What Is a Wet Mixer Vacuum?

Many combustible dusts can be easily be vacuumed with an explosion-proof certified vacuum cleaner. However, some dusts require special handling. Dusts that are classified as explosive, impact sensitive or propellants are some of these special cases. These dusts include metals like aluminum, magnesium, titanium, zirconium and carbon fibers which are identified as having a mean diameter of less than 500 microns. Because of their high Kst values, these sensitive liquid soluble dusts should NOT be vacuumed by a dry vacuum and require the use of a wet mixer vacuum (also known as an immersion separator) instead.

Removing combustible dust is more complex than just plugging in any vacuum system and letting it go to work. You’ll need to confine the dust in an area where airborne moving particles and oxygen can coexist without danger. This is basically everything that happens inside the atmosphere of a certified explosion proof vacuum. However, the danger of an ignition source entering the vacuum system is always possible, which is where the wet mixer vacuum becomes the safest solution in handling these dusts. A wet mixer vacuum…

• Neutralizes these dusts under a liquid bath (consisting of water and sometimes oil)
• Eliminates the risk of a deflagration even if an ignition source is accidentally vacuumed inside
• Eliminates the risk of a static-related discharge within the containment vessel

All in all, immersion separator technology offers the safest solution for dealing with sensitive explosive dusts which a regular dry vacuum simply cannot provide. For more information on wet mixer vacuums, visit ImmersionSeparators.com.