Separating Chips from the Air

A baffle or cyclone will help chips and heavy dust fall out of the air stream. May 3, 2011

Question
I currently blow all my wood chips/dust outside behind my shop with a 5hp blower. I want to blow them into 250 gal. containers but it builds so much pressure into the container but all the chips shoot out the vents in the container. I built a screened box to go on top to help relieve the pressure but still it blows right out the vents. Does anyone have any suggestions?

Forum Responses
(Dust Collection and Safety Equipment Forum)
From contributor H:
I blow the dust and chips into a 4' x 4'x x8' box on a trailer. The stream of airborne particles supports the suspended particles because of the momentum in the air stream. If you can remove that energy, the particles drop. Cyclones fling the particles to the edge of the stream, where they rub on the walls, and drop. In my plywood box, the stream runs straight into the side wall, then turns left to travel the length of the trailer, and out. The bigger stuff drops, and the finest dust shoots out onto the ground, which is woods and a field. The loss of heat from not cleaning and returning dusty air is worth it, because return air cannot be cleaned well enough to remove the smallest particles, which are the most breathable.



From the original questioner:
I added a baffle about 12" out from the outlet and presto problem solved.