Expert Details
Dust Collection Equipment, Bag and Cartridge Filters, System Design, Controls, Pneumatic Conveying, NFPA Combustible Dust Standards, Hazard Analysis
ID: 727321
Arkansas, USA
Expert's experience in dust collector design application selection have required him to become an expert in dust explosion hazards and dust explosion venting. He is very familiar with the NFPA guidelines that cover dust explosion hazards. Expert has applied guidelines and calculations found in NFPA 13, NFPA 68, NFPA 69, NFPA 484, NFPA 654 and NFPA 664.
Mikes expertise with industrial exhaust systems and design encompasses almost 30 years of his employment experience. His design experience is focused on dust collection systems and pneumatic conveying systems. He is capable of doing complete system layouts, static balancing, hood design and air mover selection. His dust handling experience spans from capturing dust at the source, separating it in a filter or mechanical separator and conveying it from the separator to the storage equipment. This experience also makes him a good choice for solving problems with existing systems or planning expansion of existing systems.
Expert has been involved in designing and selecting centrifugal blowers throughout his career. Prior to becoming an engineer, he did CAD work designing a line of heavy duty paper handling blowers. Since then his career in air filtration and dust collection systems and equipment design has kept him in a position to select, specify and purchase centrifugal blowers for a multitude of applications.
Expert is proficient in AutoCAD, Solidworks and Cosmos computer aided design software.
Throughout Expert's career he has been involved in manufacturing. His first design job consisted of designing weldments in the 80's before computer aided design was available. He excelled at sheet metal layout techniques such as triangulation. He has created design patterns for weldments weighing from 5 lbs up to 2 tons per piece. Later employment involved design of round baghouse filters up to 20 ft diameter that went on a Gold mining project in Nevada. Expert always listened to the people who assembled his designs because that is the best way to improve the design. Other design experience included injection molded plastic parts and plastic and aluminum extrusions. In a most recent project Expert was able to reduce warrantee costs of a product line by 85% through design for assembly and manufacturability. This was accomplished by paying attention to the problems of the assembly department and service department and implementing their ideas and solving their problems.
Expert is a Professional Mechanical Engineer. He is strong in mechanical assemblies, drives, weldments and fabrications, pneumatic devices and controls, PLC controls, P&ID diagrams, industrial dust collection system and component design, fans, pumps, injection molded plastics, aluminum and plastic extrusions and failure analysis. He passed the PE exam in 99 and was honored with the highest score on the engineer in training exam during college. Expert also has a strong electrical background and lack only one semester from obtaining an electrical engineering degree.
Expert's career has been focused around industrial air filtration systems and equipment. To properly design/select the proper system and equipment, knowledge about the dust must be obtained. To properly select a baghouse filter or cartridge filter you need to know the type of dust, the particle distribution, the rate of flow of the dust along with other process information like temperature and humidity. Other characteristics of the dust that must be evaluated include adhesive and cohesive nature, hygroscopic tendencies, particle shape and its abrasive characteristics. Years of dust collector and system design have help Expert become an expert in this area.
Industrial air pollution and industrial air quality for a factory are directly related to dust control in a factory environment. Expert has been involved in this field since high school. His abilities/experience range from design of source capture devices, filtration equipment, piping systems, and dust transfer systems. Dust in a factory can also become a fire or explosion hazard. Identifying this hazard and providing solutions to eliminate it are also among the many strengths that Expert has acquired through experience.
One of the biggest advancements in industrial dust collection in the last 30 years has been improvements to the filter fabrics. Expert's experience designing dust collectors and specifying proper filter media for an application over the years required him to stay abreast of current filter fabric technology. Expert currently contracts with one of the premier filter fabric manufacturers in America.
Expert is currently serving on the NFPA committee for Handling and Conveying of Dusts, Vapors, and Gases (CMD-HAP). This committee controls NFPA 654, 655 and 91. Expert is experienced with all of the NFPA combustible dust standards. Expert currently uses his knowledge in this area to train associates and customers with respect to the combustible dust standards. Expert has published several white papers on the subject.
Expert is working with a Northeastern public power company to fix problems with the ash removal system and problems with wear on bags for an 8 compartment baghouse on a biofuel boiler. Expert is helping a filter manufacturer design and build a test system to test efficiency of a dust collector per forthcoming ASHREA standards. Expert worked with a sign company that makes changeable message signs for toolbooths. The goal was to improve the design and reduce costs. Expert has worked as a contract estimator for a local company on some projects that they did not have the manpower to get to. Expert created automated quote spreadsheets for a local powder paint company.
