Dust Pollution Systems has installed a single extraction filter to deal with waste across Thorogood Timber’s four milling facilities.
Previously Thorogood had separate exterior filter extraction systems to deal with waste from two of its mouldings lines, and bag systems for the others on its Ardleigh, Essex site. However, the former, which fed wood waste into trailers, suffered frequent blockages, while the bag systems had to be frequently emptied at peak production times.
The solution from DPS is one chain filter system to service the various units, allowing them to operate simultaneously, or in any combination.
To achieve this level of flexibility, each milling shop was equipped with its own fans, with outputs from 10-50hp, giving a combined total of 120hp. All the units were wired to a central control, so they can be operated together, but with the option of control from each milling location. DPS installed the equipment and some associated new ducting over several Fridays, to minimise disruption to output, while the old technology continued to operate.
Most of the old ducting was built into the system and the process of linking this to the new equipment took just a “matter of minutes”, according to DPS.
Wood waste at Thorogood is still loaded into trailers, but now via a closed loop system. The space saved over the old extraction machinery also means the trailers can be brought into the milling facility for a “neater appearance”.
Thorogood’s production director Trevor Thorogood said the whole installation was virtually trouble-free.
“We knew it was going to be traumatic, but DPS did not make it unnecessarily so,” he said. “For instance, one evening to complete the installation leg, their engineers worked [in the dark] with helmet lights. There was only one slight glitch, which was quickly remedied, in an otherwise exemplary installation.”
