Why You Need the Right Dust Extractors for Silica Dust
Silica dust is a natural substance that is a by-product of working with raw materials such as stone, sand and clay. Silica dust is the substance that causes silicosis, specifically caused by the inhalation of respirable crystalline silica (RCS).
A risk and occurrence are still relevant to the quarry and construction industries today, extraction systems are a priority for companies who handle these materials for the safety of their workers in the future.
What Effect Can Silica Dust Have on Your Health?
RCS is a fine dust that can deteriorate a person’s lungs over time. Breathing the dust in can result in the hardening & scarring of the lung tissue, weakening the lungs to be vulnerable to ongoing breathing issues.
Like with pneumoconiosis diseases these health deteriorations are not apparent initially, taking at least 10 years to develop; many will not realise the development before it’s too late. The symptoms typically show themselves 10+ years after the exposure, but any lung damage before that stage can still be seen on an x-ray.
Exposure to silica dust can result in the following:
- Frequent chest infections,
- Severe breathlessness,
- Ongoing coughing,
- Chronic disability,
- Increase risk of lung cancer.
Which Industries Generate Silica Dusts?
For any industry that handles stone, sand and clay, there is an exposure risk to silica. This silica can be found in the following industries:
- Construction & Demolition,
- Quarrying,
- Slate Mining,
- Pottery & ceramics,
- Foundries,
- Concrete manufacturing,
- Masonry architecture,
- Abrasive blasting.
Any grinding, cutting, sanding, blasting, polishing and fettling these natural materials risks exposure to the workers.
Which Materials Generate Silica Dusts?
Considering the variety of stone and clay used across industries, it is always worth being aware of which materials produce the most concentrated volumes of silica dust compared to those on the lower end of the scale.
Types of Stone | Percentage of Silica |
Sandstone, Gritstone, Quartzite | Above 70% |
Concrete & Mortar | 25% - 70% |
Shale | 40% - 60% |
China Stone | Up to 50% |
Slate | 20% - 40% |
Brick | Up to 30% |
Granite | 20% - 45% (typically 30%) |
Ironstone | Up to 15% |
Basalt & Dolerite | Up to 5% |
Limestone & Chalk | Up to 5% (typically 2%) |
Marble | Up to 5% (but does contain high concentration layers of crystalline silica) |
This highlights the importance of extraction systems in industries that handle substances like sandstone and concrete, but it is still crucial for materials with low levels of silica.
Don’t Forget: Although some dusts from these raw materials would be a lower risk for silicosis, any dust is a potential health and safety risk. Dust can affect the health of individuals in different ways, plus the potential risk of being combustible.
Having a capable dust extraction that removes all these risks should be your goal.
What Level of Dust Extraction Is Required?
When applying the protective measures needed to ensure minimal risk to your workers, the factors to consider when purchasing your extraction unit/system are:
- Dust Source - Does the process that produces dust occur in an enclosed or open area?
- Capacity - Does the extractor have a large enough filter area required to handle the volume of dust?
- Type of Dust – Do you need an extractor capable of handling dust at risk of self-igniting?
- Maintenance – Would a self-cleaning extractor with an automatic shaker cycle be more suitable for you?
As a continuation of looking into HSE’s work-related lung disease awareness campaign to highlight the importance of dust extraction systems, silica dust is still relevant in the industry. Unlike other pneumoconiosis diseases where the inhaled substance of cause is no longer used (like asbestos), silica dust is still frequently produced, so still at risk of resulting in more cases of silicosis in the future.
With the proper awareness, the correct extraction systems can be installed, and we can supply them to you.
Our dust extraction range includes new & used dust extractors of various sizes and capacities; check out our full range today.
Process Plant and Equipment Fume Control plant & equipment
Fume Control plant & equipment extracts fumes via lip hoods at tank flange level, into a plenum chamber and onwards through riser ducts into a header manifold running at high level at the rear of the plant.
- Stock No
- BOT400
- Category
- Fume Extraction Fans & Scrubbers
- Model
- Process Plant and Equipment
- Year of Manufacture
- 2000
- Other Info
- Capacity 9.23 m3/sec (19,557 cfm)
- Condition
- From a working environment, Good Condition
- Location
- Bude, Cornwall, UK
- Direct Site Clearance Price [?]
- £ Login or Register for price.
