The Problem
The dust collector serving Plant 14’s foundry from the mid 1960’s had become a major maintenance issue due to general deterioration over the 28 years of its operation.
The filter itself was a shaker cleaned model and comprised 21 compartments, which was considered state of the art at the time of installation. Since these early days considerable progress has been made in filter designs. These improvements have included the development of superior filtration fabrics and cleaning methods and also the ease and safety of maintenance tasks.
Solution
Luehr Filter was awarded the contract and supplied their DFK model filter, designed initially for an exhaust volume of 781,200m3/hr but having the capacity to handle 1,170,000m3/hr when foundry’s 11 and 14 became fully operational. This made it one of the largest dust control filters installed at the time.
The filter is a compressed air pulse cleaned unit with "off -line" cleaning, which ensured that the required outlet emission level of 25mg/Nm3 was well exceeded. It incorporates the unique Luehr Filter horizontal flat bag arranged in fully isolatable compartments. Access to the filter bags is made from the access platforms via generous 1m x 3m doors running the full length of the clean air chambers. These features along with the compact design, tipped the contract in Luehr’s favor.
Result
The extensive package went on stream as scheduled allowing Holden's Engine Company to meet their ongoing environmental commitments without any loss in production.