Between the scorching heat in iron foundries and the staggering electrical currents used to power aluminum smelters, the primary metals industry is not for the faint of heart. While distinct, both processes create piles upon piles of dust and debris, many the size of your living room.
With tough, user-friendly designs, DuroVac industrial metal dust vacuum systems are built to work with you in the trenches — and offer significant cost savings on outsourced vacuum trucks. We also ensure you’re in compliance with our OSHA- and NFPA-compliant offerings.
Iron is the most abundant element on Earth by mass, making up about 80 percent of its inner and outer core.[1] Once miners extract the ore from very hard rock, they ship iron ore pellets by the crate-load to foundries like yours.
During the iron smelting process, molds made of refractory sand are heated to temperatures over 2000°F, radiating heat throughout the foundry.[2] When they’ve finally poured all the molten ore they can handle, the molds shatter into clouds of debris. Other metals and reagents — anything from lime to coal; nickel to palladium — are combined with the iron to make alloys, contributing yet more dust.
To outsiders looking in, foundries are sweltering infernos where molten ore spills from pool-sized vats and workers wade through heaps of dirt and dust. It pays to find good workers who can handle the heat, but plant managers need ways to cut expenses and keep everyone safe.
That’s where the DuroVac PowerLift and PowerLift Silica come in. With their ultra-tough, portable frames, these vacuums for metal shavings and silica dust are up to any task your plant throws at it.
The world’s primary source of aluminum is bauxite, which is mined throughout the world and later refined into white, powdery alumina.[3] When it gets to the smelter, alumina goes through the intensive (and expensive) process of electrolysis.
In the foundry, aluminum smelting pots often number in the hundreds, lined with refractory brick to receive massive pools of molten metal. To create aluminum, huge cathodes and anodes cast in carbon apply an electrical current of more than 350,000 amps.[4]
With colossal amounts of energy coursing through aluminum smelters at any given time, their ecosystem can be a little strange. Tools stand upright and smaller metal objects move around in the strong magnetic field. Workers have to navigate facilities filled with dirt and dust from smelting pots, cathodes and anodes, and the metals themselves.
A PowerLift aluminum dust vacuum by DuroVac lets you meet the mess head-on. Portable and hardy, it’s something workers can always trust in an unpredictable environment.
With a built-in hopper, top-of-the-line filtration and powerful suction, the PowerLift has everything you need in a forklift-portable industrial vacuum. It’s also highly configurable.
Click to learn moreDuroVac metal chip vacuum systems have helped plant managers cut down on calls for outsourced vacuum trucks, saving them staggering amounts of money in the process. Want to see an example?
The PowerLift® 40 industrial vacuum cleaner for metal chips helps facilities remove health and safety hazards and drastically reduces spending on vacuum trucks.
It’s past time for your operations to be within NFPA 652 compliance; DuroVac explains your responsibilities for dust hazard analysis. Click here for info.
Read Full ArticleDuroVac explains how companies have responded to the new OSHA fines for silica dust noncompliance. Click here for insights.
Read Full ArticleDuroVac’s OSHA silica compliance guide outlines how you can protect your employees from silica dust exposure. Click here to get more information.
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