For a space mission to Mars, NASA had to come up with a system to manage all the dust on the Red Planet.

That’s right, they get ready to conduct a high-stakes mission that’s literally like 249 million miles away from planet earth and they still have to be concerned about dust particles clogging up their equipment and spacecraft.

In a previous article written on our blog, we talked about this NASA space mission to Mars.

In short, since there is so much dust on the Red Planet, the NASA team was concerned about the accumulation of dust on spacecraft surfaces because this could greatly impact the outcome of missions.

To address this challenge, NASA has engineered an Electrostatic Dust Management (EDM) system, utilizing electrostatic precipitator technology to actively deter and eliminate dust particles from vital surfaces. This innovative approach helps counteract the detrimental effects of dust during space missions, thus enhancing mission success.

Electrostatic precipitation technology, which NASA originally developed for managing dust in space exploration, has also been instrumental in powering industrial dust collector products for decades.

In fact, since Diversitech was established in 1984, the company has effectively utilized this and similar technologies to eliminate hazardous dust, oil, mist, and smoke from various industrial and manufacturing environments. Their solutions cater to industries engaged in welding (including robotic welding), grinding, deburring, laser and plasma cutting, sanding and finishing, painting and coating, soldering and brazing, and numerous other air purification applications.

"There’s gold in them thar hills.”

Famous words that were coined by Mark Twain, in his 1892 novel, “The American Claimant.” The words were inspired by someone during the 1849 Gold Rush.

Fast-forward to today, we’re still trying to strike it rich by digging for gold. The location is the Cadia gold mine near Orange in central west NSW.

Throughout history, there is probably nothing more alluring than gold. Oil, another famous millionaire-maker, is called “liquid gold.” When a person spots a nugget of gold in the ground, I wouldn’t doubt that their pupils practically transform into dollar signs, their heart pumps out of their chest, and images of magnificent wealth race through their mind. It must be an intoxicating experience to see such a thing.

But two workers, digging for the mining giant, Newmont, have recently received the worst kind of news they could hear. The processes they have executed in the course of their daily work routines have exposed them to silica dust. Both men now have silicosis.

Powders, pigments, sprays, and lacquers- all of these and more come to mind when the term “cosmetics” is used. In manufacturing, even some hygiene items like dental care and deodorants fall under the “cosmetic” umbrella. With that in mind, most people don’t give a second thought to the safety of their cosmetic and personal care products- after all, they should be safe to use.

Although cosmetics may seem like the last place where you’d be likely to find toxic fumes, hazardous dusts, and carcinogens abound, the truth is that there are some serious health risks behind all of the glitter and gloss.

In today’s article we’ll be giving an overview of the health risks associated with dusts and fumes in the cosmetics industry- and Diversitech’s solutions to help mitigate health hazards, including downdraft tables and fume extractors.

Here at Diversitech we offer a broad range of dust collectors, fume extractors, and other air capture devices to help keep the ambient air in your shop free of hazards. With so many options available, it can be difficult to choose or even know where to start when it comes to selecting the right device for your operations. Today, we’ll be going over some of our most popular air pollution solutions to help narrow down which one is right for you.

Downdraft Tables Capture Contaminants at the Source

If your manufacturing process is generating particulate matter, you can’t go wrong with Diversitech’s DD Downdraft Table. Downdraft tables are standalone workstations equipped with a ventilated working surface which resembles a metal grate. While you work, a blower motor attached to the table vacuums up airborne contaminants through the ventilated work surface before they can negatively impact the air quality of your production facility, then deposits the contaminants into a dust collection receptacle. We refer to this as capture-at-source technology. Our downdraft tables are compliant with dust, smoke, and welding fumes capturing guidelines as defined by OSHA, so when you choose Diversitech you know you’re investing in a worthwhile safety measure for your workplace.

Our standard DD downdraft tables are well suited to be used for all kinds of cutting, fusing, and finishing operations. However, we do also offer application-specific kits which are designed to provide the most effective dust collection for certain operations. One of these is the welding/grinding/deburring (WGD) kit, which comes outfitted with booth walls and a metal mesh pre-filter for enhanced dust capture. The spray painting kit is equipped with the same booth walls, but also has an additional paint arrestor pre-filter, polytech filters, and reversible carbon canister afterfilters, along with a greater ventilation area on the tabletop surface. This same tabletop with added ventilation is what’s used on our plasma cutting kit. Lastly, the clean air workstation kit includes side and back walls, a dust and vapor proof light kit for improved visibility, and a backdraft hood. Get a closer look at our different models here.

The premiere event for businesses in the metal fabricating industry, FABTECH Expo is North America’s largest and most respected trade show for metal forming, fabricating, welding and finishing. Providing a catalyst for growth across the industry, FABTECH offers employers the tools to see their business thrive.