Dec. 3, 2015 OSHA cites Merit Construction Services after worker injured in fall at Milwaukee parking structure Employer name: Merit Construction Services Inc., Farmington, Minnesota. Citations recei
Full article: OSHA cites Merit Construction Services after worker injured in fall at Milwaukee parking structure
Source: OSHA News Release

NFPA 484 is the Standard for Combustible Metals. This standard applies to the production, processing, finishing, handling, recycling, storage, and use of all metals and alloys that are in a form that is capable of combustion or explosion, as well as to operations where metal or metal alloys are subjected to processing or finishing operations that produce combustible powder or dust. If your process involves aluminum, titanium, magnesium, zirconium, tantalum, and/or niobium, NFPA 484 pertains to you. In most instances a wet type dust collection system is preferred for rendering these combustible materials inert. There are no expensive filters to replace, no chemical isolation systems to re-charge. While dry filtration systems become less effective as their filters load with dust, orifice impingement wet systems do not.
There are two main types of wet-type dust collectors. The orifice / impingement design and the internal/venturi design. The O/I design utilizes a large cone-shaped orifice and an impingement plate that resides inside and on top of the cone. This creates an extremely efficient “scrub”. The scrub is where the dust entering the collector is mixed with water and sinks to the bottom of the collector and is the most important part of removing particulate. The process works best when the water surface to air ratio is highest within the scrub, thus making the most water to particulate contact. The O/I design does this most efficiently by removing 95% particulate down to 3 micron with just 3” of pressure drop.
Other emerging markets for wet collection include food processing and pharmaceutical industries. Wet dust collection systems are used very effectively when process dust is water soluble and biodegradable. The wet system effectively captures dust where it is thoroughly scrubbed out of the air, dissolves, then simply drains away. There is no combustion hazard. There no exposure to workers by contaminated filters and little down time wasted by filter changes. Processing this way is less expensive and reduces a company’s environmental impact by avoiding costly trips to the land-fill with dirty filters. We have seen a move in this direction just in the past year. More and more companies are beginning to see that these simple advantages add up to significant savings and public relations advantages over time.
Looking forward, companies are increasingly utilizing wet-type dust collection for unique applications that, we as a manufacturer, never considered. Recently a company had a process that created dust with a sticky residue. They were constantly replacing cartridge filters in their very large dry collection system. The ductwork required frequent cleaning and production needed to be halted during these maintenance operations. The process dust tested to be soluble and biodegradable and they are in the process of replacing a large dry cartridge dust collection system with a wet-type dust collection system. This solution will save the company hundreds of thousands of dollars in maintenance and production down-time in the coming years.
NFPA 484 is the Standard for Combustible Metals. This standard applies to the production, processing, finishing, handling, recycling, storage, and use of all metals and alloys that are in a form that is capable of combustion or explosion, as well as to operations where metal or metal alloys are subjected to processing or finishing operations that produce combustible powder or dust. If your process involves aluminum, titanium, magnesium, zirconium, tantalum, and/or niobium, NFPA 484 pertains to you. In most instances a wet type dust collection system is preferred for rendering these combustible materials inert. There are no expensive filters to replace, no chemical isolation systems to re-charge. While dry filtration systems become less effective as their filters load with dust, orifice impingement wet systems do not.
There are two main types of wet-type dust collectors. The orifice / impingement design and the internal/venturi design. The O/I design utilizes a large cone-shaped orifice and an impingement plate that resides inside and on top of the cone. This creates an extremely efficient “scrub”. The scrub is where the dust entering the collector is mixed with water and sinks to the bottom of the collector and is the most important part of removing particulate. The process works best when the water surface to air ratio is highest within the scrub, thus making the most water to particulate contact. The O/I design does this most efficiently by removing 95% particulate down to 3 micron with just 3” of pressure drop.
Other emerging markets for wet collection include food processing and pharmaceutical industries. Wet dust collection systems are used very effectively when process dust is water soluble and biodegradable. The wet system effectively captures dust where it is thoroughly scrubbed out of the air, dissolves, then simply drains away. There is no combustion hazard. There no exposure to workers by contaminated filters and little down time wasted by filter changes. Processing this way is less expensive and reduces a company’s environmental impact by avoiding costly trips to the land-fill with dirty filters. We have seen a move in this direction just in the past year. More and more companies are beginning to see that these simple advantages add up to significant savings and public relations advantages over time.
Looking forward, companies are increasingly utilizing wet-type dust collection for unique applications that, we as a manufacturer, never considered. Recently a company had a process that created dust with a sticky residue. They were constantly replacing cartridge filters in their very large dry collection system. The ductwork required frequent cleaning and production needed to be halted during these maintenance operations. The process dust tested to be soluble and biodegradable and they are in the process of replacing a large dry cartridge dust collection system with a wet-type dust collection system. This solution will save the company hundreds of thousands of dollars in maintenance and production down-time in the coming years.
NFPA 484 is the Standard for Combustible Metals. This standard applies to the production, processing, finishing, handling, recycling, storage, and use of all metals and alloys that are in a form that is capable of combustion or explosion, as well as to operations where metal or metal alloys are subjected to processing or finishing operations that produce combustible powder or dust. If your process involves aluminum, titanium, magnesium, zirconium, tantalum, and/or niobium, NFPA 484 pertains to you. In most instances a wet type dust collection system is preferred for rendering these combustible materials inert. There are no expensive filters to replace, no chemical isolation systems to re-charge. While dry filtration systems become less effective as their filters load with dust, orifice impingement wet systems do not.
There are two main types of wet-type dust collectors. The orifice / impingement design and the internal/venturi design. The O/I design utilizes a large cone-shaped orifice and an impingement plate that resides inside and on top of the cone. This creates an extremely efficient “scrub”. The scrub is where the dust entering the collector is mixed with water and sinks to the bottom of the collector and is the most important part of removing particulate. The process works best when the water surface to air ratio is highest within the scrub, thus making the most water to particulate contact. The O/I design does this most efficiently by removing 95% particulate down to 3 micron with just 3” of pressure drop.
Other emerging markets for wet collection include food processing and pharmaceutical industries. Wet dust collection systems are used very effectively when process dust is water soluble and biodegradable. The wet system effectively captures dust where it is thoroughly scrubbed out of the air, dissolves, then simply drains away. There is no combustion hazard. There no exposure to workers by contaminated filters and little down time wasted by filter changes. Processing this way is less expensive and reduces a company’s environmental impact by avoiding costly trips to the land-fill with dirty filters. We have seen a move in this direction just in the past year. More and more companies are beginning to see that these simple advantages add up to significant savings and public relations advantages over time.
Looking forward, companies are increasingly utilizing wet-type dust collection for unique applications that, we as a manufacturer, never considered. Recently a company had a process that created dust with a sticky residue. They were constantly replacing cartridge filters in their very large dry collection system. The ductwork required frequent cleaning and production needed to be halted during these maintenance operations. The process dust tested to be soluble and biodegradable and they are in the process of replacing a large dry cartridge dust collection system with a wet-type dust collection system. This solution will save the company hundreds of thousands of dollars in maintenance and production down-time in the coming years.
of all sizes. Most respondents to the UPS survey – conducted by IDC Manufacturing Insights – identified an average service response time of between two and three days. In this industry, that’s an eternity.

of all sizes. Most respondents to the UPS survey – conducted by IDC Manufacturing Insights – identified an average service response time of between two and three days. In this industry, that’s an eternity.