On

OFWW

21/02/2016 10:29 AM

Dust collection systems

Seemed to me that there is a lot of black magic thinking about air
flow in dust collection systems and no scientific basis used for
designs of small shop or home evac systems.

Being that in my trade I am rather familiar with air flow, sizing of
ducts, fans, outlets etc. The WYE's and TEE's, the differences between
the fittings used, and air measurement, as well as gas and fluid
measurements I would have figured that there should be something out
there regarding Vacuum systems, but there is very, very little.

Busy Bee's site had a little bit on them, and particle drop out on
slopes, using smooth pipe as much as possible, all stuff learned via
the college of hard knocks.

Well, the use of a simple manometer is useful for checking designs of
air flow, finding restrictions, and a host of other design weaknesses.
So I started searching with the word manometer and dust evac systems,
etc. Key word being manometer. You can make one very simply with a
U-tube, or a gauge or even electronic measurement now a days.

Found this a real joy to my heart, as someone has taken the time to
check out the real world. You might find it interesting and also a way
of fine tuning what you have an optimizing it.

http://billpentz.com/woodworking/cyclone/Measurement.cfm

Acknowledgements
My introduction to the problems with dust collection came from Jim
Halbert in the mid to late 1990s when he freely shared his knowledge
on airflow, cyclone design, and measurement in articles and
innumerable forum posts. At the time I was happy with my dust
collection system and mostly just glanced at Jim's efforts. I admired
and felt sorry for him because many of his posts got attacked and
mired in controversy. He consistently told people they believed
garbage advertising hype and needed to do some of their own
measurement.

Suddenly I landed in the hospital with respiratory problems and my
doctors said no more woodworking until I cleaned up my shop. With lots
of research including the university where I have taught engineering
for over three decades, I kept finding much of the best information on
small shop dust collection came from Jim Halbert. By then he had long
given up posting, so I did lots of digging through the various
woodworking forum archives and finally contacted him directly. He was
kind enough to share his dust collection information, design and
testing articles and web pages.

Have fun with it, and also a healthier life.


This topic has 12 replies

Sk

Swingman

in reply to OFWW on 21/02/2016 10:29 AM

23/02/2016 9:03 AM

On 2/23/2016 12:49 AM, OFWW wrote:
> I'm wondering now just how many shops have actually blown up as he
> says because of fine dust and a spark.

Only happens with oak rust ...

--
eWoodShop: www.eWoodShop.com
Wood Shop: www.e-WoodShop.net
https://www.google.com/+eWoodShop
https://plus.google.com/+KarlCaillouet/posts
http://www.custommade.com/by/ewoodshop/
KarlCaillouet@ (the obvious)

Pp

Puckdropper

in reply to OFWW on 21/02/2016 10:29 AM

23/02/2016 7:04 PM

Leon <lcb11211@swbelldotnet> wrote in news:5NudnUT2o5Z_8lHLnZ2dnUU7-f-
[email protected]:

> On 2/23/2016 12:49 AM, OFWW wrote:
> Snip
>
>
>>
>> I'm wondering now just how many shops have actually blown up as he
>> says because of fine dust and a spark.
>>
> Darn Few if any at all. That discussion has come and gone dozens of
> times. But there is always the first. ;~)
>

Experiments by Mythbusters and others have shown the appropriate
concentration is so high that you wouldn't be able to see long before you
got to the proper air/fuel ratio.

Puckdropper

Ll

Leon

in reply to OFWW on 21/02/2016 10:29 AM

23/02/2016 8:42 AM

On 2/23/2016 12:49 AM, OFWW wrote:
Snip


>
> I'm wondering now just how many shops have actually blown up as he
> says because of fine dust and a spark.
>
Darn Few if any at all. That discussion has come and gone dozens of
times. But there is always the first. ;~)

On

OFWW

in reply to OFWW on 21/02/2016 10:29 AM

23/02/2016 6:09 PM

On Tue, 23 Feb 2016 09:54:40 -0600, -MIKE- <[email protected]>
wrote:

