AU2003225346A1 - Dust scrubber - Google Patents

Description

WO 2004/025081 PCT/AU2003/000624 1 Dust Scrubber FIELD OF THE INVENTION This invention relates to air filtration apparatus, in particular but not exclusively, to an improved low maintenance wet mineral dust remover adapted to 5 operate with reduced noise and reduced energy consumption but having high dust removal efficiency. BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION Equipment designed for use in maintaining air quality in high dust o10 environments are known. In particular, the problems associated with inhalation of mineral dust in mining operations contribute, for example, to certain medical conditions such as asbestosis, silicosis, industrial asthma and mesothelioma. The contraction of such debilitating diseases is an occupational hazard for workers or miners in the mineral refining industries and the cost to the community is very high in 5is insurance premiums and payouts. Prior art air filtration devices include wet scrubbers which remove mineral dust particulate matter by passing air through a curtain of mist wherein the dust particles are trapped by water droplets. Such equipment requires high energy to operate as contaminated air is inducted at high velocity and pressure into the scrubbing vessel wherein it is passed through a fine 20 mist of water. The water is then removed downstream by means of a mist eliminator contained in a suitable housing. Due to the high velocities and air pressures involved, not all droplets are eliminated by the mist eliminators and there are usually vane eliminators downstream of the mist eliminators to provide a further catchment system to remove residual water droplets. As there is high resistance to air flow, 25 movement of the air through the prior art scrubbers require large motor driven fans WO 2004/025081 PCT/AU2003/000624 2 that correspondingly consume large amounts of energy in the form of electricity or diesel fuel. There is also the problem of high noise generation levels with the use of large fans and motors. 5 OBJECT OF THE INVENTION It is an object of the present invention to seek to ameliorate some of the disadvantages and limitations of the prior art dust removal systems or to at least provide the public with an alternative and useful choice. 10 SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION Accordingly in one aspect, the invention resides in an improved wet dust removal apparatus including in combination a housing having an inlet and an outlet, the housing adapted to contain powered air induction means adapted to induce air contaminated with 15 particulate matter into the inlet, water spraying means adapted to spray a mist of water into the induced air stream to capture the particulate matter, water removal means downstream of said water spraying means adapted to remove water droplets containing the particulate matter prior to the air exiting the 20 housing via the outlet, the water removal means positioned in the housing at an oblique angle or parallel to the direction of the air flow thereby increasing the surface area for removing the water droplets, wherein WO 2004/025081 PCT/AU2003/000624 3 the angled or parallel position and the increased surface area reduces the air pressure and velocity required to remove dust for a given volume of air, and wherein in use, the energy consumption of the air induction means is thereby also reduced. In a second aspect, the invention resides in a wet and dry dust removal 5 apparatus for drilling applications including in combination a housing having an inlet and an outlet, the housing adapted to contain powered air induction means adapted to induce air contaminated with large and small drilling particulate material from the vicinity of a drilling operation into the inlet via a suction passage connected to the inlet, 10 cyclonic vacuum means adapted to remove by vacuum, the large and small particulate material, water spraying means adapted to spray a mist of water into air exiting from the vacuum means to capture any fine dust particles escaping the vacuum means, water removal means downstream of said water spraying means adapted to 15 remove water droplets containing the dust prior to the cleaned air exiting the housing via the outlet, the water removal means positioned in the housing at an oblique angle or parallel to the direction of air flow thereby increasing the surface area for removing the water droplets wherein the angled or parallel position and increased surface area 20 reduces the air pressure and velocity required to remove dust for a given volume of air and, wherein in use, the energy consumption of the cyclonic vacuum means is thereby also reduced. Preferably, the housing comprises a rectangular or cylindrical vessel having the inlet and outlet at either end.

WO 2004/025081 PCT/AU2003/000624 4 Preferably, the vessel is fabricated from sheet steel which is welded. In the alternative, the vessel can be of fiberglass or aluminum construction. Preferably, there are directional vane members for directing the air flowing out through the outlet in a preferred direction. 5 Preferably, the powered air induction means comprises an electric or hydraulic drive mechanism powering a fan, Preferably, the fan is a multi-bladed fan with a blade diameter of up to one metre. Preferably, the water spraying means comprises a plurality of water spray io nozzles adapted to spray water droplets in the order of 100 microns in size. Preferably, the nozzles are connected to a manifold into which water is injected under pressure. Preferably, the water removal means comprises a mist eliminator fabricated from stainless steel or plastic filaments of various diameters and compositions. 15 Preferably, the individual filaments are between 0.05 mm to 2.5 mm in diameter. More preferably, the filaments are approximately between 0.25mm and 0.50mm in diameter. Preferably, the angle at which the water removal means is positioned in 20 relation to the air flow is to optimize water removal. Preferably, the cyclonic vacuum means comprises a cyclone type vessel which removes particles larger than 1.00 mm in size by centrifugal action and wherein smaller particles which do not conform to the physical forces are captured by the water spraying means.

