Vacuum Trucks, Leaves, and Fall Safety

Who doesn’t enjoy seeing the leaves on trees change colors as the weather starts to turn in the fall? And who doesn’t dread the idea of raking all those leaves a few weeks later, when, shed by the trees, they gather on lawns, sidewalks, and streets. Typically, we rake our leaves, bag them, and leave them by the curb on garbage pickup day. Vacuum trucks used by many cities in the fall and winter months have changed this equation a bit – and made the work just a little easier for homeowners.

In a very informal survey of several people at Dynamic Filtration’s facility, we heard tales of fifty, sixty, or even more bags of leaves gathered at peak foliage time. The use of municipal vacuum trucks can eliminate this costly, wasteful, and, let’s face it, just plain annoying step. Towns are now directing residents to rake their leaves in piles near the curb, for direct pickup by a vacuum truck. Even when this method is used, there are still a few safety measures to keep in mind:

• Keep leaves out of the street – wet leaves are one of the biggest driving hazards.
• Don’t rake leaves near fire hydrants.
• Make sure that drains and sewers are also clear of leaves until pickup occurs.

As you might imagine, leaf pickup also includes lots of other debris – dust, dirt, tree branches, and more. Filters are an important part of vacuum truck construction, as they keep this foreign material from encountering the truck’s pump, wearing down the components and reducing efficiency and speed, which is important when you’re picking up 1,591 tonnes of leaves, as the city of Cambridge, ON did last year!  In the meantime, try and enjoy that crisp fall air, and look forward to some piping hot cider at the end of your yard work.

On the Road Again: Our Fabtech 2011 Recap

Dynamic Filtration had quite the week in Chicago! After a few days at Filtration 2011, our next stop was not too far down the lake shore, at the annual Fabtech expo and conference. From filter frames to vacuum equipment, the metalworking show housed an unparalleled level of expertise, knowledge, and cutting-edge technology, and we had plenty to see. One of the developments that we were most excited about, though, was a new line of portable welding smoke extractors by a longtime partner for whom we provide filter media.

Portable welding smoke extractors are an indispensable and ingenious creation that make workplace – and worker – safety as easy as plugging in a lightweight and moderately sized unit. Rather than installing an integrated, unwieldy, and costly extraction system, these units ease that burden, allowing for much greater flexibility to protect welding personnel. Like any suction system, filtration is important in keeping the vacuum chamber just that – a vacuum. Taking a look at these newer lines of portable smoke and fume extractors enables us to keep building the most effective filters possible, maintaining the highest level of operation for these machines.

Our week on the road was, as always, eye-opening, educational, and fun! Any other Fabtech attendees out there? Please share your stories with us!

Our Kind of Town: Chicago Winter Conferences 2011

Dynamic Filtration hits the road this week, traveling to Chicago, IL, for not one, but two big industry events: Filtration 2011 at the Navy Pier, and Fabtech, occurring at McCormick Place. Next week, we’ll have a look back at Fabtech, but after a slice of deep dish pizza or three, our first stop is the Filtration event. Fabtech, a massive show, focuses on metal forming processes and products of all types. Filtration 2011, on the other hand, provides us with an opportunity to be around more specialized companies just like us.

We’re looking forward to all of the resources available at Filtration 2011, but a few aspects of the conference are especially appealing to us:

• It addresses all industries that use filtration: automotive, HVAC, home, retail, cleanroom, and more
• Cutting-edge topics, including eletrostatically charged filters vs. mechanical filters, will be discussed.
• It’s a two-way conversation. Panels always devote plenty of time for Q & A.
• Although we focus primarily on air filtration, it's a great opportunity to stay abreast of developments across the industry, in both air and liquid filtration media.

 Check back next week for our Fabtech recap!

A Look Inside Our Filter Reclamation Process

Filter reclamation, at first glance, seems like an almost too-good-to-be-true service. It cuts down turnaround times enormously for our customers, providing like-new filters in a fraction of the time that it would take to order and deliver them from the factory. Reclamation and recovery also benefit the environment greatly, and not just from a simple reduction in overall filter use. An important step, following the cleaning process, is the proper disposal of oil, dust, or other material. Often, filters are just disposed of without proper contaminant removal, leading to extremely environmentally-unfriendly waste material.
Because so many of our filters are used for applications like oil, it’s important that our recovery process properly accounts for transport and disposal.

• Step one: Ensure that our customer has the proper packaging, including labels for shipping hazardous material.
• Step two: Separate the filter from the housing.
• Step three: Put the filter through multiple scrubbing and cleaning cycles.
• Step four: Visually and mechanically test that the filter is fully cleaned.
• Step five: Ship to the customer, again with proper packaging and shipping methods.

The benefits of filter reclamation make this involved process more than worth it to carry out. For more details, get in touch with Dynamic Filtration today.

The Benefits of Agility: Fast Turnarounds for the Oil Industry

In an ideal world, our industrial filters would operate at perfect efficiency: operating to just their rated capacity, never failing unexpectedly, and generally staying unnoticed. Unfortunately, this kind of predictability just can’t be counted on, especially in high-intensity operations like oil and petroleum drilling and transportation. When equipment malfunctions do occur, it goes without saying that replacements and repairs should happen as quickly as possible, minimizing downtime for equipment and personnel.

With a roster of several large, national customers, it may come as a surprise that Dynamic Filtration maintains the flexibility and first-class service of the job shop next door. This is one of our great strengths, and a reason why our high-profile clients have continued to come to us when they need our products the most. We’ve had a longstanding relationship with one of Canada’s largest oil corporations, providing vacuum truck filter recovery and replacement services immediately – within a day or two – when typical turnarounds for other companies run to two weeks or more. Large or small, our expertise allows us to handle any filtration job, so contact us with any questions!