Ground and polished concrete floors have been developed into a global market worth billions which is continuing to grow, particularly in the United States and Australia. A limiting factor in this expansion has been the problem of handling the large volumes of grinding dust. Grinding dust which, in addition, often contains particles hazardous to health. The Swedish company, Dustcontrol, has now solved these problems with a new concept and two newly developed construction dust collectors which deal efficiently with large quantities of dust. The risk of lung diseases is also greatly reduced thanks to special pre-separators and advanced filter technology.

With new types of concrete grinders, it is possible to grind and polish very large floor areas of concrete. This technique is still most commonly used in industrial premises but is also increasingly used in other types of premises.
After grinding, epoxy resin, surface hardener or carpeting can be applied to the floor. However, modern grinding results in such hard-wearing, level and smooth concrete surfaces that more and more schools, hospitals, shops and premises open to the public are choosing polished and surface-treated concrete floors without any form of covering. This alternative means that money is saved.

A market worth billions
Ground and polished concrete floors are a multi-billion market that
is rapidly expanding, particularly in the United States and Australia.

Different wet-grinding techniques were commonly used in finishing concrete floors. This meant considerable work afterwards to get rid of the wet grinding dust. With modern-day wet grinders this very time-consuming work is avoided, making wet concrete grinding more efficient and cheaper to carry out.

Now, construction dust collectors can also be used to deal with dry grinding dust. Unfortunately, units which are heavily used, often have insufficient capacity to be able to fully match efficient, modern grinders. All too often, it has been necessary to stop grinding to empty the dust collector or clean a filter.

In addition, the grinding dust, often containing particles hazardous to health, has escaped into the air and to too great an extent, has been inhaled by operators and others standing nearby. These particles can cause serious diseases such as silicosis, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease and lung cancer.

The dispersed dust also swirls around, so that the operator is unable to see well, resulting in uneven floors. While there is still less contamination than in wet grinding, the construction site and adjacent areas have to be cleared of dust after the grinding operation has been completed.
New concept boosts efficiency
Now however, the Swedish company Dustcontrol, in collaboration with leading floor-grinding companies, has developed a new concept which solves these problems. The concept means that it is possible to grind large areas quickly with better results, while large quantities of grinding dust are dealt with efficiently and there are few stoppages for emptying and attending to filters.

The concept is principally based on:
*Vibration-free grinders with good ergonomics
*Grinders which produce a high level of finish
*Suction cowling integrated into the grinding tool
*Multi-stage cyclone separator
*Filter/suction system, which in principle deals with all hazardous particles
*Hoses and couplings which resist severe wear
*Plastic bags and containers for efficient and dust-free handling of the separated particles

The new construction dust collectors in this concept feature special pre-separators and advanced new filter technology. This means that over 90 per cent of the dust particles stay in the pre-separator and 9.97 per cent stay in the filter unit. Less than 0.03 per cent of the particles escape into the air and the risk of serious lung diseases is therefore greatly reduced.

Newly developed filter
Several completely new construction dust collectors are being launched for this concept.
The DC 5800c PTFE and DC 5800a PTFE have been specially developed to deal with large volumes of concrete dust. The flow into the grinder is 470 cubic metres of air per hour (at open inlet). In the DC 5800c PTFE, the dust is collected in a plastic bag.
In the DC 5800a, the dust is collected in a 90 litre tank with a plastic bag and with wheels for convenient transport.

A pre-separator can also be connected and mounted on 200 litre standard drums. The drums may, for example, be on a pallet outside the room. When all the drums have been filled, they can be conveniently taken away by truck. It is possible to have up to 50 metres of tubing between the grinder and the drums.

The DC 5800c and DC 5800a PTFE are fitted with wheels and weigh just 160 and 180 kilograms respectively. This means that one person can easily move them around.

The dust collector contains both the newly developed PTFE filter and a microfilter. The microfilter collects very small particles such as asbestos fibres and quartz dust. These particles can cause serious lung diseases such as silicosis and lung cancer.

The PTFE filter is coated with a non-stick material to avoid clogging. This means that the filter has a longer life, and that cleaning and replacement can be done less often.

With a pre-separator and this new filter solution, filtration efficiency with respect to particle dust is as high as 99.97 per cent.



Twin - flexible and lightweight
The DC 3800c Twin is intended for slightly smaller volumes of concrete dust. It weighs only 54 kilograms and can be easily moved around by one person in tight spaces, even up and down staircases.

The DC 3800c Twin has two efficient cyclones, one of which separates the coarsest particles to 90 per cent. In the other cyclone, the remaining fine dust is separated with a fine filter and a microfilter. This filter solution also means that virtually all the particles are collected in plastic bags and do not escape into the air where they can cause health problems.

Filter cleaning is performed efficiently with reverse-jet air pulses, meaning that the least possible time is spent on cleaning.

The suction source consists of a 2400W single-phase motor arrangement. In other words, the machine can be used even where there is no access to a three-phase power source.

World launch this autumn
- During the autumn our two new construction dust collectors will be launched throughout the world. Our intention is that they will contribute to a further improvement in efficiency and increase the market for the grinding and polishing of concrete floors. We are also delighted that our filter solutions contribute to a great reduction in health risk for operators,- says Johann Haberl at Dustcontrol.

Photograph captions:
Picture 1:
Dustcontrols new concept for dust-free concrete grinding boosts efficiency in construction and greatly reduces the risk of lung diseases. Here the new DC 3800c Twin construction dust collector has been connected to a concrete grinder. In one cyclone the coarse dust particles are separated and in the other the remaining dust is captured using a fine filter and a microfilter. (Photograph: Ryno Quantz)
Picture 2:
The DC 3800c Twin is one of the new construction dust collectors in Dustcontrols new concept for efficient and dust-free concrete grinding. The suction can be integrated with most modern grinding tools from leading suppliers. The DC 3800c Twin is small, flexible and weighs just 54 kilograms. Filter cleaning is performed efficiently with a reverse-jet pulse of air. As the suction producer consists of a 2400W single-phase motor arrangement, there is no need for access to a three-phase power supply.(Photograph: Ryno Quantz)
Picture 3:
The DC 5800a/c PTFE is the larger and more powerful of the two machines and allows grinding with large grinders with a high quality finish and therefore a large quantity of grinding dust. Here too, the suction can be easily integrated with most modern grinders. The DC 5800c PTFE has reverse-jet air pulse cleaning of the filters, weighs 160 kg and has a 5 kW three-phase motor.

For further information, contact:
James Miller
Dustcontrol UK Ltd
The Grain Store, Pury Hill Business Park, Alderton Road
GB - Towcester , NN12 7LS
Tel.: + 44 - 1327 811800
Fax: +44 - 1327 811510
E-mail: sales@dustcontrol.co.uk, www.dustcontrol.co.uk

Press release images