WO 2004/025081 PCT/AU2003/000624 5 Preferably, the suction passage comprises a shroud surrounding the drill adapted to contain solid particles and dust, the shroud connected by a flexible corrugated hose to the inlet. Preferably, the cyclonic vacuum means is electrically driven. Alternatively, the 5 cyclonic vacuum means can be driven by an internal combustion engine, typically a small diesel engine. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS In order that the present invention be more readily understood and put into o10 practical effect, reference will now be made to the accompanying illustrations wherein: Figure la and lb are preferred embodiments of the invention according to Example 1, Figure 1 c is another embodiment of the invention of Example 1, 15 Figure ld is a further embodiment of the invention of Example 1, Figure 2 shows an existing dust scrubber typical of the prior art, and Figure 3 shows a preferred embodiment of the second aspect of the invention according to Example 2, 20 DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS Example 1 Figures la and lb show preferred embodiments of the invention according to Example 1. The wet dust removal apparatus 200, shown in front and side views, 201 respectively comprises a rectangular housing of stainless steel. The housing 25 has an inlet 204 and an outlet 206 wherein the outlet preferably has directional vane WO 2004/025081 PCT/AU2003/000624 6 members 208-210 to direct the outflow of clean air in a preferred direction. The inlet houses a multi bladed fan 212 and comprises the air induction means which is powered preferably by an electrical hydraulic motor. The use of hydraulic motors is preferred in mining applications, as there is a danger of arcing or sparking with 5 electric motors. Air containing dust particles are induced by the fan to flow into the housing via the inlet. Water mist is then sprayed into the air stream by a plurality of nozzles 218, 219, 220 comprising the water spraying means. Droplets of water capturing the dust particles are removed by the mist eliminator 222, 223. The mist eliminator comprises the water removal means and is preferably a filamentous o10 composition of stainless steel and plastic filaments contain the frame or box between two panels of stainless steel mesh. The stainless steel plastic filaments 224 are preferably between 0.5mm to 2.5mm in diameter but more preferably have a diameter of between 0.25mm and 0.5mm. As is shown the mist eliminator 222 is circular in configuration in Figure la and semi-circular 223 in Figure lb and is is disposed parallel to the air flow to increase the surface area for water droplet removal and also to reduce the velocity in air pressure required to remove the same amount of water droplets when compared to a prior art mist eliminator positioned substantially perpendicularly to the air flow this results in less fan speed required and the need for energy expended in terms of large electrical or hydraulic motors. This 20 contributes in a significant reduction to the energy consumption of the motor and a small fan can also be used. Referring to Figure 1c there is shown another embodiment of the invention according to Example 1. The wet dust removal apparatus 10 preferably comprises a cylindrical or rectangular housing 12 or vessel fabricated of welded stainless sheet 25 steel. In the alternative, the housing can be constructed of fibreglass or aluminum.

