ABRASIVE BLASTING CASE STUDY
PowerCore VH Series Collector is Smaller and Smarter than Existing Cartridge Collector
In 2005, a steel fabricator purchased a dust collector from an abrasive blast booth supplier because it was specifically designed to work with the abrasive blasting booth they had just purchased. It didn’t take long for the fabricator’s leaders to regret their decision.
The cartridge collector with 36 vertically hung cartridges created problems in little time. Over the life of the collector, the filters had to be replaced every two months due to leakage that caused the after-filters to plug and then blow-out. To make matters worse, the vertically-hung nature of the filters meant the filter replacement process required eight staff hours of very unpleasant labor. Those who had to perform the change-out had to reach deep into the dirty air plenum to get the back row of leaking filters out of the collector.
After contending with the collector for six years, leaders at the steel fabricator learned that Donaldson® Torit® had developed the PowerCore VH Series dust collector, which was designed for collecting the dust generated by abrasive blasting applications.
VH PowerCore for Abrasive Blasting
Longer Filter Life
A Donaldson Torit VH 2-12 was installed in May of 2011 and the filters have already lasted twice as long as those in the leaky, old cartridge collector. The pressure drop is low and has not shifted, which suggests these filters will continue to run for a long time. As for the after-filters, there have been no issues what-so-ever.
Easier Filter Replacement
Though the filters in the PowerCore VH collector have not yet needed to be changed, when the time does come, the filter replacement experience will be much shorter and much more pleasant. The filters on the PowerCore VH Series will slide out on a tray so there will be no need to reach into the dirty air plenum. In addition, since there are only 12 filters to change, instead of their original collector’s 36, time studies suggest the process should only take one staff hour vs. the eight hours required for the original collector.
Smaller
The original cartridge collector was shoehorned into a very tight space between the abrasive blast booth and a wall so the customer was very concerned about fitting the new VH Series into the tight space. As it turns out, the VH Series is two thirds the size of the old collector, and fit is no issue.
Smarter
Longer filter life, easier filter replacement, and a smaller collector make the Donaldson Torit PowerCore collector the smarter choice.