Diesel particulate filter cleaning
Diesel particulate filter cleaning machinery has become a necessity all over the world due to government emission regulations. We will breathe much cleaner air because emissions will be so much lower than ever before and that means demand for cleaning the emissions control filters can only go up.
The ability of the DPF to provide cleaner exhaust is vitally important to the underground mining industry. Miners need to work in close with diesel equipment and health and safety regulations mandate the use of emission control and mine ventilation equipment.
In additon the cost of commercial vehicle dpf filters is extremely high. Some diesel particulate filters cost as much as $10,000 to replace. Being able to clean an old filter and return it to as new condition becomes essential. Even though modern diesel trucks have a passive regeneration cycle built into the engine control computer, conditions in the mines may not allow the cycle to complete properly if the exhaust system is not held at maximum operating temperature for long enough.
How to clean a dpf filter - Commercially
DPF Repair shops are going to need to process hundreds of filters and be able to plan for fast turnaround. Present equipment can only handle one or two particulate filters at a time. The equipment required is the actual cleaning cabinet, an airflow test station that performs the same function as the trucks DPF differential pressure sensor, a dust collector to remove dust from the cleaning operation and finally a kiln. The kiln is used when the cleaning cabinet cannot properly remove all the soot from the DPF. Use of the kiln is called for when the DPF airflow is tested and the differential pressure found to be at or near maximum 15 psig.
AAA Drafting can help with laying out filter cleaning plants that process hundreds of filters by using centralized dust collection, multiple cleaning machines and high capacity kilns and heat treatment equipment
DPF filter cleaning cost can be improved by the ability to heat treat 10 to 20 filters at a time, to maximize the throughput for this 12 hour long process. Heat treatment of diesel particulate filters is perhaps the single most important step in converting the the built up soot to ash so it can be easily removed.
Easy access to loading and unloading the kiln with a gantry crane or fork lift and a steel basket allows the kiln to handle multiple filters of varying sizes at one time.
The kiln heater control software then utlizes a heating cycle that optimizes soot removal without damaging the filters in any way
DPF cleaning and Mining operations
Mining camps and any industrial commercial business that use fleets of diesel powered equipment can also benefit from using a well designed DPF fiilter cleaning station. In situations where the mining camp has an existing waste incinerator.
It is possible to get double duty out of the unit by reprogramming the incinerator burner to include a DPF filter heat treatment cycle. Even a relatively small 1 ton incinerator would have the capacity to heat treat dozens of diesel particulate filters at a time
Treating DPF filters at the mine ensures there is no downtime due to waiting for parts to be shipped up to the mine. It also keeps maintenance costs down becuase constantly buying brand new filters is very expensive.
A loading basket that accomomdates multiple filters will be needed as well so the incinerator can be loaded and unloaded safely by using a fork lift.
Lastly an existing incinerator has an advantage in that its burner can be powered by fuels normally used at the mine, unlike a large electric kiln which would require a lot of electric power which might require a lot of expense getting power to the kiln.
Dust collectors and DPF filter cleaning
Centralized dust collection is the efficient way to deal with mutlple air jet filter diesel particulate filter cleaning equipment. Mainly because the hazardous dust collected can be localized to a safe removal and disposal area, instead of transporting dust in containers through the plant where an accidental spillage might cause downtime and environmental fines.