WO 2004/025081 PCT/AU2003/000624 7 The housing has an inlet 14 and an outlet 16 wherein the outlet preferably has directional vane members 18, 20, 22 to direct the outflow of clean air in a preferred direction. The inlet houses a fan 24 comprising the air induction means which is powered preferably by an electric or hydraulic motor. The use of hydraulic motors is 5 preferred in mining applications as there is a danger of arcing or sparking with electric motors. Air containing dust particles are induced by the fan to flow into the housing via the inlet. Water mist 26, 28, 30 is then sprayed into the air stream by a plurality of nozzles 32, 34, 36 comprising the water spraying means. Droplets of water capturing the dust particles are removed by the mist eliminator 40. The mist 10 eliminator that comprises the water removal means, is preferably a filamentous composition of stainless steel or plastic filaments 42 contained in a frame or box or between two panels 43, 45 of stainless steel mesh. The stainless steel or plastic filaments are preferably between 0.05 mm to 2.5 mm in diameter but more preferably have a diameter of between 0.25mm and 0.50mm. As is shown, the mist eliminator 5is is disposed at an angle to the air flow to increase its surface area for water droplet removal. The increased surface area reduces the velocity and air pressure required to remove the same amount of water droplets as for a mist eliminator positioned substantially perpendicularly or at 900 to the air flow. This results in less fan speed required and the need for large electrical or hydraulic motors. This contributes in a 20 reduction to the energy consumption of the motor and a smaller fan can also be used. Figure id shows another embodiment of the invention of Example 1. In this version, there are a pair of mist eliminators 50, 52 of the same design as that described for Figure 1. The mist eliminators are positioned in an A-frame 25 configuration in the housing 54 as shown in the sectional transverse view A-A. Air WO 2004/025081 PCT/AU2003/000624 8 contaminated with dust is inducted via the inlet 56 into the chamber 54a formed by the mist eliminators. Water mist is sprayed from a longitudinal spray header 66 into the air stream. Dust particles are trapped by the water droplets which are removed by the mist eliminators. Cleaned air then exits the housing via the outlet region 58, 5 the direction of the flow of air being guided by the directional vanes 60, 62, 64. Figure 2 shows a prior art dust scrubber 70 of an existing design. The housing 72 comprises an inlet portion 74 that houses a fan 76. Air carrying dust particles enters the inlet and is sprayed with water 78, 80 from spray nozzles 82, 84. Water droplets capturing the dust particles then pass through a filamentous mist o10 eliminator 86 positioned at right angles to the air stream which presents a relatively reduced surface area for trapping water droplets. Furthermore, this also results in an increased back pressure requiring increased fan speeds or a fan with a larger blade diameter to move a given volume of air, as that compared to the present invention. As not all the water droplets are removed by the mist eliminator, there are also vane 15 eliminators 88, 90, 92 downstream of the mist eliminator to remove the remaining droplets. It is evident that due to the improved efficiency of the present invention, vane eliminators are not required and are therefore absent. The prior art design also includes directional vanes 94, 96, 98 to direct the air flowing out of the outlet region 100. 20 Example 2 Figure 3 shows a preferred embodiment of the second aspect of the invention according to Example 2. In this example, the wet and dry dust removal apparatus is especially adapted for use with drilling applications. The apparatus 110 is shown having a cylindrical housing 112 with an inlet 114 into which air containing large and 25 small particulate material from around a drill from powered air induction means WO 2004/025081 PCT/AU2003/000624 9 similar to that described in Example 1 is introduced. The cyclonic vacuum means 116 preferably comprises an electric motor driven cyclone type vessel 118 which is adapted to remove particles larger than 1.0 mm in size by centrifugal action. Smaller particles that do not conform to the physical forces required for removal by the 5 centrifugal action pass from the cyclone type vessel into a mist 120, 122 produced by the nozzles 123, 124 of the water spraying means. The smaller particles of dust are caught by the water droplets which are then trapped by the mist eliminator 126 of a similar construction as is described in Example 1. It will be evident that although the mist eliminator is positioned perpendicularly to the longitudinal axis of the 1o apparatus, that the air stream leaving the cyclone vessel strikes the mist eliminator at an oblique angle. Clean air substantially devoid of moisture then leaves via the outlet 128. ADVANTAGES s15 The advantages of the present invention include improved efficiencies in dust removal wherein the new design removes between 99.0% to 100% of respirable dust as compared to the existing design which removes between 94.0% to 95.0% of respirable dust. In terms of total dust removal, the present invention removes between 99.0% to 100% of the total dust content as compared to 98.0% to 99.0% of 20 the total dust removed by prior art dust scrubbers. Furthermore, the present invention provides a power consumption saving in the order of 30% to 50% and noise levels are reduced over prior art dust scrubbers in the order of a 10% to 15% reduction. 25 WO 2004/025081 PCT/AU2003/000624 10 VARIATIONS It will of course be realised that while the foregoing has been given by way of illustrative example of this invention, all such and other modifications and variations 5 thereto as would be apparent to persons skilled in the art are deemed to fall within the broad scope and ambit of this invention as is herein set forth. Throughout the description and claims this specification the word "comprise" and variations of that word such as "comprises" and "comprising", are not intended to exclude other additives, components, integers or steps.

Claims (20)

1. A wet dust removal apparatus including in combination 5 a housing having an inlet and an outlet, the housing adapted to contain powered air induction means adapted to induce air contaminated with particulate matter into the inlet, water spraying means adapted to spray a mist of water into the induced air stream to capture the particulate matter, o10 water removal means downstream of said water spraying means adapted to remove water droplets containing the particulate matter prior to the air exiting the housing via the outlet, the water removal means positioned in the housing at an oblique angle to the direction of the air flow thereby increasing the surface area for removing the 15 water droplets, wherein the angled position and the increased surface area reduces the air pressure and velocity required to remove dust for a given volume of air, and wherein in use, the energy consumption of the air induction means is thereby also reduced. 20

2. A wet dust removal apparatus including in combination a housing having an inlet and an outlet, the housing adapted to contain powered air induction means adapted to induce air contaminated with particulate matter into the inlet, water spraying means adapted to spray a mist of water into the induced air 25 stream to capture the particulate matter, WO 2004/025081 PCT/AU2003/000624 12 water removal means downstream of said water spraying means adapted to remove water droplets containing the particulate matter prior to the air exiting the housing via the outlet, the water removal means positioned in the housing parallel to the direction of 5 the air flow thereby increasing the surface area for removing the water droplets, wherein the paralleled position and the increased surface area reduces the air pressure and velocity required to remove dust for a given volume of air, and wherein in use, the energy consumption of the air induction means is thereby 10 also reduced.

