The Spark Cooler was recently applied with great success in an extremely high spark environment:  seamless pipe manufacturing. The end-user’s challenge was to extract a high volume of dust from an extremely spark-intensive process and do so in an extremely limited distance. The customer’s Donaldson Torit rep worked with them to design a system which included several Spark Coolers in line, and an extinguishing system from a leading manufacturer. The system went live in November, is working very well, and, most importantly, the facility’s air quality is dramatically improved.

These pictures speak for themselves.

Before & After

Spark Cooler in an extreme-spark environment

This is a great example of what we see regularly:  the Spark Cooler used in concert with a fire suppression system.

Spark Cooler alongside a suppression system

While, in our opinion, a spark mitigation device never should  be used as a standalone device when explosion or life safety are even remotely possible, it is nonetheless prudent to use a Spark Cooler alongside a fire suppression system. Although it’s not apparent in the photos, every Spark Cooler in this installation was in a duct with a suppression system downstream from the Spark Cooler. The reason for having both is that, in many applications, the benefit of reducing the number of  fire events that trigger a spark suppression system (i.e., minimizing downtime,  cleanup, accident investigations, recalibration, etc.), far outweighs the cost of the Spark Cooler. We have close relationships with experts in the fire suppression industry and are happy to make introductions to assist in assessment and design.

The costs of adding higher pressure drop spark reduction devices to a filtration system are often overlooked, and those costs – both in dollars and in energy – are significant. Our team spent some time recently comparing these costs, and brought Jonathan Hale¹ – one of the industry’s top authorities on industrial ventilation and combustible dust – into the discussion. Assuming that the cost and disruption of dust collector fires are unacceptable, starting with a baseline cost involved in using the lowest pressure drop tool available, the Spark Cooler, we can detail the additional costs associated with various other spark reduction tools. The bottom line is that higher pressure drop devices increase operating costs from between 83% to over 367% and the devices that can be effective require at least twice the energy. Here is the analysis.

COSTS

                                   INPUTS

                                   CFM                                             10,000                                               Operating Days/year           261         

                                   Hrs/Day                                       12                                                       $/kWh                                    $0.10

                                   Life Cycle Years                          20

Any restriction to the airflow in a duct will incur a higher static pressure drop and a related higher brake horsepower required of the fan motor. This higher BHP results in added energy being used to power the fan. The fan horsepower equation (HP= ((CFM x PD(in. wg)))/(6356 x Fan efficiency)) is used to determine the additional HP required.

CONCLUSION

There are a range of spark mitigation tools available and energy costs should be part of the decision process in selecting the appropriate solution for a given application. Some devices are marginally effective and have relatively high pressure loss – in other words, they don’t work as well and they cost more to operate – ouch. Some are more effective, but involve performance penalties, one of which is higher operating expenses. Many of these trade offs can be quantified and all should be factored into the cost-benefit analysis. Most customers we hear from are looking for a highly effective spark reduction device that minimizes the pressure loss penalty needed to deliver it, and we believe the best tools are designed to find that sweet spot.

We’re happy to assist with the analysis of your specific systems. Please feel free to contact us for assistance in calculating your system’s energy costs or other performance analysis.

Perhaps more importantly, we have seen firsthand that Donaldson is intent on delivering performance. The product and engineering teams work closely together to put the right products and solutions in the right process applications. This is a great fit for us here, as we have always been conservative in applying the Spark Cooler. We’ve found the Donaldson team to be extremely professional and easy to work with as well, so we’re writing this, for what it’s worth, to endorse both their products and the company. At the risk of turning this into a brochure, we thought we’d include some company and product information. See below.

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Donaldson Torit Public Website: http://www2.donaldson.com/torit/en-us/pages/default.aspx

Torit PowerCore TG Series Product Page: http://www2.donaldson.com/torit/en-us/Pages/Products/ToritPowerCoreTGSeriesDustCollectors.aspx

PowerCoreTG Series text from their website: The Torit PowerCore TG Series designed for thermally generated dust is reshaping the future of dust and fume collection technology. Torit PowerCore TG is in a category by itself with a footprint up to 65% smaller than most cartridge collectors and smarter technology housed in the widest range of completely packaged and assembled units available up to 10,000 cfm. Torit PowerCore TG is the new way to get cleaner air in welding, laser cutting, plasma cutting, and thermal spray applications. Torit PowerCore TG collectors’ strong and sleek all-welded housing is the ideal fit as a stand-alone on the plant floor or integrated into an OEM design. Factor in the energy saver package, quiet motor and smart controls specifically designed for metalworking, and the choice is clear. Torit PowerCore TG is the best combination of footprint, appearance and performance.

Over the years, some have asked us, isn’t this just your static air mixer packaged differently? The answer is that the design of the Spark Cooler is different, and involves a modification of the blade configuration and proprietary sizing that is specific to each size of Spark Cooler.  While our 40 years of experience in engineering, designing and manufacturing equipment to condition air for temperature, velocity, humidity and other profiling, for a wide range of industrial processes, gave us the working knowledge that allowed us to eliminate some designs that make sense on  paper, the Spark Cooler is a unique design. An example of this is that we quickly dismissed the “jet turbine” blade configuration we had used in other applications, knowing that the associated pressure loss outweighed the performance it delivered.

We believe the Spark Cooler achieves the sweet spot of performance to functionally address the persistent problem of sparks in metal dust process application. It is not a spark trap that promises 100% eradication of sparks, but, applied correctly it can dramatically reduce spark counts and the resulting fire events, and it does so with minimal negative performance and operating trade offs.

If you would like to see the Spark Cooler on display, it will be part of a Miler Electric equipment setup at the AirGas booth (#6146), so stop by there, or stop by the Donaldson Torit booth (#5322) to pick up a brochure. Our friends at both Miller (#5950 + #6154) and Donaldson Torit can provide good insight into the Spark Cooler from a 3^rd party, and have great technical insight generally.  

If you’re looking for a good restaurant, one of our guys used to live in Chicago and recommended the food at the Rosebud restaurant on Taylor in Little Italy – http://www.rosebudrestaurants.com/rest1.php .

Happy travels to all who will be attending.

The Problem      MIG and TIG welding, laser cutting, plasma cutting, grinding, and thermal spray processes generate dust, fume and sparks. Because these must be collected for both indoor and environmental air quality, and combustible dust control purposes, these particles and fumes are filtered or collected in collection systems. These hot and, or, burning particles are not benign; the spark particles are conveyed in the gas stream, and can damage or destroy cartridges and filters, duct and arms, and even dust collectors and fume extractors themselves.

Common Remedies        Over the years, a number of devices have been used to reduce or entirely suppress sparks in metal processing applications. These devices range from those devised in house, such as hanging chains in the gas stream, directing the gas stream over water buckets or drums, baffle plates or improvised dropout boxes. Commercial alternatives include professionally engineered and fabricated baffle plates, drop out boxes, cyclone collectors, the Spark Cooler[1], and fire suppression systems. Below is our assessment of the various categories and alternatives, in increasing order of cost.

“HOME REMEDIES”       

DROP OUT BOXES/BAFFLE BOXES – commercial              

SPARK COOLER              

CYCLONE COLLECTORS

FIRE EXTINGUISHING SYSTEMS    

We hope this has been useful. The thoughts above are based on direct feedback from the field, engineering analyses, and our personal experience on the production floor. If you have questions or input, please comment here, visit our website http://www.sparkcooler.com/, or, better yet, give us a call at 800.523.5705. We answer application questions every day, and always benefit by working through real-world issues with manufacturers.