We create dry fog. Our technology uses air atomizing nozzles that produce water droplets 10 micron or less. These ultra-fine water droplets add less than 0.1 percent of moisture by weight and attach to like size dust particles and drop them back into the process.
DSI Dry Fog systems are designed and engineered to effectively reduce fugitive dust at material handling points.
The use of Dry Fog for dust suppression is based on the concept of agglomeration. Dry Fog technology uses compressed air and plain water to create micron sized droplets. When like-sized droplets and dust particles collide, agglomeration occurs which results in larger particles that fall back into the process by gravity because they are too heavy to remain suspended in the air.
To achieve agglomeration at the dust source, equal amounts of like sized particles of water droplets and dust particles must exist and they must be contained in an enclosed area.
At the treatment point, fog droplets are used to blanket the dust source and prevent the dust particles from becoming airborne.
We excel in designing solutions in challenging environments. The type of application, type of bulk material creating dust, and operating environments are considered when customizing your system.
DSI Dry Fog systems allow for flexible configuration with pre-assembled modular components. Housed in protective enclosures, we supply complete systems comprised of electrical controls, filtration, flow regulation, supply lines and nozzle mounts. If required, DSI can supply all necessary ancillary items including air compressors, air receiver stations, pumps, and self-cleaning secondary filtration systems.
Our Dry Fog systems significantly reduce fugitive dust from a variety of material handling points, including conveyor transfer points, trippers, reclaimers, crushers, screens, truck dumps, railcar loading/unloading, ship loaders-unloaders, and ash silo discharge chutes. Our systems can meet all requirements for explosion hazard areas. Freeze protection can be provided for systems operating in temperatures as low as -60 degrees C.
Ease of installation, simplified maintenance, and flexible system configuration are just a few advantages of using Dry Fog to suppress dust. The overall capital investment and operating costs can be more affordable than the cost of ventilation and chemical type systems.
Other technologies can’t compete. Dry Fog excels as the most effective, safe and economic method of dust suppression in heavy industrial applications.
Water consumption for cannons is measured in gallons per minute ranging from 12 to 30 GPM versus Dry Fog systems which measure nozzle water usage in gallons per hour at 3-13 GPH. Using significantly higher water consumption can lead to BTU loss for fuels, material wetting issues, unstable loads for ships and slip and fall hazards. Water cannons are not able to achieve the level of dust suppression (0 to 10 um) of Dry Fog or suppress respirable dust due to droplet size.
Dust collection systems, commonly referred to as baghouses, remove particulates from the air during industrial processes for large applications. A significant capital investment is required to install a dust collection system which includes infrastructure and duct work in addition to ongoing maintenance to keep moving parts, motors and fans operating at maximum operational efficiency. And while effective, dust collection systems often achieve similar results to other technologies such as Dry Fog at a costlier price point. A cost comparison report submitted to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency estimates that the cost to purchase, operate, and maintain dust collection systems is 4 time more than dry fog systems.
Chemical dust suppression systems use chemical surfactant in an attempt to bind dust particles together or break up the surface tension of the water, increasing its ability to penetrate the conveyed material. After installation, chemical systems require long term expenditures on chemicals to operate the system and also require administrative and safety management for chemical transportation, storage and record keeping (MSDS). Similar to other spray systems, chemical systems wet the material which has the potential to affect BUT value for fuel sources and wet the equipment which can lead to further maintenance requirements.
