300 North Pottstown Pike
Exton, PA 19341
Case Studies
SysTech is faced with many challenges, both big and small, in meeting our clients goals and needs. We pride ourselves in coming up with innovative, well thought-out and economical solutions for our clients. Below are several case studies covering projects completed by SysTech in conjunction with various manufacturers. If you have any questions about our past projects please give us a call and we'll be happy to discuss your company's needs.
Dust Filtration System Handling Explosive Materials
SFS Intec, in Reading, PA, manufactures a wide variety of screw fasteners that are used in the residential and commercial building markets. The majority of their products are used to secure roofing and siding to structures. Accordingly, the head of the fastener is exposed to the weather. Frequently, these products are used in coastal areas where they are exposed to severe weather. To prevent corrosion and prolong life, the fasteners are zinc coated and a zinc cap is pressed on to the drive head.
The manufacturing process is completely automated and utilizes vacuum and compressed air to handle and position the fasteners. Since there was no form of dust control, a significant amount of fugitive zinc dust was released into the assembly area. The zinc dust created a house keeping issue and offered concerns about the operator's health and safety.
This process was to be relocated to a new, air-conditioned area of the facility. Since the new area was enclosed, management was very concerned with the fugitive dust issue and contacted SysTech Design for a solution.
SysTech Design developed an effective dust control system that integrated an exhaust hood/duct into the automated assembly machines. The exhaust hoods capture the dust at the source and convey it to a properly sized Donaldson® Cartridge style dust collector where the zinc dust is removed from the air stream. The clean air then travels thru a HEPA final filter and is returned to the air-conditioned work area.
A complicating factor with this application was the explosive nature of the very fine zinc dust. The solution was to incorporate explosion vents on the dust collectors along with an explosion suppression system in the intake duct to prevent the return of an explosion.
The resulting system provides a high quality atmosphere for the Reading facility and its employees, minimized house keeping requirements, significant energy savings by re-circulating the cooled/heated air and a work area protected from a potential explosion.
Plant-wide Noise Attenuation Retrofit
A wire manufacturer in southern Ontario had to take action to reduce its noise levels at residences near the plant because of complaints made to the regulatory agency responsible regarding night-time plant noise. As a result, the company had to carry out a noise assessment study to identify the problem noise sources and to determine the noise reductions needed to comply with environmental regulations. Based upon findings, they had to carry out the necessary remedial action to achieve the required noise levels.
Central Vacuum System for Modular Home Builder
SysTech Design Inc. completed the installation of a central vacuum collection system for a major modular home manufacturer located in Williamsport, PA. The fabrication and assembly of prefab structures in an indoor controlled environment allow for a vastly improved production rate and better quality control. During the process, significant amounts of airborne particulate, nuisance dust and heavy particulate produced by circular saw cutting, routering and power wand sanding of drywall are generated, slowing the production process, creating an unsatisfactory work environment and fostering a housekeeping nightmare. To maintain a clean facility, SysTech designed and installed a high efficiency vacuum collection system. Because the manufacturing facility covered approximately 50,000 square feet, over 1100 feet of tubing with 27 collection points were required. At any time, the system needed to accommodate 12 operators simultaneously.
Design engineering resulted in the selection of a 30 HP vacuum producer rated for 1000 ICFM @ -6.4" Hg, a self cleaning high efficiency cartridge dust collector with 678 square feet of filter media with a 99.99% efficiency and collection system components including flex hoses, tools and electrical controls.
The installed system is presently collecting over 7.5 cubic feet of drywall dust from power wand sanders, sawdust from routers and circular saws every 12 hours of production time. SysTech was awarded the "sole source" contract for both systems used by the Williamsport facility because of our ability to provide a single point responsibility, including not only a complete engineering design package with all equipment and installation, but a 24/7 maintenance and service package.
Dust Control for a Garnet Blasting Operation
An overhead crane manufacturer in Wilmington, DE abrasive blast cleans crane sections prior to painting. The parts, which can be very large and heavy (e.g., steel beams), are moved into the blast room via forklifts or pulled into the blast room on wagons. The blast cleaning area is 125 ft. deep, 24 ft. wide and 20 ft. high with an internal volume of 60,000 cu ft. The cleaning is done by blasting the parts with garnet, thereby, creating poor visibility and air quality conditions. The customer initially requested an air cleaning system with a dust collector located outside the building, collection hoods, and duct to remove the dust and return duct to direct the clean air back into the room. Locating the dust collector outside, against the building, would have required a concrete pad in a location which was difficult to access.
SysTech proposed an alternative design of providing four (4) Torit Downflo WorkStation Modules (DWS) against the interior back wall, thereby creating an internal system with the proper cross-draft airflow velocity. Each DWS unit is a self-contained cartridge style dust collector with an automatic pulse cleaning system. The dirty air was collected through intake louvers positioned at the front bottom of each unit with the clean air ducted off the top of the units back to the front of the room and discharged in a downward direction.