3. A wet and dry dust removal apparatus for drilling applications including in combination a housing having an inlet and an outlet, the housing adapted to contain powered air induction means adapted to induce air contaminated with large 15 and small drilling particulate material from the vicinity of a drilling operation into the inlet via a suction passage connected to the inlet, cyclonic vacuum means adapted to remove by vacuum, the large and small particulate material, water spraying means adapted to spray a mist of water into air exiting from 20 the vacuum means to capture any fine dust particles escaping the vacuum means, water removal means downstream of said water spraying means adapted to remove water droplets containing the dust prior to the cleaned air exiting the housing via the outlet, WO 2004/025081 PCT/AU2003/000624 13 the removal means positioned in the housing at an oblique angle to the direction of air flow thereby increasing the surface area for removing the water droplets wherein the angled position and increased surface area reduces the air pressure and velocity required to remove dust for a given volume of air 5 and, wherein in use, the energy consumption of the cyclonic vacuum means is thereby also reduced.

4. A wet and dry dust removal apparatus for drilling applications including in combination a housing having an inlet and an outlet, the housing adapted to contain to powered air induction means adapted to induce air contaminated with large and small drilling particulate material from the vicinity of a drilling operation into the inlet via a suction passage connected to the inlet, cyclonic vacuum means adapted to remove by vacuum, the large and small particulate material, 15 water spraying means adapted to spray a mist of water into air exiting from the vacuum means to capture any fine dust particles escaping the vacuum means, water removal means downstream of said water spraying means adapted to remove water droplets containing the dust prior to the cleaned air exiting the 20 housing via the outlet, the removal means positioned in the housing parallel to the direction of air flow thereby increasing the surface area for removing the water droplets wherein the parallel position and increased surface area reduces the air pressure and velocity required to remove dust for a given volume of air and, WO 2004/025081 PCT/AU2003/000624 14 wherein in use, the energy consumption of the cyclonic vacuum means is thereby also reduced.

5. A wet dust removal apparatus as claimed in claim 1 or claim 2 wherein, the housing comprises a rectangular or cylindrical vessel having the inlet and 5 outlet at either end.

6. A wet dust removal apparatus as claimed in claim 1 or claim 2 wherein, the vessel is fabricated from sheet steel which is welded or is of fiberglass or aluminum construction.

7. A wet dust removal apparatus as claimed in claim 1 or claim 2 wherein there 10 are directional vane members for directing the air flowing out through the outlet in a preferred direction.

8. A wet dust removal apparatus as claimed in claim 1 or claim 2 wherein the powered air induction means comprises an electric or hydraulic drive mechanism powering a fan, 15

9. A wet dust removal apparatus as claimed in claim 8 wherein, the fan is a multi-bladed fan.

10. A wet dust removal apparatus as claimed in claim 1 or claim 2 wherein the water spraying means comprises a plurality of water spray nozzles adapted to spray water droplets in the order of 100 microns in size. 20

11. A wet dust removal apparatus as claimed in claim 10 wherein the nozzles are connected to a manifold into which water is injected under pressure.

12. A wet dust removal apparatus as claimed in claim 1 or claim 2 wherein the water removal means comprises a mist eliminator fabricated from stainless steel or plastic filaments of various diameters and compositions. WO 2004/025081 PCT/AU2003/000624 15

13. A wet dust removal apparatus as claimed in claim 12 wherein the individual filaments are between 0.05 mm to 2.5 mm in diameter.

14. A wet dust removal apparatus as claimed in claim 12 wherein the filaments are between 0.25mm and 0.50mm in diameter. 5

15. A wet dust removal apparatus as claimed in claim 1 or claim 2 wherein the angle at which the water removal means is positioned in relation to the air flow is to optimize water removal.

16. A wet and dry dust removal apparatus as claimed in claim 3 or claim 4 wherein the cyclonic-vacuum means comprises a cyclone type vessel which 10 removes particles larger than 1.00 mm in size by centrifugal action and wherein smaller particles which do not conform to the physical forces are captured by the water spraying means.

17 A wet and dry dust removal apparatus as claimed in claim 3 or claim 4 wherein the suction passage comprises a shroud surrounding the drill 5is adapted to contain solid particles and dust, the shroud connected by a flexible corrugated hose to the inlet.

18. A wet and dry dust removal apparatus as claimed in claim 3 or claim 4 wherein the cyclonic vacuum means is electrically driven or is driven by an internal combustion engine, typically a small diesel engine. 20

19. A wet dust removal apparatus as herein described with reference to Figures la, lb, 1c, and 1d.

20. A wet and dry dust removal apparatus as herein described with reference to Figure 3.