>On 2/23/16 12:49 AM, OFWW wrote:
>> On Mon, 22 Feb 2016 10:28:23 -0600, Leon <lcb11211@swbelldotnet>
>> wrote:
>>
>>> On 2/21/2016 12:29 PM, OFWW wrote:
>>>> Seemed to me that there is a lot of black magic thinking about
>>>> air flow in dust collection systems and no scientific basis used
>>>> for designs of small shop or home evac systems.
>>>>
>>>> Being that in my trade I am rather familiar with air flow, sizing
>>>> of ducts, fans, outlets etc. The WYE's and TEE's, the differences
>>>> between the fittings used, and air measurement, as well as gas
>>>> and fluid measurements I would have figured that there should be
>>>> something out there regarding Vacuum systems, but there is very,
>>>> very little.
>>>>
>>>> Busy Bee's site had a little bit on them, and particle drop out
>>>> on slopes, using smooth pipe as much as possible, all stuff
>>>> learned via the college of hard knocks.
>>>>
>>>> Well, the use of a simple manometer is useful for checking
>>>> designs of air flow, finding restrictions, and a host of other
>>>> design weaknesses. So I started searching with the word manometer
>>>> and dust evac systems, etc. Key word being manometer. You can
>>>> make one very simply with a U-tube, or a gauge or even electronic
>>>> measurement now a days.
>>>>
>>>> Found this a real joy to my heart, as someone has taken the time
>>>> to check out the real world. You might find it interesting and
>>>> also a way of fine tuning what you have an optimizing it.
>>>>
>>>> http://billpentz.com/woodworking/cyclone/Measurement.cfm
>>>>
>>>> Acknowledgements My introduction to the problems with dust
>>>> collection came from Jim Halbert in the mid to late 1990s when he
>>>> freely shared his knowledge on airflow, cyclone design, and
>>>> measurement in articles and innumerable forum posts. At the time
>>>> I was happy with my dust collection system and mostly just
>>>> glanced at Jim's efforts. I admired and felt sorry for him
>>>> because many of his posts got attacked and mired in controversy.
>>>> He consistently told people they believed garbage advertising
>>>> hype and needed to do some of their own measurement.
>>>>
>>>> Suddenly I landed in the hospital with respiratory problems and
>>>> my doctors said no more woodworking until I cleaned up my shop.
>>>> With lots of research including the university where I have
>>>> taught engineering for over three decades, I kept finding much of
>>>> the best information on small shop dust collection came from Jim
>>>> Halbert. By then he had long given up posting, so I did lots of
>>>> digging through the various woodworking forum archives and
>>>> finally contacted him directly. He was kind enough to share his
>>>> dust collection information, design and testing articles and web
>>>> pages.
>>>>
>>>> Have fun with it, and also a healthier life.
>>>>
>>>
>>>
>>> Good information!
>>>
>>> AND FWIW, mine is a mobile shop, meaning I move all of my
>>> "stationary" tools around on mobile bases. I have read about many
>>> ways to set a system up to collect from different machines.
>>>
>>> YMMV but my approach is simply a 30' flexible hose that runs from
>>> my DC overhead to about the center of the shop and then drops
>>> down. Because I only use one dust maker at a time I do not need
>>> gates, Y's, T's. etc. I simply have a flared plastic end on the
>>> end of the 30' flex hose and attachment to each machine is instant.
>>> No leaks or things to go wrong. ;~)
>>>
>>>
>> That is basically the way mine is, but the planer and router I ran
>> in the center area, the saws at the door or just outside the door.
>>
>> I did buy a while back an ceiling filtration system to pick up
>> small stuff that can settle on my stuff, and have the intake facing
>> the corner were sanders, drill press and bandsaw is. Thinking that
>> the air would be drawn to the fan first, some sanders have not vacuum
>> port.
>>
>> But after reading a bunch of what he says I think I'll put on bigger
>> wheels for some of the stuff to make it easier to roll out, because
>> things like the saws and the joiner fling out high velocity small
>> particles. Working out of a garage seems to have its advantages now,
>> something a closed shop would really need to be cautious about.
>>
>> I'm wondering now just how many shops have actually blown up as he
>> says because of fine dust and a spark.
>>
>
>My guess would be none.
>That's one of those things that nobody's ever actually witnessed. :-)
>It's the old urban myth that happened to a friend of a friend's uncle's
>brother-in-law's coworker's buddy. The particle concentration has to
>be so high for that to happen that anyone inside the shop wouldn't be
>able to see let alone breathe.
>
>Go on Youtube and search for magician's corn starch flame trick or
>something similar. There's another video of a professor at Texas A&M
>demonstrating a very small scale grain silo explosion. You can see,
>albeit very briefly, the amount of corn starch particles needed to
>create this kind of event. I'll say again, if a shop had that much dust
>floating around in the air, you wouldn't be able to see across the room
>or breathe.