SysTech's solution provided the proper airflow pattern, keeping the dust out of the workers breathing zone with improved visibility. The discharge grills were positioned in such a way as to minimize dead zones in the work space and to provide the maximum air velocities where most of the blasting took place.
For ease of maintenance, the customer provided a 12" high steel platform to set the DWS modules above floor level. In addition, the customer also installed curtains to the sides of the units and from the floor to the ceiling to control dust from getting behind the units, keeping the space clean.
Thinking ahead, the DWS units were installed with an electrical control panel outfitted to be able to run a 5th DWS should the customer have future job requirements.
The room in this Wilmington facility is now much cleaner, visibility is improved and the operators are much more efficient.
Noise Control in Downtown Philadelphia
Noise is often times a consideration when mechanical equipment is in operation. Particularly, when it is being generated next to upscale townhouses! A prominent Philadelphia, PA corporation chose SysTech Design to solve their noise control challenge in a crowded city block where seven-story factories were being converted to residences.
A 500 KW standby diesel generator needed to be installed for an emergency backup tunnel lighting system and space was limited. The room enclosed diesel engine radiated heat and it needed to be exhausted from the roof of the building, while at the same time, the noise levels produced by the engine, 106 dBA, needed to be reduced to acceptable criteria at the street level.
An engineering study was awarded to SysTech to provide a solution to the building ventilation requirement to keep the generator set cool while maintaining less than 78 dBA noise levels within the surrounding neighborhood. The building housing the generator was an old brick structure, three stories high, with the generator located on the second floor. Space for ducting was at a premium and less than 36" of clearance was available between the generator cooling fan and the exterior wall.
SysTech selected two sets of industrial grade, motor operated dampers for supply air, which were located on the first floor, below the generator and facing pedestrian walkways. An exhaust air flow of 44,000 cfm of cooling air for the generator was channeled from the first floor, through the generator room and exited the roof through a 54" square opening. A high velocity, low pressure loss FRP back draft damper was employed to control building heat loss. On the roof, an acoustical elbow, a 53" diameter direct drive vane axial fan, acoustical flex connections and discharge silencer completed the exhaust system. SysTech provided a vibration isolated turning vane to direct the generator fan discharge upward toward the exhaust opening. For interior noise control, composite sound absorbing panels were hung in the concrete generator room to lower the reflective noise produced by the generator set.
SysTech completed the project with a motor control center having a variable frequency drive to command the fan speed level.
An 8-hour generator commissioning run was conducted at the completion of the project with all design criteria successfully met for this Philadelphia customer.
Plant Ventilation with Energy Management
A specialty chemical company in Allentown/Bethlehem, PA was directed by their corporate management to institute an energy savings campaign as part of a process improvement program. Some plant production areas were located throughout a high bay warehouse structure requiring additional ventilation along with temperature control during the winter and summer months. Several ventilation concepts were being considered including gas fired makeup air units and wall/rooftop exhausters with supply fans.
SysTech, with a "Go Green" policy, offered an alternative solution of High Volume Low Speed (HVLS) ceiling fans. HVLS fans, available up to 24 feet in diameter, blanket large areas with constantly moving air and create an expansive comfort zone at the operator level. These fans rotate slowly, moving large volumes of air with minimal disruptive currents. During the winter months, warm air accumulated near the ceiling, is pushed back down to the operator level. This de-stratification of uneven temperature air, typically fifteen degrees Fahrenheit warmer at the ceiling, results in significant energy savings, because additional heating for employee comfort is not required. During the summer months, workers have the benefit of evaporative cooling. As the fans move air across the operators they are "cooled" as body heat is lost due to evaporation of perspiration. Throughout the year, overall plant air quality is improved by the constantly mixing of fresh air and pockets of stale air.
The Allentown/Bethlehem company awarded a contract to SysTech to furnish and install four (4) Envira-North "WhalePower" Altra-Air ceiling fans. Two sizes where chosen, one was 24 feet in diameter moving 400,000 cfm with a 2 HP motor and the other a 14 foot diameter fan moving 150,000 cfm with a 1.5 HP motor. SysTech selected Envira-North HVLS fans knowing that their patented Tubercle Technology™ blade design out-performs all conventional air foils, with dramatic increases in efficiency and unit stability. Envira-North fans use five blades where others may use as many as ten blades to achieve a comparable performance.
Moreover, the Altra-Air fan generates less than 1/5 Th the noise of conventional fans and they consume 20% less power.
Results have been well received by management and employees.
Potent Compound Dust Collection
A Pennsylvania pharmaceutical firm with proprietary product recovery needs required an explosive product to be reclaimed and collected. This potent compound necessitated FDA food-grade construction, and a collection device that was a high positive pressure vessel. SysTech employed the use of a Donaldson Torit DFT 2-4 automatic pulse clean cartridge style unit with Ultra-Web filter media. A Fenwall Protection Systems explosion suppression system was also implemented.