Dust in the air is a major health and food safety hazard in food production plants, as it is in many other industries. Dust may contaminate food products on the line or cause breathing problems foremployees.
Dust may also form from the shifting of large amounts of cereals at bakeries or at brewers and in extreme cases may even cause explosions in the plant.
Grimm Aerosol Technik's 1100 series of battery-powered portable dust monitor measure particles in real time, giving safety monitors an immediate reading on whether the plant area confirms tonational and international standards. The monitor weighs about 2.5kg.
Different models in the 1100 series use patented laser and filter based technologies to measure and display particles depending on whether they are classified as affecting human air passageways,the thorac or the alveolar tissues.
The 1100 series can measure the total dust in a critical area and give readings on the concentration and size distribution of the particles.
Grimm classifies it 1100 series as a particle size spectrometer, not a nephelometer. Spectrometers measure dust by sampling wavelengths of light. Nephelometers measure dust by analysing thelight scattering function of particles in air.
No size-selective sampling heads are required, Grimm stated in a press release.
A random sampling head collects the dust and sends it into an laser optical chamber. There each particle is counted and classified by size. The concentration is proportional to the collected time.Results can be continuously given in one second or longer intervals up to one minute.
The 1100 series come with varying degrees of sensitivity, from eight to 31 different size ranges. Monitors can pre-select the dust level as an alarm value. When the limit is reached the device willemit an acoustical and optical alarm.
The detector's results can be logged immediately on data storage cards or downloaded later to a desktop computer.
The unit can be used outdoors and operates even when it is raining. A special weather housing protects the instrument from misreading results due to humidity.
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