- Part of a Direct Site Clearance
- Fume Control Plant
Carter Environmental Model 170 EHA-B with Self Contained
Carter Environmental Model 170 EHA-B with Self Contained Centrifugal Extraction Fan
- Stock No
- EA1804S
- Category
- Wet Dust Filters
- Model
- Carter Environmental 170 EHA-B
- Year of Manufacture
- March 2018
- Approx Duty CFM / M³/Hr
- 10000 // 17000M3
- Condition
- From a working environment, Good Condition
- Location
- Rolls Royce stores, near Derby, UK
Carter Environmental Model 170 EHA- A with Self Contained Centrifugal Extraction Fan
Carter Environmental Model 170 EHA- A with Self Contained Centrifugal Extraction Fan
- Stock No
- EA1805S
- Category
- Wet Dust Filters
- Model
- Carter Environmental 170 EHA - A
- Year of Manufacture
- Ref. 2015
- Approx Duty CFM / M³/Hr
- 10000 // 17000M3
- Condition
- From a working environment, Good Condition
- Location
- Rolls Royce stores, near Derby, UK
Pura 2000 Clean Air Work Station
Pura's 2000 line of Horizontal Laminar Flow Clean Air Work Stations are engineered to enhance the performance of the cabinet and the overall airflow efficiency of the cleanroom.
Filtex FX294 Configured For Oil Mist plus Air Streams with Debris
This second hand FX 294 H 5.5 kW extraction unit is currently set up for oil mist extraction and comes without a shaker motor.
- Stock No
- EB1909
- Category
- Wet Dust Filters
- Model
- Filtex FX294 VH
- Year of Manufacture
- 2016
- Approx Duty CFM / M³/Hr
- 2000 // 3500 ( see chart )
- Filter Area ft² / m²
- 294 // 27.30m2
- Other Info
- Set up for Oil Mist + Debris Extraction
- Condition
- Good Condition, Seen powered at RSW
- Sold As Seen Price [?]
- £ Login or Register for price.
Vokes ScandMist Oil Mist Air Filter Unit
A heavy duty industrial air cleaner for effectively separating oil mists, oil fumes and emulsion mists during continuous operations. There are three filter stages with differential pressure gauges at each step.
- Stock No
- EB1971
- Category
- Fume Extraction Fans & Scrubbers
- Model
- Vokes ScandMist MA100D
- Year of Manufacture
- 2010
- Approx Duty CFM / M³/Hr
- 590 CFM // 1000m3/Hr
- Other Info
- 1.1kW motor : Pressure 2100Pa inlet 200Ø
- Condition
- From a working environment, Current Model
- Refurbished Price [?]
- £ Login or Register for price.
- Sold As Seen Price [?]
- £ Login or Register for price.
Nederman Filtac OMF 2000M Oil Mist Air Filter Unit
A heavy duty industrial air cleaner for effectively separating oil mists, oil fumes and emulsion mists during continuous operations. There are three filter stages with differential pressure gauges at each step. The first filter is washable, which reduces the operating costs (Dependant on the filter).
- Stock No
- EB1972
- Category
- Fume Extraction Fans & Scrubbers
- Model
- Nederman OMF 2000M
- Year of Manufacture
- 2014
- Approx Duty CFM / M³/Hr
- 1175 // 2000M3/Hr
- Filter Area ft² / m²
- 3 Stage Filters
- Other Info
- 2.2kW / 3Hp Fan Motor
- Condition
- From a working environment, Excellent Condition
- Sold As Seen Price [?]
- £ Login or Register for price.
Vokes - Air ScandDust Dry Dust and Smoke Air Filter Unit SDM60
A dust collector that is designed to separate dry dust, powder and smoke in different industrial applications. Comes with a built in reverse pulse jet filter cleaning system, integral fan and dust collection bucket. Hepa after filters are connected to the clean air exit ducting.
- Stock No
- EB1977
- Category
- Dry Dust Filters
- Model
- Vokes SDM 60
- Year of Manufacture
- 2011
- Approx Duty CFM / M³/Hr
- 2354 // 4000M3/hr
- Filter Area ft² / m²
- 650 // 60M2
- Other Info
- 4 Cartridge Filters / inlet 295mmØ
- Condition
- From a working environment, Good Condition
- Refurbished Price [?]
- £ Login or Register for price.
- Sold As Seen Price [?]
- £ Login or Register for price.
Nederman Filtac OMF 1000M Oil Mist Air Filter Unit
A heavy duty industrial air cleaner for effectively separating oil mists, oil fumes and emulsion mists during continuous operations. There are three filter stages with differential pressure gauges at each step. The first filter is washable, which reduces operating costs (Dependant on filter).
- Stock No
- EB1978
- Category
- Fume Extraction Fans & Scrubbers
- Model
- Nederman Filtac OMF 1000M
- Year of Manufacture
- 2014
- Approx Duty CFM / M³/Hr
- 590/1000
- Filter Area ft² / m²
- 2 stage filters
- Other Info
- 1.1kW / 1.5Hp Fan Motor
- Condition
- From a working environment, Good Condition, Current Model
- Sold As Seen Price [?]
