PowerCore Collector at Anchor Block

Airflow 1200 cfm (cubic feet per minute) 2040 Cmh (cubic meters per hour)
Contaminant Portland Cement, Size 4-45 microns diameter
Pressure Drop after 1200 hours (without changing filters) 2 inches water guage 49.82 dP (dekapascals)
Loading 10 pounds per hour 4.5 kilograms per hour

Torit PowerCore Helps Anchor Block
Operate Smarter

Smaller and smarter Torit PowerCore collectors with PowerCore filter packs were the answer to Anchor Block Company’s chronic filter plugging problems and high pressure drop. Prior to beta testing Torit PowerCore in 2007, this Shakopee, Minnesota-based producer of standard concrete block, decorative masonry units, landscape retaining walls and paving stones endured frequent filter changes with its traditional baghouse dust collectors. 

“The PowerCore filter packs have worked really well since the collector was installed,” said Jay Battenberg, safety director at Anchor Block. “Every time I go by the collector the pressure gauge is hovering at the one-inch mark. Our others collectors—baghouse and cartridge—never run that low.”

Anchor Block was among the first to beta test a Torit PowerCore dust collector with PowerCore filter packs. The company was so impressed with its first Torit PowerCore collector, it installed a full-scale production unit in March 2008.

The Torit PowerCore collector at Anchor Block is ducted to a 5,000-lb. concrete mixer that mixes very fine and abrasive sand, fly ash, aggregates and cement. The fine silica dust particles generated at Anchor Block tend to coat and plug traditional filter bags. In the past, Anchor Block has used traditional bag bin vent collectors.

In the cement industry, a dust collector still running without filter plugging at very low pressure drop for more than three months is a rarity, Battenberg added. When the time comes to change the filters, Battenberg expects the process to be easy.

“It looks like it’s going to be really easy to change the filters—even easier than a cartridge collector,” said Battenberg. “There are a couple handles and the filters just sit in the collector. It almost looks like an air filter in a car.”

The similarity to engine filters is no coincidence. While Torit PowerCore is only recently available in the industrial processing market Donaldson’s PowerCore filters with Ultra-Web® technology have long been a mainstay in the engine market, providing higher filtration efficiency in high performance vehicles, construction, agriculture and medium/heavy duty transportation applications. Donaldson has more than 100 pending and issued patents on its PowerCore technology.