Dust emission by powder handling: Influence of the hopper outlet on the dust plume

Dust generation in solids handling involving free fall of bulk materials and impacts on a stockpile can cause many problems in industry and be a great danger for operators health. This paper describes an experimental set up to characterize the dust plume formed in free fall of powders from a hopper and investigates the influence of various outlet geometries on the dust plume. For this purpose an image analysis technique was developed to quantify the characteristics of the dust plume.

Bulk material handling operations involving a falling stream of particles are very common in industry. In such cases, fine particles contained in the bulk material break away from the main flow and contaminate the ambient air. Such dust emissions can cause a number of problems such as dust explosions and can be hazardous to operators health.Figure optionsDownload as PowerPoint slideHighlights
► Characterization of a dust plume formed in free fall of powders from a hopper.
► Development of an image analysis method to measure width and concentration of the dust plume.
► Investigation of the influence of various outlet geometries of the hopper on the dust emission.