Reducing costs through dust control enhancements
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Cement manufacturing is an energy intensive process requiring thousands of tons of coal or other non-renewable resources to provide the heat necessary to fuel the process. Utilization of specific wastes as a strategy for energy recovery is a proven technology in cement manufacturing. The utilization of waste as a supplemental fuel requires kilns to meet or exceed stringent state and federal regulations that govern air emissions, requiring waste to also meet certain specifications. Waste burned in a cement kiln can provide 50% or more of the fuel necessary to fuel the cement making process. Most of the produced cement is primarily used in the construction industry for roads, highways, bridges, home and building foundations among other uses.
Bulk cement is shipped to ready-mix customers via barge, pneumatic tanker or rail hopper car throughout the country. During the offloading process, this material usually travels several hundred feet along conveyor belts that are housed inside unique enclosures and is then emptied into silos. During the process tons of material may fall from the conveyor or other points along the route onto the floor of the structure. Spilled cement must be cleaned out occasionally to allow maintenance to the system as well as to aid in meeting OSHA safety and environmental regulatory standards. Usually this is cleaned by employees using shovels and is labor intensive and time consuming. This generally involves the individuals shoveling the spilled material to a specific point where a vacuum truck is used to vacuum the material. The waste material is then transported to a landfill for disposal.
Spectrum Environmental provides a service which includes the installation of aluminum or PVC trunk lines allowing access to the conveyor belt areas. At that point a self-contained, up to 6,000 cfm, vacuum system equipped with a cyclonic separator is used to transfer the material directly into bulk pneumatic tankers. This is done under DUST-FREE conditions which aids in meeting stringent environmental regulations. This approach also allows customers to recycle material by putting it back into their system or transport material to a client for sale rather than transporting the material for landfill disposal. Instead of wasting this material, Spectrum is now able to aid their clients in reducing costs and securing additional revenues for their operation while eliminating the need to send waste to a landfill.
We are committed to helping our clients find sustainable solutions to their on-going operations that achieve corporate safety, environmental, and profitability objectives. If you have an industrial process that you think can benefit from these types of dust control enhancements, contact Spectrum Environmental today to learn more about how we can help with turning your costs into revenues and eliminating landfill waste!
