with fast cutting speeds, angular cutting angles, and a combination of fine particle board dusts.
The design of any dust extraction starts with the machinery. Each machine must be separately evaluated based on hood design, capture velocity, hours of use, dust volume created to specify the airflow and suction that will successfully capture the dust before it reaches the operators breathing zone or spread throughout the workshop.
As each machine is connected to the centralised ducting system, the main duct grows in diameter allowing full capacity of the extraction system to be shared and balanced between machines. A small discrepancy in ducting size can cause a large compromise in extraction if this fundamental design principle is ignored.
Egmont Air re-designed the system from scratch, while much of the existing ductwork was re-used; some critical parts were up-sized to allow proper conveying velocities and airflow distribution.
New Egmont high-efficiency fans were specified and installed to provide optimum suction levels. Each workshop area was fitted with its own fan unit and non-return valve, operating independently, so that any area could function without respect of the other. Both fans were ducted into a single Egmont Modular Filter to provide central collection of dusts.
The Egmont Modular Filter system is fitted with high filter-surface area, automatic cleaning, decantation chamber and rotary-valve for discharging high volume of dust.
Russell Finlay, programme operations manager at Southern Institute and Technology, comments how happy he is with the design of the new Egmont Air system, “its performance is exactly what we had hoped it would be, the tutors are happy and I am relieved.”
“Egmont’s extract system made an incredible reduction in airborne dust in the workshop environment,” says Finlay. “We took before and after video recordings of the dust clouds on the previous system and when compared to Egmont Airs new system the difference is dramatic.”
The Egmont Air offer a huge range of duct and flex, fans, filter and cyclones for wood-working applications and provide solutions for many timber processors, kitchen makers & joinery shops.
Egmont Air’s experience and expertise prove popular for diagnosing issues on existing dust extraction plants.
Egmont Air provides a free consultation and professional advice for any dust or fume extraction issue. Contact Egmont Air on 0800 781 200 or +64 6278 1200 or visit their website: www.egmontair.co.nz for more information and a free catalogue.