https://www.bing.com/search?q=sawdust+explosion+at+wood+mill&form=EDGHPC&qs=PF&cvid=e1889886643642ec9904a868272d2115&pq=sawdust%20explosion%20at%20wood%20mill&elv=AGFVB4kjnOtc4lG5xGlWlo7jbSOej984hhe!3q33CEDW

Two videos of sawdust explosions, one from myth busters, a few news
articles from wood mills the blew up, Canada So I guess it is
possible. At least in large sites.

Ll

Leon

in reply to OFWW on 21/02/2016 10:29 AM

22/02/2016 10:28 AM

On 2/21/2016 12:29 PM, OFWW wrote:
> Seemed to me that there is a lot of black magic thinking about air
> flow in dust collection systems and no scientific basis used for
> designs of small shop or home evac systems.
>
> Being that in my trade I am rather familiar with air flow, sizing of
> ducts, fans, outlets etc. The WYE's and TEE's, the differences between
> the fittings used, and air measurement, as well as gas and fluid
> measurements I would have figured that there should be something out
> there regarding Vacuum systems, but there is very, very little.
>
> Busy Bee's site had a little bit on them, and particle drop out on
> slopes, using smooth pipe as much as possible, all stuff learned via
> the college of hard knocks.
>
> Well, the use of a simple manometer is useful for checking designs of
> air flow, finding restrictions, and a host of other design weaknesses.
> So I started searching with the word manometer and dust evac systems,
> etc. Key word being manometer. You can make one very simply with a
> U-tube, or a gauge or even electronic measurement now a days.
>
> Found this a real joy to my heart, as someone has taken the time to
> check out the real world. You might find it interesting and also a way
> of fine tuning what you have an optimizing it.
>
> http://billpentz.com/woodworking/cyclone/Measurement.cfm
>
> Acknowledgements
> My introduction to the problems with dust collection came from Jim
> Halbert in the mid to late 1990s when he freely shared his knowledge
> on airflow, cyclone design, and measurement in articles and
> innumerable forum posts. At the time I was happy with my dust
> collection system and mostly just glanced at Jim's efforts. I admired
> and felt sorry for him because many of his posts got attacked and
> mired in controversy. He consistently told people they believed
> garbage advertising hype and needed to do some of their own
> measurement.
>
> Suddenly I landed in the hospital with respiratory problems and my
> doctors said no more woodworking until I cleaned up my shop. With lots
> of research including the university where I have taught engineering
> for over three decades, I kept finding much of the best information on
> small shop dust collection came from Jim Halbert. By then he had long
> given up posting, so I did lots of digging through the various
> woodworking forum archives and finally contacted him directly. He was
> kind enough to share his dust collection information, design and
> testing articles and web pages.
>
> Have fun with it, and also a healthier life.
>


Good information!

AND FWIW, mine is a mobile shop, meaning I move all of my "stationary"
tools around on mobile bases. I have read about many ways to set a
system up to collect from different machines.

