Dust Suppression of Storage Sheds at a Major UK Port

Renby Ltd have recently completed a large dust suppression project for a major UK port.

Phil Black - PII Editor 15/04/2021

242 2 minutes read

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The Challenge

A broad range of cargoes arrive at UK ports as loose bulk material in ship’s holds. Often, the destination for the cargo is unable to accept the complete shipment, so the materials are stored in intermediate sheds. Usually located at the ports, these large buildings are designed to store thousands of tonnes of material. The action of loading and unloading the material into the sheds is a dusty process. This can cause several issues:

Fugitive dust
Airborne dust from some materials creates an ATEX zone
Airborne silica dust leading to COPD illnesses of employees

Therefore, it is important to suppress the dust to minimise these effects. Generally, the cost of using dust collection in such a building is prohibitive, so an alternative is required. This is where fog comes in. By spraying microscopic droplets of water into the air, dusts will respond by attaching to the water droplet. These dust particles agglomerate and rapidly become heavy enough to fall out of the air. The settled dust remains with the cargo and does not escape as fugitive dust, thereby keeping neighbours happy and retaining the value of the cargo.

The Solution

Renby was commissioned to supply MicronFog™ to suppress dust in three storage sheds measuring a nominal 100m x 40m and there was a single doorway in each. To reflect planned operations, each shed was divided into four zones. These could operate independently of each other in response to where material was being stored and stockpiled.

Three MicronFog™ SMZ-8 control units were strategically positioned around the outside of the building to provide zoned pressurised water for the fog. There were 15 zones overall, 12 for the storage areas and a further 3 providing fog curtains on the doorways. A major consideration was the need to keep wetting to a minimum. To this end, minimum flow nozzles were used. Leak detection was included to protect against vehicles straying onto the fog lines and causing damage. If a leak is detected, the zone is isolated within seconds and further use prevented until repairs can be made. This eliminates the risk of accidentally spraying full flow water over the cargo.

Due to the distance between the units, software was designed to allow the installation to operate from a single touchscreen. This facility enabled the dust suppression system to run as a single entity from the operator’s viewpoint. A significant world leading development of the MicronFog™ system; this is scalable up or down for future projects.

MicronFog™ can be used for dust suppression in industries ranging from ports to quarries. It is also used for humidification to provide environmental control in manufacturing environments. Do feel free to contact us to explore how MicronFog™ can work for you.

Renby Limited – MicronFog™

Tel: 01829 740913 www.micronfog.com email: info@renby.co.uk