Pits and hoppers that receive bulk products have serious problems with dust emission, threatening the health of employees circulating in the area, creating conflicts with neighbors who are upset with dust in the air and just general pollution of the environment. All of these factors can lead to problems with local regulations and EPA inspectors that consequently lead to fines and legal costs.

There is an easy and effective solution for controlling dust emissions in receiving pits and hoppers. Mechanical DustControl baffles are metallic modules installed below the pit grate that utilize the product itself to filter the dust as it is being expelled from the pit.

The DustControl modules are only 15 to 20 inches deep (40-50 cm) with ducts that control the flow of the product into the pit, slightly slowing its velocity in order to maintain the ducts full of product. As the product is being unloaded, the modules first fill with product so that the dust-laden air being forced from the pit must pass through it. The product slows the velocity of the exiting air to the point that it can no longer carry the dust and it deposits the dust with the product. Essentially, the product is the dust filter.

A second advantage is that the air leaving the pit at a reduced velocity does not create an airstream that captures the dust above the pit and disperses it through the atmosphere, but by being slowed down, allows the dust generated above the grate to settle into the pit.

The DustControl baffles keep the dust with the product which reduces shrink, the weight loss that occurs when dust is separated from the product during transportation. One of our port facility clients calculated that this savings in shrink paid for the DustControl systems within a year.

If desired, modules can be manually cleaned between unloading. For feed mills that cannot mix their products and have frequent product changes, Wings offers a pneumatic clean-out system that facilitates this process.

The DustControl is completely automatic without operators, and also maintenance-free. The first Mechanical DustControl systems, installed in 2003, are still working today without maintenance. DustControl works with almost all flowable bulk products including corn, soy, sugar, rice and fertilizers.