The presence of grain dust in the air poses a serious risk, as it may lead to equipment damage, decrease productivity, and result in worker injuries. Managing grain dust is an essential procedure and a difficulty. The grain dust present in the air can result in an explosion as it is highly combustible; large grain facilities and grain storage areas are most susceptible to a fire or an explosion.

Four basic elements need to be present for the grain dust combustion to occur: 1) fuel – dust particles from barley, rice, and wheat, suspended in the air in a confined space; 2) oxygen – normal oxygen levels present in grain storage facilities; 3) confinement – any confined places at the grain loading and storage facilities, i.e. grain bins, basement tunnels, silos, enclosed conveyors; 4) ignition source – static electricity, cigarettes, lighters, friction, welding devices, lightning, etc.

Different types of grain have different minimum explosive concentrations of the dust that they produce, which is a measurement of the dust particle size and energy nature. For most grains, the critical level of dust concentration can be reached in a very short time. Maintenance of appropriate dust levels is an important issue for grain loading facilities.

Most grain explosions happen at grain transfer points, where the movement of grain releases dust, resulting in high concentrations of dust particles in the air. The dust can accumulate in leg boots and elevator legs, potentially causing an explosion.

To reduce the risk of grain dust explosion, levels of dust present in the air due to grain transportation and storage need to be monitored and controlled. Traditional baghouse dust collectors are easily clogged by the dust; moreover, baghouse dust collectors provide all of the necessary elements for combustion to happen. The majority of wet air scrubbers are not able to process the dough-like substance that occurs after the grain dust comes in contact with the cleaning liquid.

To solve this issue, Redwood Technology proposes Scroiler™ – a new type of wet air scrubber that is able to collect the grain dust efficiently without getting clogged. Scroiler™  produces the cleaning mist differently from other scrubber systems, which results in running costs that are much lower than for a common wet air scrubber. Polluted gas passes through the dispersing grille upwards to produce a spatial field of multiple gas microturbulence vortices. Cleaning liquid falls free over this gas field. Microturbulence disperses liquid to the “fluidized bed” which forms a highly effective cleaning mist.

If you are interested in Scroiler™, please contact us at info@optromix.com