Spray Nozzle Engineering, recently came to the assistance of a local Govt Authority & their rail/tunnel project, where dust caused by the boring machines threatened to bring the project to a complete standstill.
Working with the onsite contractor, our Melbourne based Spray Nozzle Engineering team were tasked with testing what forms and varieties of spray nozzle would cater to this difficult, and very specific set of requirements.
The requirement was to suppress dust during the boring process, where a portable rig had to be to proceed alongside the boring machine as it progressed, whilst spraying a fine mist reaching minimally 5 meters from one side of the tunnel to the other. The mist had to not only reach the other side of the tunnel, but also collect fine particles of dust in order to suppress it, while contending with a constant draught running through the site, which had the potential to catch the fine droplets and thereby make the sprays ineffective.
The engineering team set about rigging up a testing station in the Melbourne Spray Nozzle Engineering wet test lab to simulate conditions in the tunnel. Performing a number of tests to ascertain what nozzle types would sufficiently fulfil all required criteria in order to effectively control the dust within the tunnel.
The team states: “We initially conducted tests within our wet room & used a series of hollow cone low flow misting sprays to knock-out smaller particles, which produced a throw of approximately 2 meters, contending with draught air moving droplets throughout the area, and narrow angle low flow flat fan sprays, also determined to throw 4-5 meters. We client tested both nozzle types and solved the issue more than adequately”.
See in the pictures here, some of the configurations setup in order to determine the effectiveness of the nozzles within the simulated conditions:
Tunnel Experience
Since the early 1990's Spray Nozzle Engineering have been successfully working with Tunnel Engineers on both environmental and special hazard deluge tunnel systems. Our unique BETE BJ Series Nozzles with low wind drift, low clog maintenance free nozzles have been used and tested real time at Melbourne City Link Tunnel (Australia), Wellington Tunnel (New Zealand) and other major regional communications, mining and civil tunnels.
BJ Nozzle - Low Flow - Just one of our many nozzle solutions
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