Education
Year | Degree | Subject | Institution |
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Year: 1991 | Degree: BS | Subject: Mechanical Engineering | Institution: University of Memphis |
Work History
Years | Employer | Title | Department |
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Years: 2009 to Present | Employer: Undisclosed | Title: Professional Engineer | Department: Baghouse and Dust Collection systems |
Responsibilities:Expert has operated as a consulting engineer specializing in improving performance of existing baghouse systems and related conveying systems for the dust. Industries include Biofuel power generation, precious metals mining, foundries and plating. |
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Years | Employer | Title | Department |
Years: 2005 to 2009 | Employer: Action Graphix | Title: VP of Engineering | Department: Engineering |
Responsibilities:He was responsible for all engineering activities including product design, research and development and sales support. |
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Years | Employer | Title | Department |
Years: 1997 to 2005 | Employer: Farr APC | Title: Chief Engineer | Department: Engineering |
Responsibilities:Expert was responsible for all engineering activities including product design, research and development and sales support. |
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Years | Employer | Title | Department |
Years: 1993 to 1997 | Employer: Alanco Environmental | Title: Engineer | Department: Engineering |
Responsibilities:He was responsible for order processing from sales. Produced drawings, bills of materials and manufacturing details. |
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Years | Employer | Title | Department |
Years: 1991 to 1993 | Employer: Mac Equipment | Title: Engineer | Department: Engineering |
Responsibilities:Expert was responsible for project management of a $2M project for Newmont Gold and a $4M project for Kennecot Copper. |
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Years | Employer | Title | Department |
Years: 1981 to 1988 | Employer: Aircon Corporation | Title: Designer | Department: Engineering |
Responsibilities:Expert moved from sweeping the floor to the engineering department and eventually a system designer. |
Career Accomplishments
Associations / Societies |
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NFPA, Thermal spray safety committee |
Licenses / Certifications |
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PE License obtained in 1999 |
Professional Appointments |
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Committee Member of NFPA 655, 91 and 654 |
Awards / Recognition |
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Highest score in class on the Engineering In Training exam. 1991 |
Publications and Patents Summary |
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He has one patent and one patent pending. |
Additional Experience
Expert Witness Experience |
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Expert was expert engineer in a lawsuit involving the death of a person from a dust collector explosion. Deposition last 12 hours. |
Training / Seminars |
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Training course on industrial ventilation which involves recommended practices for designing source capture hoods and designing and sizing ducting. Training course on venting of deflagrations which covered proper design of dust collection venting devices and hazards and liabilities of improper design. Basic electronics and motors course. White paper on understanding dust characteristics. White paper on Discharge Rate Magnification During On-Demand Pulse Cleaning of a Dust Collector. |
Vendor Selection |
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Expert has been involved in selecting vendors throughout his career. Some of the components range from sourcing better prices on commodities such as hardware and steel to sourcing vendors for electronics, pnuematics, gears, drives instruments, plastics and aluminum extrusions. |
Marketing Experience |
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Expert's experience with four different dust collection equipment manufacturers gives him a unique understanding of how this equipment differs and how different manufactures have claims of performance that may or may not be beneficial to the end user. The industry is dominated by internal manufacturer experience that is not taught at any university. Customers should be aware of this because industrial dust collection is often referred to as a black art within the industry. An objective review of bid documents and equipment selection can go a long way in saving money and avoiding a problem installation. |
Other Relevant Experience |
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In management Expert has created databases and other standardized computer tools to streamline and reduce paperwork, improve schedule management and standardize technical reporting (as in lab reports). He has also created electronic quotation programs and spreadsheets to save time for sales and custom work order tracking databases to improve order flow from sales to shipping. |
Fields of Expertise
dust collector system, baghouse, dust filter, dust-separation equipment, cyclone collector, cyclone separator, caartridge dust collector, explosion hazard, dust explosion, piping system, piping system design, piping system design review, industrial exhaust system, dust handling, centrifugal blower, computer-aided design, computer-aided design software, design for assembly, design for manufacturability, engineering, baghouse filtration, dust filtration, filtration, dust material, dust particle, industrial air pollution, industrial air quality, dust control, bag filter, fabric filter, dust bag, National Fire Protection Association code, flammable material, industrial process piping, agglomeration, particle filtration, venting, powder conveying, bulk materials handling, air filtration, air separation, computer-aided engineering, vacuum system design, computer-aided automation, pneumatic conveying, mechanical conveying, Nomex, fly ash, powder handling, P & ID, mathematics, control system