Dust Collectors Do The Trick For 21 Surface Grinders
The AMP facility in Lickdale, Pennsylvania, was established in 1997 in a 250,000-square foot building for the production of electrical and electronic connectors.
The AMP facility in Lickdale, Pennsylvania, was established in 1997 in a 250,000-square foot building for the production of electrical and electronic connectors. Three older AMP plants, including the 46-year-old Williamstown plant, Tower City and Logansville, were consolidated in this facility.
As the build-up in the Lickdale facility continued, a series of surface grinders was put to work, creating a considerable amount of steel grinding dust in the process. To solve this problem, a reliable production-type industrial dust collector was employed to handle the 5,200 cfm output of the surface grinders, and considerable duct work was required to help collect about 50 lbs of steel grinding dust monthly. AMP looked to Sternvent Co., Inc. (Bogota, New Jersey), a specialist in small to medium size industrial dust collectors (1,000 to 15,000 cfm), for help. Two Sternvent Sternpulse Model SPV12 cartridge filter dust collectors with 25 hp, high efficiency fans were installed, one new and one from the old Williamstown facility. The two identical dust collectors were placed side-by-side next to the new Lickdale plant. The 12 cartridge filters of each of the Sternpulse dust collectors are cleaned continuously with compressed air to allow uninterrupted operation, on a 24-hour basis, if necessary.
With a total of 21 surface grinders, it was necessary to develop a designed hood at each grinder. While some grinding machines have their own hood enclosures provided by the manufacturer, many of the machines required unique hooding. These hoods are not commodities available off-the-shelf, but truly designed for the exact application.
The Sternvent field representative, Jeff Pittenger of Effective Controls, worked with the mechanical contractor to design the hood for each machine that would provide maximum suction and dust collection. They used The Industrial Ventilation Manual as a guide in developing proper capture hoods. This "bible" of the dust collection and ventilation industry is published by The American Conference Of Governmental Industrial Hygienists.
AMP's maintenance supervisor, Vaughn Fenstermacher, thinks the clean air is important. "Given the recent growth at AMP-Lickdale and the addition here of three AMP facilities, we're proud to have been able to clean up the airborne grinding swarf, making our facility more employee-friendly than was previously the case in the Williamstown, City Tower and Loganville plants," he says.
