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SLY BUILDS CUSTOM DUST COLLECTOR TO REPLACE WORN NON-COMPLIANT UNIT
The American Gilsonite Company (AGC) supplies Gilsonite, the trademarked brand name for uintaite. Used to enhance product performance in the oil and gas, ink, paint and asphalt industries, uintaite is a naturally occurring hydrocarbon resin.
Mined in narrow, vertical veins (averaging between 3 and 4 feet wide) using a 10-pound handheld air chipping hammer, Gilsonite is brought to the surface by way of a 12-inch-diameter vacuum line and hauled to the processing plant. Prior to shipment, the material is crushed, sized, dried, pulverized and packaged, creating a large amount of explosive dust.
AGC's 35-year old dust collector was operating as a filter receiver in a vacuum conveying process. It carried 20 tons of Gilsonite per hour from an 1,800-ton silo to a 60-ton surge bin 250 feet away. Years of service resulted in abrasion to the outer wall of the inlet section. In addition, the inlet was located too close to the filter bags, and the collector lacked an internal cyclone ring causing abrasion not only to the housing walls, but also to adjacent filter bags, leading to premature bag failure. The aging dust collector no longer met current design standards for combustible dust and couldn’t be reworked to comply.
The existing dust collector was several levels up in a tower, surrounded by ductwork and other equipment. A new dust collector needed to be a drop-in replacement, allowing for easy installation and minimal downtime.
AGC considered a cartridge-style dust collector, but the design wouldn’t fit in their location. They needed to keep the same filter area. Gilsonite is sticky and requires extra filter surface area to maintain high airflow through the baghouse.
Sly built a CBR TubeJet baghouse dust collector, with support legs specially designed to match the exact physical dimensions of the existing dust collector. The new dust collector has a custom bag layout and bag length, mirroring the original equipment’s design. The abrasion-resistant, cylindrical baghouse receives material through a cyclonic inlet. An internal cyclone ring prevents wear to the collector’s walls. The abrasion-resistant plate cyclone ring prevents premature wear to the housing of the baghouse and increases the lifespan of the filters.
The system uses a pulse-jet cleaning system with an adjustable solid-state timer to remove material that collects on the filters. Dust is discharged at the bottom through a conical hopper. The cyclonic inlet and hopper were designed as bolt-on components and constructed of 1/4 inch-thick, abrasion-resistant steel, increasing the lifespan of the baghouse. The new dust collector is MSHA/OSHA compliant for combustible dust explosion protection, according to NFPA 654, 68, and 69.
Sly scheduled a four day installation but finished in three, saving AGC a full day of shutdown and installation costs.
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