Air curtain dust-collecting technology: Investigation of industrial application in tobacco factory of the air curtain dust-collecting system

The air curtain system can collect the dust particles from hard-to-seal sources, which proves to be a feasible method for satisfying the increasing dust prevention requirements in China. In this study, aiming at addressing the dust escape problem at the tobacco stem loading point in a tobacco factory, a rotational flow air curtain dust-collecting system with a size of 2m x 2m x 2m was used for dust collection. The dust collecting characteristics using the original dust suction hood and the developed air curtain dust collecting system were analyzed and compared. Results show that the external dust concentration when the original dust suction hood operated was as high as 83.65 mg/m(3), with a dust-collecting efficiency of only 16.35 %, suggesting serious dust escape; after the use of the developed air curtain dust-collecting system, the dust-collecting efficiency reached up to 86.93 similar to 94.76 % under the same operating conditions. By studying the influence of two factors, air curtain jet velocity and exhaust-to-pressure ratio, on the dust collection efficiency of the air curtain system, at an exhaust-to-pressure ratio of 0.8 and an air curtain jet velocity of 13.5 m/s, the corresponding dust-collecting efficiency reached a maximum of 94.76 %. The present test results confirmed a better application effect of the developed air curtain dust-collecting system than the original dust-collecting system at the industrial loading point. Using the developed air curtain dust-collecting system is mainly aimed at the dust source, reduce the dust in the workshop dissemination and dispersion that can lower the transmission path of COVID-19 via aerosol. (C) 2021 The Authors. Published by Elsevier B.V. on behalf of Institution of Chemical Engineers.

Automated summary

The air curtain dust-collecting system is an effective method for collecting dust particles from hard-to-seal sources, meeting the increasing dust prevention requirements in China. Results show that the developed system greatly improves dust-collecting efficiency and reduces dust escape, demonstrating better application effects than the original system.