Static Charge ???

[dizzy]

Hi Guys,
Hope you can help me!!? Basically my job is to keep a machine from being dust free. The majority of the dust being made from paper. The machine is made from steel, all bearing etc are made from stainless steel, there is rubber belts and polycarbnate. The dust settles on the base of the machine, on steel plates and the polycarbnate. However the polycarbnate is antistatic, is this right? So first i have suceeded in containing the dust in certain areas, However the problem is still not sorted. I need to attract the dust and keep hold of it? how? Well what i thought was if i could apply static charge to a plastic rod within the machine, then assist it with a suction extraction from underneath then it may be sucessful So my query/question is what plastic works the best to attract the dust and what are the ways of giving it an static charge without rubbing a cloth to it??
Mnay thanks dizzy

[PinkertonD]

Welcome, and I suspect you mean

>> keep a machine from being dust free.

keep a machine dust free.

Unless you can enclose the machine in it's own small dust free room with fan forced circulation and filters, I do not like your chances waving plastic rods around.

The better idea would be to vacuum the dust at the source rather than letting it spread, airborne, to settle and go where it may. If there are slitting rollers then vacuum ducts over those will be a good start. You need to tell us where and why there is dust. Just saying it is from paper helps not at all.

[RWOLFEJR]

Might also try doing a search on the net for dust collectors and see what is already available out there. Might give you some ideas to incorporate into your specific application. I can imagine the light fuzz being generated from paper being easily picked up by vacuum as Dave suggested. Not sure how welcome any sort of charge might be around fine dust? Don't want to burn the place down...

[dizzy]

Thanks guys,

I cant really tell you alot more about the generated dust, just that it is made of paper or very thin card. We do use vacuum, however this does not work in large areas and as the dust is generated throughout the machine, i would need endless piping etc. Containing it is also very hard, although not impossible. However this can cause the the items to jam because of obstructions. But the containing areas that are made up of plastic, seem to really attract the dust. Just not all of it.

[PinkertonD]

Probably a little overkill, but if the dust is causing maintenance issues then maybe positive pressure ventilation and filtering may be the way to go. Spend now, save later. Do some research on HEPA ventilation systems and differential pressures.

[dizzy]

Thanks, will do