YMMV but my approach is simply a 30' flexible hose that runs from my DC
overhead to about the center of the shop and then drops down.
Because I only use one dust maker at a time I do not need gates, Y's,
T's. etc. I simply have a flared plastic end on the end of the 30' flex
hose and attachment to each machine is instant. No leaks or things to go
wrong. ;~)


On

OFWW

in reply to OFWW on 21/02/2016 10:29 AM

22/02/2016 10:49 PM

On Mon, 22 Feb 2016 10:28:23 -0600, Leon <lcb11211@swbelldotnet>
wrote:

>On 2/21/2016 12:29 PM, OFWW wrote:
>> Seemed to me that there is a lot of black magic thinking about air
>> flow in dust collection systems and no scientific basis used for
>> designs of small shop or home evac systems.
>>
>> Being that in my trade I am rather familiar with air flow, sizing of
>> ducts, fans, outlets etc. The WYE's and TEE's, the differences between
>> the fittings used, and air measurement, as well as gas and fluid
>> measurements I would have figured that there should be something out
>> there regarding Vacuum systems, but there is very, very little.
>>
>> Busy Bee's site had a little bit on them, and particle drop out on
>> slopes, using smooth pipe as much as possible, all stuff learned via
>> the college of hard knocks.
>>
>> Well, the use of a simple manometer is useful for checking designs of
>> air flow, finding restrictions, and a host of other design weaknesses.
>> So I started searching with the word manometer and dust evac systems,
>> etc. Key word being manometer. You can make one very simply with a
>> U-tube, or a gauge or even electronic measurement now a days.
>>
>> Found this a real joy to my heart, as someone has taken the time to
>> check out the real world. You might find it interesting and also a way
>> of fine tuning what you have an optimizing it.
>>
>> http://billpentz.com/woodworking/cyclone/Measurement.cfm
>>
>> Acknowledgements
>> My introduction to the problems with dust collection came from Jim
>> Halbert in the mid to late 1990s when he freely shared his knowledge
>> on airflow, cyclone design, and measurement in articles and
>> innumerable forum posts. At the time I was happy with my dust
>> collection system and mostly just glanced at Jim's efforts. I admired
>> and felt sorry for him because many of his posts got attacked and
>> mired in controversy. He consistently told people they believed
>> garbage advertising hype and needed to do some of their own
>> measurement.
>>
>> Suddenly I landed in the hospital with respiratory problems and my
>> doctors said no more woodworking until I cleaned up my shop. With lots
>> of research including the university where I have taught engineering
>> for over three decades, I kept finding much of the best information on
>> small shop dust collection came from Jim Halbert. By then he had long
>> given up posting, so I did lots of digging through the various
>> woodworking forum archives and finally contacted him directly. He was
>> kind enough to share his dust collection information, design and
>> testing articles and web pages.
>>
>> Have fun with it, and also a healthier life.
>>
>
>
>Good information!
>
>AND FWIW, mine is a mobile shop, meaning I move all of my "stationary"
>tools around on mobile bases. I have read about many ways to set a
>system up to collect from different machines.
>
>YMMV but my approach is simply a 30' flexible hose that runs from my DC
>overhead to about the center of the shop and then drops down.
>Because I only use one dust maker at a time I do not need gates, Y's,
>T's. etc. I simply have a flared plastic end on the end of the 30' flex
>hose and attachment to each machine is instant. No leaks or things to go
>wrong. ;~)
>
>
That is basically the way mine is, but the planer and router I ran in
the center area, the saws at the door or just outside the door.

I did buy a while back an ceiling filtration system to pick up small
stuff that can settle on my stuff, and have the intake facing the
corner were sanders, drill press and bandsaw is. Thinking that the air
would be drawn to the fan first, some sanders have not vacuum port.

But after reading a bunch of what he says I think I'll put on bigger
wheels for some of the stuff to make it easier to roll out, because
things like the saws and the joiner fling out high velocity small
particles. Working out of a garage seems to have its advantages now,
something a closed shop would really need to be cautious about.

I'm wondering now just how many shops have actually blown up as he
says because of fine dust and a spark.

