Dust Collection Guide

Transport of sparks through ducts; Referring to the sketch below, there is a glowing ember (red particle) surrounded by some hot air (yellow envelop) which gives the spark buoyancy. This spark and the hot gas associated with it can travel hundreds of feet in a duct. The ductwork is designed to give laminar (smooth ) flow. This is illustrated on the left. Spark suppressors are placed in the duct to change the flow to turbulent (coarse) flow, as shown on the right. This agitation or turbulence strips the air from around the ember thereby removing the fuel (oxygen), therefore extinguishing and cooling the spark below ignition temperature (pink particle).

Spark arrester

Prevention depends on eliminating the causes of ignition. Spark traps can change laminar to turbulent flow and extinguish any sparks in a duct. Design duct systems for proper dust transport velocities. Install a pneumatic actuated duct booster to flush dust into the dust collector. Use air jets to remove electrostatic charges on the duct surfaces.

Quencher Spark Arrester, click here.