Powder coating is a dry finishing process that sprays finely ground electrostatically charged particles of pigment and resin onto grounded parts. These particles stick to the parts until they are melted and fused into a coating in a curing oven. This process is suitable for various materials including metals, plastic, glass and medium density fibreboard.
When these powders are inhaled, they can cause health issues including occupational asthma, skin irritation and skin sensitisation. Some pigments in the pigment and curing agents used in the powders are considered toxic, such as triglycidyl isocyanurate, tri-mellitic anhydride and lead chromate-based pigments.
Powder coating products are classified as ‘substances hazardous to health’ as they are small enough to be considered as breathable dusts. Ten percent of powder coating products are respirable which is too fine to see, and when inhaled can lodge deep into the lungs during normal breathing.
Some powder coating dusts are known to be combustible, and when this dust is emitted into the air can cause fire and damage. Should this dust come into contact with oxygen and an ignition source, it will cause an explosion creating damage to property, equipment and more devastatingly cause harm to employees. Putting into place an efficient dust extraction plan is needed, and dust collectors will be required on the workshop floor to collect emitted dust, and protect employees.
Envirox dust collectors suitable for powder coating
Envirox, supplier of Nederman dust collectors, understands the importance of keeping employees safe when working with hazardous dusts and fumes. Envirox supplies dust collectors for various applications, including powder coating, such as:
- The Nederman MCP SmartFilter is a multi-purpose dust filtration system suitable for applications that expel general dust. It can also be customised to client specifications with up to airflow demands of up to 28 000 m3/h. This dust collector can be used as a standalone unit, or as multi-filter solution and is suitable for both indoor and outdoor usage.
- The Nederman MJC Mini Ex is used for light to medium volumes of dry dust and developed for continuous use in industrial process filtration and dust collection applications. It is also suitable to be used with chemical, plastics and pharmaceutical powders. The MJC Mini Ex is Atex certified for explosive dusts St1, St2 and St3
- The Nederman LCP dust collector is perfect for corrosive dust applications and includes the option of cartridge media types suitable for most applications. The units have integral pre-separation chambers which increases the dust load capacity and decreases the load on the filter cartridges. It is suitable for continuous use, and includes on-line high, efficiency pulse jet cleaning. It is Atex certified for explosive dusts St1, St2 and St3.
