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Dust Control Handbook for Industrial Minerals Mining and Processing

Dust Control Handbook for Industrial Minerals Mining and Processing

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caused during manufacturing, including improper gluing <strong>and</strong> improper storage of empty bags,are just a few of the factors that can cause bag breakage. The location of the break has asignificant impact on the amount of dust liberated. Bags that break during filling tend to be moreviolently affected than those that break during ejection or conveying. In all cases, bag breakageliberates a substantial amount of dust <strong>and</strong> significantly impacts workers in these areas.Figure 6.2. Typical bag valve—interior view (left). Artist concept of fill nozzle <strong>and</strong> bagvalve (right). Fill nozzle enters through the bag valve <strong>and</strong> delivers product into bag.BAG CONSIDERATIONSA number of different factors ultimately impact the amount of dust generated or liberated frombags of product material: bag construction, bag per<strong>for</strong>ations, bag fill type, <strong>and</strong> the effects frombag failures.Bag ConstructionThe multi-wall pasted valve bag is by far the most common bag used <strong>for</strong> the packaging ofmineral products <strong>and</strong> is the only style discussed below. Many of the considerations discussed <strong>for</strong>pasted valve bags are also applicable to open-top bags.A very important element in controlling the amount of dust liberated during the bagging processis the design <strong>and</strong> construction of the paper bag itself. The composition of the paper, its porosity,the number of plies or layers used, the "basis weight/thickness" of the paper sheets whichprovides strength, the type of pasted valve, <strong>and</strong> the use of bag per<strong>for</strong>ations, are all factors thataffect <strong>and</strong> can minimize the amount of dust generated or liberated from the bag.One area of significant advances by bag manufacturers over the years has been the improvements<strong>and</strong> advances in "paper" technology [Kearns 2004]. Currently, conventional natural kraft (NK)paper, also known as flat kraft (FK) paper, is the industry st<strong>and</strong>ard. Normal constructions <strong>for</strong> 50 -to 100-pound bags are to use either three or four plies of NK paper. Due to the low porosity ofNK paper, meaning that air does not flow through the paper material, bag per<strong>for</strong>ations areBagging 159

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