Phyllis Morris Originals, West Hollywood CA, creates luxury furniture
handcrafted from beautiful woods and other materials. The sawdust
generated is from wood shop routers, table saws, and finishing
operations. With a recent business expansion, the old baghouse dust
collector no longer had the airflow capacity the woodshop needed.
Since the plant property borders a residential area, quiet operation,
low emissions, and low height were key factors in the replacement
decision. Brett Schervone, vice president of manufacturing, shopped
around and learned about smarter, smaller Torit® PowerCore® dust
collectors.
Smaller Than Traditional Baghouses
Schervone chose a Torit PowerCore model CPC-12, designed for 7,000
cfm airflow with a 20 hp fan. The collector contains 12 PowerCore filter
packs, each measuring only 7"D x 22"L. The filter house is 4 feet high,
and sits on legs and hopper, for a total height of 12 feet. A small
silencer box is mounted above the clean air outlet. In contrast, a
conventional baghouse with 7,000 cfm airflow would have been over twice
as tall – 28 feet high – with 81 filter bags, each 8 feet long.
Better Filtration = Lower Emissions in the Neighborhood
Donaldson's advanced nanofiber filter media, Ultra-Web®, provides
outstanding filtration in the PowerCore filter packs. In tests,
Ultra-Web results in 78% fewer emissions than traditional 16-oz
polyester filter bags.
Because of the large amount of dust generated, Schervone wanted a
high-capacity hopper solution. Donaldson® Torit® provided a 2-yard
capacity dumpster, approximately equal to seven 55-gallon drums. The
air-actuated lid of the Donaldson dumpster seals tightly, preventing
leaks and dust re-entrainment, while eliminating the need for a rotary
airlock valve. The dumpster is on rails so it's easy to pick up with a
forklift for emptying elsewhere.
After 6 months of steady operation, the system pressure drop runs at
1.4 to 1.6 "wg. The quiet operation of the Torit PowerCore doesn't
disturb the neighborhood.
Easier Servicing
One of the major benefits of having fewer filters in the dust
collector will be felt by the maintenance crew at filter service time:
the Torit PowerCore unit has only 24 filters to service. At only 7"D x
22"L, each filter pack can be removed without tools and lifted out with
one hand.
Installing new filters is also very easy: the filter pack is placed
into the tube-sheet hole and secured with two wing nuts. The gasket is
integral to the filter pack, providing a fresh seal with each filter
change. The filter pack is self-centering and cannot be installed upside
down or backwards. And, the hardware on the filter retention device is
captive so that it can't be accidentally dropped or misplaced.
Objectives Met
Schervone comments, "Without being an eyesore in the neighborhood,
the Torit PowerCore dust collector enabled us to upgrade our dust system
with higher airflow, cleaner air, and quieter operation, all in a
smaller footprint."