Dust-suppression systems for materials handling operations at mines and storage facilities were, earlier this year, added to opencast mining and materials handling equipment company Tenova Takraf Africa’s product portfolio.

The systems include a dry fog system and DustTamer wind fence and wind screen systems, which are distributed under licence in Africa by Tenova Takraf Africa on behalf of dust-control company Dust Solutions Incorporated (DSI). The countries covered by the representative agreement include South Africa, Namibia, Botswana, Zimbabwe, Zambia, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Mauritania, Senegal, CÔte d’Ivoire, Ghana, Sierra Leone and Mali.

Tenova Takraf Africa is part of total technology solutions provider the Tenova Group.

The DSI dust-suppression systems offer superior performance over competing systems when it comes to significantly reducing fugitive dust at materials handling points in an array of industries, including mines and power generation, minerals and aggregate processing, pulp and paper, wood products, hazardous waste and bulk-handling sectors.

The DSI dry fog systems are applied at materials handling points, such as conveyor transfer points, trippers, reclaimers, crushers, screens, truck dumps, railcar loading and/or unloading points, ship loaders and/or unloaders and ash silo discharge chutes.

The dry fog systems use ultrafine water droplets that attach to like-sized airborne dust particles, with the slightly wetted dust particles becoming heavy enough to be removed from the air, falling back into the process. As only the dust is wetted, this results in low water and power consumption, requiring no expensive chemicals or significant wetting of the product.

The DustTamer wind fence and wind screen systems lower wind velocities downwind of a screen’s location, thereby reducing the airborne particulate that accumulates from materials handling operations, such as stockpiles, mine tailings ponds, stack-out conveyors, truck, rail or loader dump pockets, conveyor lines and load-out silos.

Both permanent fences and portable screens are available and the system’s fabric and installation hardware have proven highly durable under the most severe weather conditions.

The DSI vinyl strip and dust curtains are applied at silos to truck/rail wagon transfers or at conveyor stacker head chute discharge points. The unique mounting track system with built-in relief flanges enables the strips to pivot freely, reducing stress and protecting the top of the strips from the elements.

Besides their performance features, the many benefits of the DSI systems include ease of installation, simplified maintenance, flexible system configuration and reduced capital investment and operating costs. The systems are supplied as preassembled modular components housed in protective enclosures.

“The addition of the DSI dust-control products to our air environmental range further enhances our ability to provide clients with the most cost-effective solution to any dust-control or air-cleaning problem, large or small,” says Tenova Takraf Africa air environmental manager Jimmy Tomlin.

Tenova Takraf Africa’s track record in the supply of air environmental systems stretches back more than 40 years, when it was known as Bateman Engineered Technologies, before the Bateman Group was acquired by Tenova in 2012. It has successfully designed dust- control systems for a variety of applications, with more than 3 000 dust-control systems installed in Southern Africa.

The company is a key supplier of equipment and systems for openpit mining and materials handling projects, having provided hundreds of complete systems and individual machines to clients worldwide, and in all climatic conditions. Moreover, globally sourced air- pollution control, specialised handling equipment and technology for the cement and fly ash industries ensure selection of optimal processing options.

Tenova is a worldwide supplier of advanced technologies, products and engineering services for the metals and mining and minerals industries.