Mm

-MIKE-

in reply to OFWW on 21/02/2016 10:29 AM

21/02/2016 2:52 PM

On 2/21/16 12:29 PM, OFWW wrote:
> Seemed to me that there is a lot of black magic thinking about air
> flow in dust collection systems and no scientific basis used for
> designs of small shop or home evac systems.
>
> Being that in my trade I am rather familiar with air flow, sizing of
> ducts, fans, outlets etc. The WYE's and TEE's, the differences between
> the fittings used, and air measurement, as well as gas and fluid
> measurements I would have figured that there should be something out
> there regarding Vacuum systems, but there is very, very little.
>
> Busy Bee's site had a little bit on them, and particle drop out on
> slopes, using smooth pipe as much as possible, all stuff learned via
> the college of hard knocks.
>
> Well, the use of a simple manometer is useful for checking designs of
> air flow, finding restrictions, and a host of other design weaknesses.
> So I started searching with the word manometer and dust evac systems,
> etc. Key word being manometer. You can make one very simply with a
> U-tube, or a gauge or even electronic measurement now a days.
>
> Found this a real joy to my heart, as someone has taken the time to
> check out the real world. You might find it interesting and also a way
> of fine tuning what you have an optimizing it.
>
> http://billpentz.com/woodworking/cyclone/Measurement.cfm
>
> Acknowledgements
> My introduction to the problems with dust collection came from Jim
> Halbert in the mid to late 1990s when he freely shared his knowledge
> on airflow, cyclone design, and measurement in articles and
> innumerable forum posts. At the time I was happy with my dust
> collection system and mostly just glanced at Jim's efforts. I admired
> and felt sorry for him because many of his posts got attacked and
> mired in controversy. He consistently told people they believed
> garbage advertising hype and needed to do some of their own
> measurement.
>
> Suddenly I landed in the hospital with respiratory problems and my
> doctors said no more woodworking until I cleaned up my shop. With lots
> of research including the university where I have taught engineering
> for over three decades, I kept finding much of the best information on
> small shop dust collection came from Jim Halbert. By then he had long
> given up posting, so I did lots of digging through the various
> woodworking forum archives and finally contacted him directly. He was
> kind enough to share his dust collection information, design and
> testing articles and web pages.
>
> Have fun with it, and also a healthier life.
>

Great info! Needless to say, I bookmarked it.


--

-MIKE-

"Playing is not something I do at night, it's my function in life"
--Elvin Jones (1927-2004)
--
http://mikedrums.com
[email protected]
---remove "DOT" ^^^^ to reply

Mm

-MIKE-

in reply to OFWW on 21/02/2016 10:29 AM

23/02/2016 9:54 AM

On 2/23/16 12:49 AM, OFWW wrote:
> On Mon, 22 Feb 2016 10:28:23 -0600, Leon <lcb11211@swbelldotnet>
> wrote:
>
>> On 2/21/2016 12:29 PM, OFWW wrote:
>>> Seemed to me that there is a lot of black magic thinking about
>>> air flow in dust collection systems and no scientific basis used
>>> for designs of small shop or home evac systems.
>>>
>>> Being that in my trade I am rather familiar with air flow, sizing
>>> of ducts, fans, outlets etc. The WYE's and TEE's, the differences
>>> between the fittings used, and air measurement, as well as gas
>>> and fluid measurements I would have figured that there should be
>>> something out there regarding Vacuum systems, but there is very,
>>> very little.
>>>
>>> Busy Bee's site had a little bit on them, and particle drop out
>>> on slopes, using smooth pipe as much as possible, all stuff
>>> learned via the college of hard knocks.
>>>
>>> Well, the use of a simple manometer is useful for checking
>>> designs of air flow, finding restrictions, and a host of other
>>> design weaknesses. So I started searching with the word manometer
>>> and dust evac systems, etc. Key word being manometer. You can
>>> make one very simply with a U-tube, or a gauge or even electronic
>>> measurement now a days.
>>>
>>> Found this a real joy to my heart, as someone has taken the time
>>> to check out the real world. You might find it interesting and
>>> also a way of fine tuning what you have an optimizing it.
>>>
>>> http://billpentz.com/woodworking/cyclone/Measurement.cfm
>>>
>>> Acknowledgements My introduction to the problems with dust
>>> collection came from Jim Halbert in the mid to late 1990s when he
>>> freely shared his knowledge on airflow, cyclone design, and
>>> measurement in articles and innumerable forum posts. At the time
>>> I was happy with my dust collection system and mostly just
>>> glanced at Jim's efforts. I admired and felt sorry for him
>>> because many of his posts got attacked and mired in controversy.
>>> He consistently told people they believed garbage advertising
>>> hype and needed to do some of their own measurement.
>>>
>>> Suddenly I landed in the hospital with respiratory problems and
>>> my doctors said no more woodworking until I cleaned up my shop.
>>> With lots of research including the university where I have
>>> taught engineering for over three decades, I kept finding much of
>>> the best information on small shop dust collection came from Jim
>>> Halbert. By then he had long given up posting, so I did lots of
>>> digging through the various woodworking forum archives and
>>> finally contacted him directly. He was kind enough to share his
>>> dust collection information, design and testing articles and web
>>> pages.
>>>
>>> Have fun with it, and also a healthier life.
>>>
>>
>>
>> Good information!
>>
>> AND FWIW, mine is a mobile shop, meaning I move all of my
>> "stationary" tools around on mobile bases. I have read about many
>> ways to set a system up to collect from different machines.
>>
>> YMMV but my approach is simply a 30' flexible hose that runs from
>> my DC overhead to about the center of the shop and then drops
>> down. Because I only use one dust maker at a time I do not need
>> gates, Y's, T's. etc. I simply have a flared plastic end on the
>> end of the 30' flex hose and attachment to each machine is instant.
>> No leaks or things to go wrong. ;~)
>>
>>
> That is basically the way mine is, but the planer and router I ran
> in the center area, the saws at the door or just outside the door.
>
> I did buy a while back an ceiling filtration system to pick up
> small stuff that can settle on my stuff, and have the intake facing
> the corner were sanders, drill press and bandsaw is. Thinking that
> the air would be drawn to the fan first, some sanders have not vacuum
> port.
>
> But after reading a bunch of what he says I think I'll put on bigger
> wheels for some of the stuff to make it easier to roll out, because
> things like the saws and the joiner fling out high velocity small
> particles. Working out of a garage seems to have its advantages now,
> something a closed shop would really need to be cautious about.
>
> I'm wondering now just how many shops have actually blown up as he
> says because of fine dust and a spark.
>

