About the Client
One of the world’s largest food production company, renowned for many internationally famous brands and with a global workforce operating in over 35 countries, delivering a diverse range of products from condiments and sauces to dairy, beverages and confectionary products.
In the Netherlands, the company specialized in producing various consumer products. For a specific local treat, they looked for optimizing their dust collection and explosion safety.
Challenge
During product preparation of the confectionary product, the facility experienced a challenge in terms of sugar and starch dust emissions at the production lines. The goal was to reduce those emissions enough to eliminate the ATEX zone, as the client always keeps operator safety as their top priority.
In addition to addressing the source emissions, JOA evaluated the entire extraction system. As the dust is classified as Class 1, with specific Minimum Ignition Energy (MIE) and Minimum Ignition Temperature (MIT) values, it was essential to ensure that any new extraction system would comply with safety requirements and reliably achieve the required new design capacities. This comprehensive assessment guarantees that the proposed solution not only minimizes emissions at the source but also ensures safe and effective operation throughout the system, fully aligned with the relevant safety standards for combustible dust.
Dust Emissions: Sugar and starch dust emissions at the production lines.
Explosion Safety: Eliminate explosion zoning requirement
System assessment: Evaluate and redesign the extraction system to meet new design capacities while maintaining safe and effective operation.
Approach
When a standard dust collection system is chosen, manufacturers gamble with securing performance. As the existing extraction system at this site was underperforming, they faced excessive dust emissions, bigger ATEX zones and unhealthy working conditions. That’s why they contacted JOA, which came with their proven approach:
Pre-engineering study:
To start, JOA conducted a Pre-Engineering Study to assess dust emission challenges on-site. The goal was to identify root causes, evaluate technology options, and define the project scope.
- Site visits and measurements:
- Inspect and review the current extraction system and the production line setup.
- Measurements to determine actual extraction capacities, static pressures in piping and in the process
- Dust emission concentrations measurements to find emission locations.
- Operator Interviews and workflow analysis around the process equipment.
- Air technical modelling:
- During the site visit, the team measured emissions and inspected the full extraction ductwork. Those measurements were fed into JOA’s patented Air Technical Modeling software, producing a model that can highlight bottlenecks in the existing extraction system, such as low velocities or contamination.
- The iterative air‑technical model guides the design of a balanced extraction system. It determines key parameters, such as minimum duct velocities for dust, correct duct diameters, balancing restrictions, and required fan capacity and pressure. This ensured that the final system is both technically optimized and meets all operational requirements.
Design & Engineering:
The system was engineered using pre-engineering data to balance dust control, process continuity, and explosion prevention, ensuring a first-time-right design from the start.
- The Pre-engineering study identified inefficient dust extraction at:
- Product feeding
- Product drying
- New Drum Hood Design: With mechanical measurement from the site-visit the Engineering team designed a new drum hood for better dust extraction at the feeding and product drying processes.
- With CFD-software the design was validated before install.
- Extraction System modifications: Utilizing existing equipment and recofiguring it so that it worked with the new design.
System Realization:
In the realization phase, JOA’s experienced project engineers successfully installed a tailored dust extraction system that is explosion-safe and fully compliant.
- New food grade filtration system to comply with required extraction capacity and explosion safety
- Modified extraction velocities & capacities, maintaining a slightly negative pressure inside the drums at all times.
- Extraction velocities remained within the safe V₀Crit™ range, allowing airborne dust to be extracted while preventing unintentional product removal.
- Removal of ATEX zoning
- ATEX compliance: Integration of explosion safety equipment.
Outcome & Conclusion
Based on the Pre-Engineering Study and extensive CFD modeling, the chosen solution has led to a successful implementation which led to ATEX- and operator safety compliance for the plant and operators.
This project exemplifies how a well thought through FEED proces, like a Pre-Engineering Study can drive unique innovative extraction hoods and equipment resulting in reduced ATEX zoning.
In addition to process equipment alterations, the system is also integrated with the feeding equipment. This makes it a unique product. The solution includes:
- Replacement of drum lids and extraction hoods: Adjusted to product characteristics
- Filter and Fan Replacement: Extraction velocity optimized to guarantee sufficient extraction capacity and reduce ATEX zoning in operator area
- New extraction piping corresponding with the required capacities maintaining optimum extraction velocities to convey dust to the filter unit
- New balance restrictors to balance the total capacity of the extraction system and drum hoods.
With this new dedusting system, the emissions are reduced so the area is now classified as no ATEX zone.
