Every industrial vacuum purchase starts with a conversation. No two manufacturing environments are alike, so our engineers take the time to understand your application before customization begins.
Once we have the right information, we can make sure the vacuum system delivers the right suction, flexibility, and performance for your plant’s everyday needs. It starts with these nine questions.
Each material has different characteristics that affect how it behaves within a system, such as its particle size, bulk density, abrasiveness, combustibility, and tendency to absorb moisture.
For instance, some materials are rough and dense, so they wear down surfaces more quickly. Others stick together more easily and cause problems with buildup, so they must be filtered and separated in a different way.
“Understanding the material upfront helps prevent issues like clogging, premature component wear, poor pickup performance, or a system that is not suited to the application,” says Pritika Saini, Engineering Manager at DuroVac.
One major consideration is combustibility. We need to know if your material is classified as a combustible dust, because those fine dusts and powders create serious hazards when airborne.
“Factors like particle size, material concentration, enclosure, and the presence of heat, sparks, or static all influence the level of hazard,” Pritika adds.
How dirty is your facility? While some plants only need to handle a light film of dust, others can’t see the floor because the spilled material is ankle-deep. In more extreme cases, equipment is buried behind piles of material that are taller than the workers.
No mess is too big or too small for our vacuums, but we need to understand your work environment to determine your performance needs. Pictures are always helpful here.
Portable, central, or something in between? Consider floor space, footprint, and whether you need to operate the system continuously.
“If your operation produces continuous dust, debris, or material at fixed points, a central vacuum system may be the smarter move,” says Nelson Pavao, Regional Sales Manager at DuroVac. Central vacs remove material quickly and support cleaner air in the work environment.
In other cases, you may want the flexibility of quick cleanups and sharing equipment across departments. That’s where you’ll get the most use from a portable vacuum system, which can be disconnected and moved to another area for spill recovery.
If you need a hybrid of both, a semi-portable vacuum can give you the right mix of power and flexibility to handle changing cleanup needs and unexpected spills.
A vacuum designed for short distances may not work as well across a larger facility. That’s why we need to know the farthest linear distance from the material pickup point to the vacuum system.
Distance affects the system layout, the number of pickup points it can support, the level of suction and airflow you need, and the choice of hose or piping.
Hose is often enough for shorter distances, but for longer runs, hose alone is prone to more wear and uneven performance. That’s where you should consider a rigid piping network for better airflow consistency, less friction loss, and more reliable material flow.
When we understand how many operators will use the vacuum system at the same time, we can determine how much airflow and pickup power the vacuum needs on a typical day.
“Our goal is to design the most realistic system for how your facility operates daily, not for how it might operate on its busiest day,” says Nelson. “That’s why we follow the 80/20 rule where we plan around the most common operating conditions over the rare upset scenario.”
Once we know the number of simultaneous operators, we can also determine horsepower requirements, supported hose sizes, and the system’s configuration within your facility.
Your feed requirements may affect the vacuum model we recommend, as well as whether it’s portable or central. You can find electric-powered vacuums that support three-phase, one-phase, 575V, and 460V. If you work in a remote location with no electrical grid, our diesel or propane models can support you.
If you have limited indoor floor space, you want to minimize sound, or your application requires a work area outside your facility, you can choose to mount your central vacuum system outdoors. Sometimes this is a requirement for NFPA compliance. For indoor use-cases, you can choose between portable, central, and hybrid systems.
Is the material going into a bin, hopper, super sack, Gaylord box, or dumpster? Material commonly gets discharged through a rotary airlock, but if you want to reclaim some material for reuse, we can design the vacuum to convey it back into your process while keeping it separate from waste debris.
Then there’s the rate of collection, or how many pounds or tons per hour your vacuum system needs to clean. For example, you may expect to clean about one ton of material across an eight-hour shift or recover several tons of spillage within an hour or two. With that, we can determine the airflow, vacuum level, hose or piping size, separator capacity, and discharge method you’ll need.
If your equipment will be used in a classified or rated working environment, we’ll need to know the group, class, and division. A classified location is one where flammable gases, vapours, combustible dust, or ignitable fires are present, creating potential fire or explosion hazards.
Your answer affects the type of motor and electrical specifications, control panel design, wiring and installation requirements, where the vacuum can be located, and whether additional explosion protection measures are required.
Based on those factors, we can design a compliant system with the right safeguards to protect your plant without sacrificing performance.
You don’t need to know all the answers up-front. The industrial vacuum customization process is a two-way street, so you can ask any questions you like, and we’ll make recommendations based on what we learn. Start the conversation today.
