Dust Collection

Where is the Humidity Coming From?

• Dew - when air temperature cools to a set point and creates “dew” on the surface 
• Rain - when the water bearing capacity of air becomes so saturated that the moisture physically drops out of the air

In a food processing facility, the two most common places you will see condensation are: 

• The heating/cooling stages in the process (specifically in the milling process) 
• Where the equipment goes through the roof and/or wall and the temperature is quite different in the two sides.

What will happen if I have frost or ice buildup in my processing facility? 

When a plant shuts down overnight or over the weekend, the hot air stays inside the case and starts to rapidly cools relative to the colder outside temp and causes dew.  If the temperature continues to cool it will create frost and ice. This is common on bucket elevator drums and conveyor rolls. 

When you go to start-up there could be belt slippage, which can be so bad that the motor over amps and shuts down. This can be even worse when ice fills the bearings, attaches to shafts or the product discharge area and causes much more serious process failures.

What do I do about extra moisture in my processing plant?

• During the Facility Design Process - When designing a food processing facility from scratch or expanding an existing production line: Are any spaces going to be heated?

• Rapidly remove high temperature and high moisture air from the plant as quickly as possible. You can use an air make-up unit to heat or cool the exhausted air lost back into the plant at roughly the internal ambient temperature. 

• Minimize the equipment transitioning between two different temperature zones (the roof and the walls). If you must send a piece of conveyance through, then consider insulating and/or heat-jacketing the portion of the conveyance that is in the colder area. This may cause some maintenance issues and start-up issues particularly on bucket elevators and conveyors when the plant       doesn’t run 24/7.

• After the Facility is Already Created – you’re noticing issues when the plant shuts down over the holidays or there’s a cold snap and now everything’s a little frosty. 

• Physical isolation - usually around heat treatment, roasting, and general conditioning activities. The best way to help minimize the moisture and heat transfer in product streams is a properly specified airlock. Put an airlock on inlet       and outlet of your conditioner and you help isolated air seepage into cooler pre and post product zones. You’ll need to consider the microbiological activity and how to manage product sticking to the vanes on the valve. The way we handle this is by using a quick-clean design on a sliding chassis. 

• Evacuate the air outside – depending on air volumes, this can be very costly to make that air back up. A filter or baghouse is your solution here. If it’s a high moisture environment, you’ll want to use hydrophobic filter bags.

For more information call us at 1-306-900-2045 or email sales@behstco.com