- £ Login or Register for price.
Vokes - Air ScandDust Dry Dust and Smoke Air Filter Unit SMD90
A dust collector that is designed to separate dry dust, powder and smoke in different industrial applications. Comes with a built in reverse pulse jet filter cleaning system, integral fan and dust collection bucket. Hepa after filters are connected to the clean air exit ducting.
- Stock No
- EB1979
- Category
- Dry Dust Filters
- Model
- Vokes SDM90
- Year of Manufacture
- 2011
- Approx Duty CFM / M³/Hr
- 3531//6000
- Filter Area ft² / m²
- 970 // 90M2
- Other Info
- 6 Cartridge Filters //inlet 295 Ø
- Condition
- From a working environment, Excellent Condition, Current Model
- Refurbished Price [?]
- £ Login or Register for price.
Mann Hummel ScandMist D Series Oil Mist Air Filter Unit
ScandMist units manage the oil mist emissions from production facilities such as CNC machine shops and are particularly popular in high-volume manufacturing environments. These modular high capacity systems are designed to operate as a single unit or can be linked together to increase the capacity with a common inlet and outlet.
- Stock No
- EB1982
- Category
- Fume Extraction Fans & Scrubbers
- Model
- Mann Hummel ScandMist 350D OMF
- Approx Duty CFM / M³/Hr
- 3570 // 6000M3/Hr
- Other Info
- 2 coalescing stages : 11kW
- Condition
- From a working environment, Good Condition
- Sold As Seen Price [?]
- £ Login or Register for price.
Mann Hummel ScandMist D Series Oil Mist Air Filter Unit
ScandMist units manage the oil mist emissions from production facilities such as CNC machine shops and are particularly popular in high-volume manufacturing environments. These modular high capacity systems are designed to operate as a single unit or can be linked together to increase the capacity with a common inlet and outlet.
- Stock No
- EB1983
- Category
- Fume Extraction Fans & Scrubbers
- Model
- Mann Hummel ScandMist 350D OMF
- Approx Duty CFM / M³/Hr
- 3570 // 6000M3/Hr
- Other Info
- 2 coalescing stages : 11kW
- Condition
- From a working environment, Good Condition
- Sold As Seen Price [?]
- £ Login or Register for price.
Vokes Oil Mist Air Filter Unit
A heavy duty industrial air cleaner for effectively separating oil mists, oil fumes and emulsion mists during continuous operations. There are three filter stages with differential pressure gauges at each step. The first filter is washable, which reduces operating costs.
- Stock No
- EB1984
- Category
- Fume Extraction Fans & Scrubbers
- Model
- Vokes Scand-mist MA400D
- Year of Manufacture
- 2013
- Approx Duty CFM / M³/Hr
- 2354/4000
- Other Info
- Inlet Ø300mm : 7.5 Kw
- Condition
- From a working environment, Excellent Condition, Current Model
- Refurbished Price [?]
- £ Login or Register for price.
- Sold As Seen Price [?]
- £ Login or Register for price.
Nederman Auto Z90 2014 11kW
Auto M-Z90 Baghouse dust collectors with shaker cleaning (No Starter). Designed for intermittent use and suitable for various applications that generate light to medium volumes of dry dust.
- Stock No
- EB2015
- Category
- Dry Dust Filters
- Model
- Nederman Auto Z90
- Year of Manufacture
- 2014
- Approx Duty CFM / M³/Hr
- Approx. 7000 // 12000
- Filter Area ft² / m²
- 970ft2 // 90M2
- Condition
- From a working environment, Good Condition, Current Model
- Refurbished Price [?]
- £ Login or Register for price.
- Sold As Seen Price [?]
- £ Login or Register for price.
Dust Extraction Int Ltd Model 25M - 4kW 5.5 Hp Dust Extractor
This second hand 25M is compact versatile and robust self-contained auto-shake clean filter using 12 internal bags and roof mounted multi vee-pocket after filters.
- Stock No
- EC2032
- Category
- Dry Dust Filters
- Model
- Dust Extraction Int Ltd 25M
- Year of Manufacture
- 08 2003
- Approx Duty CFM / M³/Hr
- 1500 - 2500
- Filter Area ft² / m²
- 250 - 25
- Other Info
- Filter shaker bag extractor
- Condition
- From a working environment, Excellent Condition
- Refurbished Price [?]
- £ Login or Register for price.
- Sold As Seen Price [?]
- £ Login or Register for price.
Machines & equipment for sale
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- Shot Blasting
- Dust & Fume Extraction
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- Rectifiers & Transformers
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