Dust Control Handbook for Industrial Minerals Mining and Processing

warehouse location until a later time when they are then loaded into a transportation vehicle. Asthese forklifts and/or tow motors move around plant and warehouse locations, they can stir upsignificant amounts of dust if floors are not kept in a clean condition. The two most commonfloor cleaning techniques in mineral processing plants are washing with water and/or through theuse of floor cleaning units.To serve as an effective cleaning technique, hosing down floors with water needs to be built intothe structure right from the beginning. Floors need to be sloped toward floor drains to be trulyeffective and to minimize the amount of standing water. Typically, hosing down floors, needs tooccur on a shift-by-shift basis to be effective.For floor cleaner units, there are many different manufacturers and companies that produce andsell a vast array of different types of units. These units vary from one that an individual rides tosmaller units that an individual walks behind. One area that should be closely investigated is thedisposal of the contaminated material once it has been collected. It would be counter-productiveif the units were very efficient during the floor cleaning process but contaminated employees asthe floor cleaning units were being cleaned or during disposal of the accumulated material. Formore information on floor cleaning units, refer to "Housekeeping Practices" in Chapter 8—Controls for Secondary Sources.ENCLOSING DUST-LADEN AREAS WITH PLASTIC STRIPPINGAND USING AN LEV SYSTEMMany of the different dust control techniques discussed in the chapter for bagging and palletizingoperations can be further improved by enclosing the dust-laden air zone with clear plasticstripping and using an LEV system to capture and remove the dust. This "enclose and capture"technique has a number of benefits. The plastic stripping contains the dust within the job processand minimizes the possibility of it being liberated throughout the entire plant. It also provides avisual indication for the plant personnel of the boundary of the dust-laden air zone. Workersknow not to enter the dust-laden air zone while the job processes or functions are operating.Another benefit of the boundary area created by the plastic stripping is that it allows the LEVsystem to perform more effectively. Since the capture efficiency of exhaust ventilation systemsin an open environment is not very efficient, the plastic stripping barrier allows the exhaustsystem to operate much more effectively than without one in place. From an economicalstandpoint, plastic stripping is relatively inexpensive compared to other types of dust controltechniques.One last area to consider when using clear plastic stripping is that it allows workers to seethrough the curtain for safety reasons. This technique has numerous applications not only in thebagging and palletizing area, but throughout the entire mineral processing operation. Whenevaluating the correct connection technique for the LEV system, as well as recommendedexhaust airflow quantities, refer to Chapter 1—Fundamentals of Dust Collection Systems.Bagging 183