My guess would be none.
That's one of those things that nobody's ever actually witnessed. :-)
It's the old urban myth that happened to a friend of a friend's uncle's
brother-in-law's coworker's buddy. The particle concentration has to
be so high for that to happen that anyone inside the shop wouldn't be
able to see let alone breathe.

Go on Youtube and search for magician's corn starch flame trick or
something similar. There's another video of a professor at Texas A&M
demonstrating a very small scale grain silo explosion. You can see,
albeit very briefly, the amount of corn starch particles needed to
create this kind of event. I'll say again, if a shop had that much dust
floating around in the air, you wouldn't be able to see across the room
or breathe.


--

-MIKE-

"Playing is not something I do at night, it's my function in life"
--Elvin Jones (1927-2004)
--
http://mikedrums.com
[email protected]
---remove "DOT" ^^^^ to reply

Mm

-MIKE-

in reply to OFWW on 21/02/2016 10:29 AM

23/02/2016 9:55 AM

On 2/23/16 9:03 AM, Swingman wrote:
> On 2/23/2016 12:49 AM, OFWW wrote:
>> I'm wondering now just how many shops have actually blown up as he
>> says because of fine dust and a spark.
>
> Only happens with oak rust ...
>

Yep! Of course, you'd be dead from that errant nail gun shot from a
mile away, first, so it's a moot point.


--

-MIKE-

"Playing is not something I do at night, it's my function in life"
--Elvin Jones (1927-2004)
--
http://mikedrums.com
[email protected]
---remove "DOT" ^^^^ to reply

dn

dpb

in reply to OFWW on 21/02/2016 10:29 AM

23/02/2016 2:25 PM

On 02/23/2016 1:04 PM, Puckdropper wrote:
> Leon<lcb11211@swbelldotnet> wrote in news:5NudnUT2o5Z_8lHLnZ2dnUU7-f-
> [email protected]:
>
>> On 2/23/2016 12:49 AM, OFWW wrote:
>> Snip
>>
>>
>>>
>>> I'm wondering now just how many shops have actually blown up as he
>>> says because of fine dust and a spark.
>>>
>> Darn Few if any at all. That discussion has come and gone dozens of
>> times. But there is always the first. ;~)
>>
>
> Experiments by Mythbusters and others have shown the appropriate
> concentration is so high that you wouldn't be able to see long before you
> got to the proper air/fuel ratio.

