Mining Publication: Reducing Dust Exposure from Contaminated Work Clothing with a Stand-Alone Cleaning System
Original creation date: June 2008
A few years ago, the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health and Unimin Corporation developed a clothes cleaning system that is able to quickly, effectively, and safely remove dust from the clothing of a worker without dust exposure to the worker, the work environment, or co-workers during the cleaning process. To perform the process, a worker enters a cleaning booth and activates an air spray manifold which blows the dust from the clothing. Since the cleaning booth is under negative pressure, all the dust and product removed are contained. In the original design, this dust-laden air was exhausted to a dust collector system. However, since most operations do not have excess dust collector capacity, it was decided to determine an alternative method to provide for a stand-alone cleaning system. This was achieved by ducting the exhaust outside the plant and into the atmosphere. This technique was recently tested and shown to be a viable method to provide for a stand-alone clothes cleaning system.
Authors: AB Cecala, DE Pollock, JA Zimmer, AD O'Brien, WR Fox
Conference Paper - June 2008
NIOSHTIC2 Number: 20034611
Proceedings of the 12th U.S./North American Mine Ventilation Symposium, Reno, Nevada, June 9-11, 2008. Wallace, Jr. KG. ed., Reno, NV: University of Nevada - Reno, 2008; :637-643
See Also
- Clothes Cleaning Process
- Experimental Mine and Laboratory Dust Explosion Research at NIOSH
- Explosion Temperatures and Pressures of Metals and Other Elemental Dust Clouds
- Methane and Dust Control by Water Infusion: Pittsburgh Coalbed (Fairview, W. Va.)
- A New Method to Clean Dust from Soiled Work Clothes
- Overview of Dust Explosibility Characteristics
- Rapid (Grab) Sampling During Full-scale Explosions - Microscopic and Analytical Evaluation
- Reducing Respirable Dust Exposure of Workers Using an Improved Clothes Cleaning Process
- Respirable Dust
- Technology News 485 - Improved Cab Air Inlet Location Reduces Dust Levels and Air Filter Loading Rates
- Technology News 509 - A New Method to Clean Dust From Soiled Work Clothes
- Page last reviewed: 9/21/2012
- Page last updated: 9/21/2012
- Content source: National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health, Mining Program