Rolls-Royce has recently extended capability at its Distributed Generation Systems business in Winsford, Cheshire, by investing in a purpose built fine particle decontamination facility to clean-up military mobile power generators prior to overhaul. Diesel powered generator sets, often returning from harsh overseas environments, have to be disassembled and thoroughly cleaned of dust or fine particles before being completely stripped down and overhauled.
Repair and overhaul personnel, wearing air-fed masks, clean the trailer mounted units of dust by using a combination of air blasting and brushing. Recognising the need for an efficient and reliable method of removing the dust and fine airborne particulate during the cleaning process, Rolls-Royce called in extraction specialists, Dust Control Systems Ltd (DCS), to discuss their requirements.
Following a thorough assessment of Rolls-Royce’s needs, DCS proposed the installation of twelve environmental control booths (ECBs) located down each side of the decontamination area in two banks of six. In addition, a centralised vacuum cleaning system with extraction from any four of seven points would enable workers to deal with dust lying on the floor.
Specially designed to safely extract fine airborne dust, the ECB features a unique design that pulls dust filled air away from operatives at a rate of 0.7m/s, providing 99.97% filtration efficiency. With clean air moving at the same rate, this ‘cross flow’ method of air circulation eliminates the ‘stopping and starting’ caused by dust accumulation and poor visibility, keeping workers comfortable and increasing productivity.
Commenting on the project, Chris Oldfield of DCS said: ‘‘Because the filter units are modular in design we were able to design a self-contained working environment that fitted the room exactly. The installation provides powerful dust collection complete with lighting, sound proofing and ceramic infra red heating. Incorporating long-life Nanofibre filter media, the system achieves extremely high filtration efficiency with automatic reverse air pulse cleaning.”
Chris Goodwin, who is Works Director at the business, said: “It was vitally important that we had an extraction system that would ensure a healthy and safe environment for the team working in the area and also protect other workers outside the area from the nuisance of dust and noise. DCS designed and installed the plant to fit precisely into the available space providing an environment with clean air and excellent visibility for our team to work in.”