Problem would not be in general air other than perhaps at a source but
theoretically could manage in a collection system with an
eneregetic-enough of ignition source. Simple static electricity that
has been posited by the use of plastic pipe simply doesn't have that
energy without working really, really hard so is essentially impossible.

Spent a long time with pulverized coal transport which is essentially
dust collection reversed to be dispersal (inside the boiler, of course
:) ) and there it is possible but still rather difficult to achieve the
precise conditions (fortunately :) ). Grain dust explosions, on the
other hand, are all too easy to manage to create and can do major
destruction...

--

dn

dpb

in reply to OFWW on 21/02/2016 10:29 AM

24/02/2016 8:59 AM

On 02/23/2016 8:09 PM, OFWW wrote:
...


> Two videos of sawdust explosions, one from myth busters, a few news
> articles from wood mills the blew up, Canada So I guess it is
> possible. At least in large sites.


"Possible", yes, but what were the ignition sources? _NOT_ static
electricity from a DC system.

There _must_ be sufficient energy to meet the ignition point of the
mixture, even if it is in a stoichiometric ratio in the
combustible/explosive zone. There simply isn't that much energy
available in the static discharge of that type.

Every grain dust explosion I'm aware of has been sparked by welding or
other construction-related sources or an over-heated bearing or on the
rare occasion a spark from a metal strike against something else (it's
why besides simply the weight we use aluminum scoops instead of steel)
but I think none have been credited to static buildup discharge.

Somewhere I've seen some studies a researcher did that measured the
energy of the PVC discharge spark and while it's decently high voltage
and zaps pretty good if you're the target, the actually energy
dissipated was miniscule; well below the ignition threshold for any
solid mixture. Some of the most volatile of hydrocarbons were marginal
as I recollect...

--

On

OFWW

in reply to OFWW on 21/02/2016 10:29 AM

21/02/2016 12:08 PM

On Sun, 21 Feb 2016 10:29:17 -0800, OFWW <[email protected]> wrote:

>Seemed to me that there is a lot of black magic thinking about air
>flow in dust collection systems and no scientific basis used for
>designs of small shop or home evac systems.
>
>Busy Bee's site had a little bit on them, and particle drop out on
>slopes, using smooth pipe as much as possible, all stuff learned via
>the college of hard knocks.
>
>Well, the use of a simple manometer is useful for checking designs of
>air flow, finding restrictions, and a host of other design weaknesses.
>So I started searching with the word manometer and dust evac systems,
>etc. Key word being manometer. You can make one very simply with a
>U-tube, or a gauge or even electronic measurement now a days.
>
>Found this a real joy to my heart, as someone has taken the time to
>check out the real world. You might find it interesting and also a way
>of fine tuning what you have an optimizing it.
>
>http://billpentz.com/woodworking/cyclone/Measurement.cfm
>
>Acknowledgements
>My introduction to the problems with dust collection came from Jim
>Halbert in the mid to late 1990s when he freely shared his knowledge
>on airflow, cyclone design, and measurement in articles and
>innumerable forum posts. At the time I was happy with my dust
>collection system and mostly just glanced at Jim's efforts. I admired
>and felt sorry for him because many of his posts got attacked and
>mired in controversy. He consistently told people they believed
>garbage advertising hype and needed to do some of their own
>measurement.
>
> Suddenly I landed in the hospital with respiratory problems and my
>doctors said no more woodworking until I cleaned up my shop. With lots
>of research including the university where I have taught engineering
>for over three decades, I kept finding much of the best information on
>small shop dust collection came from Jim Halbert. By then he had long
>given up posting, so I did lots of digging through the various
>woodworking forum archives and finally contacted him directly. He was
>kind enough to share his dust collection information, design and
>testing articles and web pages.
>
>Have fun with it, and also a healthier life.

Here is a link to one of his pages on building your own whole shop
cyclone.
http://www.billpentz.com/woodworking/cyclone/cyclone_plan.cfm#cyclone_cutting_layout

There are other pages about this as well as a smaller design IIRC,
Full of charts, helps, what not to do and why. A whole lot of reading
for someone serious about it.


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