According to Nederman UK, the project it carried out for kitchen, bathroom and bedroom producer Symphony encapsulates the key considerations when planning a woodworking sector extraction system.

“Of course the primary function is to handle sawdust and sanding dust safely and efficiently,” said the extraction specialist’s managing director, Mark Hodgens. “But it’s also crucial to maximise the waste’s economic value, the energy efficiency of the process, and look at how better technology can improve the working environment.”

In the case of Symphony’s Rotherham plant, Nederman designed and project managed installation of a Cyclofilter system, replacing a less efficient chain filter system.

“The benefits of Cyclofilters are that they offer very high dust load capacity, but take minimal floor space,” said Mr Hodgens. “Also, due to the lack of moving parts, they’re virtually maintenance free.”

An additional benefit was the introduction of an automatic return air system, helping to provide heating in winter and cooling in summer and cut energy bills.

“We also designed the system to keep wood and PVC waste in separate streams, making disposal easier,” said Mr Hodgens.

The installation and changeover from the old system, he added, was also managed to ensure minimum disruption to operations – as was a similar project Nederman undertook at Symphony’s Barnsley site.

“The system at Barnsley goes unnoticed, just gets on with its job,” said Paul Whitehouse, Symphony’s operations director. “For Rotherham, we wanted more of the same.”

Closing the dust loop

While Symphony turns its waste on site into fuel briquettes which it sells, at its Barnsley site it has a boiler to burn it, integrated with its Nederman extraction system. The latter is increasingly involved in this kind of ‘closed loop’ extraction system and has “some interesting projects coming up”.

It also advises customers how to access funding for such projects under the government’s Renewable Heat Initiative (RHI) grant scheme. Its tips are:

• Ask extraction providers for an initial cost benefit analysis of biomass [heating or combined heat and power] system installation.
• Be prepared to fund upfront costs, as RHI return on investment may be up to five years.
• Be an early adopter as RHI tariffs may be reduced later.
• Get expert advice on technical details from a specialist system provider as RHI administrator Ofgem will not help applicants.
• Be prepared for extensive interrogation by Ofgem on RHI eligibility.