wet cyclone

[guitarison]

hi.....i was wonder if it would be too much effort to make a wet type collector....two cyclones... one wet and one dry...the wet one being the last on the chain to take out the fine dust....just a though.....

[alan m]

i dont quiet follow , are you extracting water or using it for extra seperation.

i dont see why a seperater wouldnt work for water but you would need a special vac  and a lot of power to suck the water.
i have thought of using water to increase seperation of the exaust air but havent tested anything, i was planing to have a pipe going down into the water  and exit into a traped air pocket like an upturned bucket. that way  the extracter wouldnt have to push out the pipe full of water. that might work if you could stop the air in the traped space from going back uo the pipe .

[guitarison]

i have in the past made sprinkler systems for fibreglass dust extraction....i was thinking two cyclones side by side one with a sprinkler at the point of entry so it drops the fine dust down into a holding pond....they use them in mining to stop huge amounts of dust....i havent thougt it through but u could do something simple that would stop the need for a filter.....too complicated?

[phil (admin)]

i have in the past made sprinkler systems for fibreglass dust extraction....i was thinking two cyclones side by side one with a sprinkler at the point of entry so it drops the fine dust down into a holding pond....they use them in mining to stop huge amounts of dust....i havent thougt it through but u could do something simple that would stop the need for a filter.....too complicated?

The thought of water filtering comes up from time to time.  One problem seems to be that it would add possibly large amounts of moisture to the air, working as a sort of humidifier.  Another problem seems to be size:  It seems like a unit that could handle the air velocity would be quite large.

So those are your challenges.  Now go overcome them.  :)

[rmitchell62]

So in my extensive readings while waiting for my motor, fan and other parts to arrive (which takes many days here in Canada during xmas) I've come across answers to both of the 'challenges', or at least more information.  Sadly I can't provide references, so google away.

1) humidity - not really an issue with room temperature air, and if you are concerned, commercial designs use a thin layer of mineral oil or 'silicon' oil (whatever that is) on the top of the water.
2) don't put the exhaust outlet IN the water, leave it a few inches ABOVE the water.  This is called a dust trap.  You can buy these for venting a dryer in the winter.  These do have a problem with humidity but this is due to the moisture in the dryer air not from the cool water surface.

I learned that in the early days of automobiles, the air filters were exactly this oil based dust trap design, even VW's into the 50's had them apparently.  The claim is they are more efficient than paper type filter material.  And they never clog.  And a pail of water is going to be cheaper than fancy spun polyester pleated HEPA filters.  And a water trap may be more effective trapping the smallest particles - exactly what we want.

As an aside, dust trap filters went away in cars because paper was cheaper, smaller, lighter, more rugged and didn't require so much vertical height to be effective.

Has anybody tried this?  Perhaps somebody that has already built could try this.  Even better if you have a Dylos to measure before and after.  And a way of measuring motor current to compare to high end filters.

Not asking too much am I? :)

Rob