Industrial Vacuum Blog

If you’re following the combustible dust issue, you probably already know about John Astad and the Combustible Dust Policy Institute.  John developed this organization to call attention to the severity of the combustible dust issue affecting today’s industrial facilities. John’s website provides great up-to-date information, like:

• OSHA’s estimate of 30,000 at risk facilities is way off, since many smaller incidents go unreported…it’s more like 100,000.
• Dust-induced fires are precursors to explosions and need more attention
• Combustible dust task groups forming for upcoming rulemaking

Check it out http://dustexplosions.blogspot.com/

  Nilfisk CFM’s R Series: Increased Collection Capacity; Increased Savings 

June 9, 2009, Malvern, PA—The Nilfisk CFM R Series of industrial vacuums continuously and efficiently collects large quantities of packaging scraps at the source when integrated with cutting and other packaging equipment. In these applications, the vacuums’ unique scrap-compacting feature enables workers to double – and in some cases triple – collection capacity, dramatically reducing downtime.   Read the rest of this entry »

Nilfisk CFM is in this month’s Metal Finishing! Click here to read “When the Dust Settles: A Tutorial on Explosion-Proof Vacuums!  Nilfisk CFM in Metal Finishing

After decades of work-place explosions leading to hundreds of injuries and fatalities, combustible dust is finally a national headline that OSHA cannot ignore.   While there are still no laws regarding combustible dust procedures, the agency has made quite a bit of headway in outlining recommendations for prevention and conducting random audits of “at-risk” facilities. By now, if you are a plant manager that handles dry bulk solids, you should be bulking up your maintenance plan which may include an industrial vacuum purchase–but did you know that using the wrong vacuum can actually add to the risk of a combustible dust explosion? Read the rest of this entry »

It seems last week’s Coal Dust Explosion at a power plant in suburban Milwaukee, Wisconsin wasn’t “news” enough for major newspapers to cover in depth. But although there’s hardly a mention of it in mainstream media, a simple search on Google proves there’s quite a bit of outrage regarding the blast, expressed through blogs and online posts. Could it have been prevented? Was OSHA’s recent inspection of the plant adequate?  If they were using vacuums, were they explosion-proof? Check out what people are saying:

From “Inside Chemical Plant,” an oridnary chemical Engineers Blog.

Milwaukee Injury Board

Dust Explosions Public Relations Priorities