Here at Hughes Environmental one of our major concerns is cleaning combustible dust in our customer’s facilities to prevent an explosion. Often, people will contact us when they can actually see buildup of these explosive dusts on exposed surfaces such as rafters, beams, ceilings, or the outside of pipes and ductwork. However, the inside of a ductwork and HVAC equipment can have a buildup of dust too, and since it is enclosed and typically not easily accessible it goes unnoticed.
Why does it matter if there is dust in the ductwork? One reason is that a necessary component of the dust explosion pentagon is confinement, and the inside of a facility's ductwork creates the perfect environment for this. When industrial duct cleaning services are not regularly performed the inside of the HVAC system can quickly accumulate dust. All it takes is one section that has some grease or grime that dust can stick to, and then as dirty air flows through the ductwork more and more dust accumulates.
Accumulated dust can pose as a fire hazard. Dust is flammable and a fire can start from a spark of energy, or an extremely hot surface. The more dust build up there is, the more chances there are for a fire to happen. According to the National Fire Protection Association NFPA 654, cleaning is needed immediately “whenever a dust layer of 1/32- inch thickness accumulates over a surface area of at least 5% of the floor area of the facility or any given room.” The same rule applies when it comes to cleaning a facility’s ductwork.
This is why it’s important to check inside commercial HVAC ducts when combustible dust is an issue in other areas of a facility. It’s also not enough to just glance inside a vent either; often the buildups of dust can occur in areas where there are bends or folds in the air ducts that are out of immediate sight. It’s important to have a properly trained commercial duct cleaning specialist inspect the ductwork when combustible dust is present.
Hughes Environmental Duct Cleaning
Hughes Environmental is proud to be an award winning member of the National Air Duct Cleaners’ Association and a member of the National Fire Protection Association. These memberships, as well as the OSHA training our technicians go through, ensures that we are able to keep up to date on current safety practices and techniques, all while providing our customers with quality work.
The Division of Occupational Health and Safety (DOHS) recommends the following for prevention of air duct contamination.
Standardized Commercial Duct Cleaning
- Perform routine preventive maintenance on HVAC systems, by complying with manufacturer schedules for changing HVAC filters, cleaning coils, and other components.
- Ensure that air intakes are located away from contaminant sources.
- Routine inspections of ductwork. The National Air Duct Cleaning Association (NADCA)’s standard, “Assessment, Cleaning and Restoration of HVAC Systems-ACR 2013,” recommends that HVAC systems be visually inspected for cleanliness at regular intervals, depending on building use. For healthcare facilities, the standard recommends annual inspections of air handling units and supply/return ductwork.
Total duct systems cleaning from the point where the air enters the system to the point where it exits, includes the grilles and registers. This is great for removing airborne contaminants.
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